Ageing Australia has urged the government to urgently expand the number of home care packages after a Senate Inquiry revealed more than 200,000 older Australians are waiting for crucial support.
“We are alarmed to discover that the number of older Australians waiting for crucial aged care in their own homes is far higher than previously thought,” said Ageing Australia CEO Tom Symondson.
The organisation says providers have the capacity to care for many more older people, but the bottleneck remains the lack of funded packages. “Providers have told us time and again that they have the capacity to care for many more older people, but this simply isn’t possible without more home care packages,” Mr Symondson said.
The national waitlist, which includes both those awaiting an assessment and those waiting to receive a package, has fuelled concern about the system’s ability to meet rising demand. “We must urgently address the growing waiting list, both those awaiting a package and the substantial number of people who are waiting to get an assessment,” Mr Symondson said.
Ageing Australia has repeated its call for the immediate release of 20,000 home care packages before 1 November. It is also seeking the frontloading of the 83,000 packages due to be released from that date, arguing that action is needed to start reducing the backlog now.
“Older Australians need to know that when they seek care, it will be available to them,” Mr Symondson said.
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