Aged care residents’ survey finds homes safer but food still an issue

Tens of thousands of older Australians have opened up about some of their biggest issues about living in aged care homes. Have your say.

EXCLUSIVE

Older Australians in aged care homes feel they are safer and have a greater “say” in their daily lives than a year ago, but three in ten are still unhappy with their food options, a new survey shows.

Residents’ independence was one of the biggest areas of improvement in the latest annual residents’ experience survey compared to the previous two years with nine in ten older Australians feeling they “had a say” in their daily activities, while 88 per cent said they were “encouraged to do things for themselves”.

A new survey shows more older Australians feel they get a say in their daily activities in aged care homes.

But there has been no improvement in opinions on food, with only 70 per cent of residents saying they liked their options — the same as the last two years.

Common concerns included quality, variety and suitability for dietary needs.

More than 36,000 older Australians across 2,603 homes participated in the third annual survey in 2024.

Staffing was the next most common issue with only 80 per cent of older Australians believing workers “explain things,” up from 75 per cent in 2022.

About 83 per cent of people felt staff followed up when they raised issues, and 88 per cent think “staff know what they are doing”.

Just under half of residents thought their aged care facility was run well “always,” while 44 per cent believed this was the case “most of the time,” 11 per cent “some of the time” and one per cent “never”.

Aged Care Minister Sam Rae says new food standards come into effect in November. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Aged Care Minister Sam Rae said the government has taken “significant steps” to improve the quality and variety of food in aged care.

“We know nutritious, flavoursome food makes all the difference to an older Australian’s health and is integral to their quality of care,” he said.

Mr Rae said the new Aged Care Act, which takes effect from November 1 after being pushed back four months, would require providers to meet dedicate standards that “raise the bar” for food and nutrition in residential care facilities.

Labor this week bowed to pressure in the Senate to bring forward the release of 20,000 packages for older Australians to receive in-home care between now and November, with the remaining 63,000 budgeted for to be released by July next year.

Coalition aged care spokeswoman Anne Ruston says the sector needed certainty. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Coalition aged care spokeswoman Anne Ruston said giving the sector “certainty” around when the extra packages would be available was key to ensuring providers could “gear up to deliver the kind of care that is needed”.

“The sector’s not going to put on staff when they don’t know when the packages are going to be released,” she said.

Also this week a report from the Inspector-General of Aged Care Natalie Siegel-Brown warned vulnerable older Australians might be priced out of services of laundry and showering help under the new care model due in November.

The report warned the incoming co-payment system, which had bipartisan support in parliament, “may set up a scenario where vulnerable older Australians will forego care: either because they cannot afford it or because they are worried about the cost”.

Originally published as Aged care residents’ survey finds homes safer but food still an issue