Room price activity spikes unexpectedly
Rob Covino presents Mirus Industry Analysis (MIA), a series of monthly insights into the key performance indicators and cumulative industry trends from the 90,000+ beds we monitor for financial sustainability.
Welcome to the March 2026 edition.
Revenue
Average Daily Subsidy was largely unchanged increasing by $0.01.
When analysing ADS and claiming activity, the more recent month is always artificially lower due to the nature of reassessment requests, which are typically uplifts, being backdated several weeks to their effective date. We see a month’s average funding rise through the following two months as uplift requests that were made in the initial month are actioned. This also applies to the measurement of ‘Days from Request to Reassessment’.
Occupancy
Occupancy increased in February, reversing a two-month trend, which is typical of the season. The turnaround in occupancy was led by a 2.19% increase in permanent admissions and a 1.31% increase in respite bed days. March and April should produce additional gains as it is typically the strongest season for entry into residential aged care. February showed an unexpected volume of room price activity, even exceeding what was recorded in January. This is surprising being in the middle of a quarter while the surge in January aligned with quarterly trends.
Workforce management
Total care time slightly decreased from January to February and RN time increased, with total time decreasing by -0.04% and RN time increasing by 0.23%. Care delivery time seems to have stabilised after five consecutive months of increasing care delivery prior to January.
