Aged care has come of age in the past two decades. Before 1997 when the Commonwealth Aged Care Act was introduced, nursing homes and hostels were separate institutions that offered different types of services. Broadly speaking, they divided aged care into places where around the clock medical attention, nursing care and specific daily life assistance was offered (nursing homes) and hostels, where residents had an amount of autonomy, although services were available on demand. From 1997 both types of facility became known as Aged Care Facilities; but within these, two types of care – low care and high care – are available.