Meals on Wheels forced to turn elderly Aussies away due to rising costs of meals

The service is calling for help as it is forced to turn away elderly Aussies, with some branches on the brink of closure.

Meals on Wheels is being forced to turn elderly Australians away from its vital services, with some branches on the brink of closure due to the rising cost of preparing meals.

Demand for nutritious meals and welfare checks from the service is growing, as the nation’s ageing population seeks more in-home services.

But chair Paul Sadler warns that federal funding has not kept pace with soaring costs, including for fruit and vegetables.

Mr Sadler says this has led to price hikes for meals, but the cost of living crisis is limiting pensioners’ ability to pay.

Demand for nutritious meals and welfare checks from the service is growing.

“We need help from the government for our services to remain viable,” he said.

“For the first time in many years, a number of Meals on Wheels services around the nation actually have had to close their books because they can’t take more clients on.

“We simply can’t allow this essential infrastructure to close up shop.”

Mr Sadler said the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP), its major funding source, had not received new cash for meals since 2019.

He said funding was capped at around $13.50 a meal but many of its services were only receiving $7 to $8.

An EY study for the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority found it cost $23 to provide an CHSP funded meal service.

“That suggests that the government is paying roughly half of the cost and the consumer is having to pick up the balance … or the service is just subsidising the current service,” Mr Sadler said.

Around 15 per cent of its 590 services nationwide have closed their books.

The government has also been under pressure to find new meal delivery providers as councils withdraw their in-home aged care services.

More than 20 Victorian councils have stopped offering services under the CHSP in the past two years.

Meals on Wheels is developing a proposal for a new funding model which it will pitch to the government in coming months.

A federal health department spokeswoman said: “While individual providers may face viability challenges at times, the department does not have any evidence of widespread viability issues faced by the Meals on Wheels network”.

The spokeswoman said Meals on Wheels providers would move to a new in-home aged care program, planned from July 2027, which will include “fair and efficient prices” as informed by the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority.