New aged care standards requiring access to nurses for all residents have come into effect.
From Sunday, aged care homes will be obliged to deliver an average of 200 care minutes per resident per day.
Of those minutes, 40 must include care by a registered nurse.
The new standards include care delivered to residents by registered or enrolled nurses, as well as personal care workers and assistants.
Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said the changes would boost the level of support received by residents in aged care facilities.
"The introduction of mandatory care minutes targets today means that every older person in an aged care home will receive the dedicated care time they need," she said.
"We're ensuring that all aged care residents can have their clinical and personal needs met."
Figures show the number of care minutes received range from 183 minutes per day to almost 194 minutes per day since last year's federal election.
The mandatory care minutes will increase again to 215 minutes of care and 44 minutes of care from a registered nurse from October next year.
Ms Wells said the amount of care minutes carried out per resident by facilities would play a crucial role in determining star ratings for aged care homes from April.
"Each home's care minutes targets are based on the needs of their residents, which means homes with higher-need residents will need to deliver more care minutes," she said.
"We are already seeing a concerted effort from the sector to increase care minutes and there has been great progress to lift care minutes ahead of the mandatory targets commencing."
The changes follow the introduction of registered nurses being required to be at facilities around the clock, which began in July.
The 24/7 nurses requirement is in place at more than 98 per cent of aged care facilities across the country, despite concern homes would not be able to provide the workforce to meet the deadline.
