Aged care residents will be able to move out of nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic without losing their place or copping extra charges.
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Legislation passed federal parliament on Thursday, creating a new category of emergency leave for aged care.
Under current arrangements, permanent residents are entitled to 52 days a year of social leave.
When that's exceeded, providers no longer receive government subsidies, meaning significant costs are passed on to residents.
The federal government will now continue paying providers during emergencies like a pandemic or bushfires if the 52-day social leave cap is broken.
The legislation also bans providers from charging residents to reserve rooms while on leave during emergencies, with changes backdated to April 1.
Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said residents should be supported if they choose to move in with family during the pandemic.
"Many residents and their families are fearful of the risk of contracting or spreading the virus whilst in an aged care home," he told parliament on Thursday.
"They're not just numbers. They are individuals. They are members of families who are loved, cherished by all their families."
Senator Colbeck also defended the government's handling of an outbreak at Sydney nursing home Newmarch House where 16 people died and 71 have been infected.
He said medical experts had worked closely with the facility to ensure required staffing levels and personal protective equipment are met.
"We've been working closely with all of the jurisdictions to provide the resources that have been required," Senator Colbeck said.
Newmarch House and two other NSW aged care facilities where residents have died from coronavirus, Dorothy Henderson Lodge and Opal Care Bankstown, will form part of the aged care royal commission's investigation into the impact of the pandemic.
The commissioners will examine how the three facilities and others responded to the crisis and what more could have been done to support them, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety said on Thursday.
"They will also look at how most home care providers and other facilities avoided an outbreak and seek their ideas about how to manage future pandemics or infectious disease outbreaks."
The inquiry will include responses from the federal health department and regulator the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
The royal commission said its focus will be on the lessons that can be learnt for responding to future pandemics or infectious disease outbreaks.
"The purpose of the inquiry is not to find fault or apportion blame," it added.
Australian Associated Press
