$500m buys just 300 ‘new’ home care packages

Department of Health modelling shows home care funding will amount to just 300 additional packages by 2024.

Joseph Ibrahim, head of the health law and ageing research unit at Monash University.

Despite a series of announcements by the government regarding the rollout of “new” homecare packages, modelling from the Department of Health shows hundreds of millions of dollars in promised funding will amount to just 300 additional packages by 2024.

Modelling supplied to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, seen by The Australian, shows that just 300 of the new 50,000 Home Care Packages released by the Morrison government in the past three years were actually “new” compared to forward estimates in the budget.

More than 103,000 Australians are waiting for care, with this number expected to soar by 2024 because of the nation’s ageing population.

In February last year, the Morrison government announced it was making a significant investment in aged care, with $320m for residential aged care and an extra 10,000 HCP across all levels as part of a $662m package to support older Australians.

In November, the homecare system was labelled unfair, cruel and discriminatory in the interim report from the royal commission, which called on the government to cut waiting lists.

The report prompted the government to announce a further $496.3m in funding to create an extra 10,000 HCP, but Department of Health data shows that has equated to just a few hundred new places.

The aged-care royal commission last week heard that despite the string of announcements, new packages had been merely released earlier than forecast with no change to the overall number of places forecast to be in operation in 2024.

Joseph Ibrahim, head of the health law and ageing research unit at Monash University, said waiting lists would balloon further if the government did not properly fix systemic issues and just bring packages forward.

“The government has always known there’s been a shortfall in HCPs because they receive the applications,” Professor Ibrahim said.

“However, it’s only become apparent to the public through the royal commission’s interim report last year. It doesn’t have the same level of scrutiny as, say, medical or surgery waiting lists.

“We need to know what the deficit is in terms of these pack­ages and how it’s going to be ­addressed through the budget.”

The opposition’s aged-care spokeswoman, Julie Collins, said COVID-19 would only increase the number of older Australians wanting homecare and 300 new packages would not fill the gap.

“Scott Morrison and his failed Minister for Aged Care promised older Australians a lot but are failing to deliver.

“Morrison is always there for the photo op but never the follow up,” she said. “There are still more than 103,000 older Australians waiting for homecare, 30,000 who died waiting and more than 30,000 who went into aged-care homes prematurely.”