Elderly left waiting months for care as demand surges

Bray Boland and Kat Wong | June 7, 2024

Elderly Australians in need of home care support are facing wait times of up to nine months and the situation is only expected to worsen.

The federal government is being urged to address the delays with the number of those in limbo more than doubling to 68,109 over the past 12 months.

A Senate budget estimates hearing on Thursday also revealed those already receiving support are waiting for extra help as their circumstances change.

“We have seen a deterioration of access, particularly in the last six months,” the Department of Health and Aged Care’s Russell Herald said.

The federal government’s home care package provides support for Australians with showering, cleaning, cooking and other basic needs.

Those who receive the assistance are generally seeking to delay or avoid moving into full-time residential care.

Various types of assistance are provided depending on individual needs.

Levels of entitlement range from $10,000 to $59,000 per year, with each recipient assessed on daily fees they can contribute to the care.

As of May 31, there were 117 people waiting for level one assistance, 17,611 for level two, 36,524 for level three and 13,857 for level four, officials at Senate estimates revealed.

Those currently waiting for level-three assistance face wait times of nine to 12 months, while those seeking a level-four package face a wait of six to nine months.

The 2024/25 budget pledged an additional 24,100 home care packages, but the government is being urged to reduce wait times as the queue grows.

The situation could worsen as Australia’s population ages with the 2023 Intergenerational Report showing the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double in the next four decades.

The population older than 80 is forecast to more than triple and the number of centenarians is expected to increase six-fold.

The Retirement Living Council has called on the federal government to implement urgent reforms.

“The aged care system is breaking under the weight of ever-increasing demand,” its executive director Daniel Gannon said.

“Year-on-year growth in demand for services, coupled with a reduction in the number of home care providers, has created a situation where older Australians are waiting up to a year to receive urgent support so they can continue to live safely at home.”

The council has urged the federal government to adopt a shared care framework where retirement village operators deliver care services within a village setting, independently or through a delivery partner under the government’s Support at Home program.

Mr Gannon says this will make the delivery of home care more efficient by reducing travel costs incurred by service providers while also increasing the frequency of delivery.