This account of nursing home care in Australia begins with a brief history of four phases of policy development from 1963 to the early 1990s. The structure of the nursing home system is then outlined; particular attention is given to data sets generated from administrative systems that are used for monitoring nursing home care. Arrangements for pre-admission assessment and assessment of resident dependency and care needs, to which reimbursement levels are related, are described next. A profile of resident characteristics and their patterns of utilization of nursing home care is presented, drawing on these assessment data. Policy issues arising in the 1990s are addressed in the conclusion; these concern the place of nursing home care in the overall balance of aged care services and the enhancement of outcomes of nursing home care in regard to quality of care and workforce training. Finally, the contribution of the continuing development of data sets for monitoring trends and outcomes to policy and program development is noted.
