Boost funds extra 6100 aged care in-home places

Scott Morrison says older Aust­ralians will have ‘greater choices’ in how they live after funding more than 6000 new in-home aged-care places.

Scott Morrison in Canberra on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Taylor

Scott Morrison says older Aust­ralians will have “greater choices” in how they live after funding more than 6000 new in-home aged-care places.

The Prime Minister unveiled a $326m package for the aged-care sector that will enable an extra 6100 older Australians to have the help and facilities to live independently at home, rather than move into an aged-care centre.

“This is about ensuring that Australians, as they age, have great­er choices, that families have greater choices,” Mr Morrison said.

“We have many challenges in this country at the moment. But we will see our economy strengthen, we will see Australians kept safe; whether it’s from COVID or the many other threats that this nation faces.

“We will guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on and this is a very good example of that in meeting the needs of our elderly and the in-home aged-care places that they need, and there will be more.”

The government also announced­ it would extend the reporting period for the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety by three months, with the final report due on February 26 next year.

The government has extended in-home aged care by 50,000 places­, at a cost of $3bn, after coming under pressure last year over a damning interim report by the aged care royal commission.

The report recommended the immediate increase in home-care places to deal with long waiting lists for aged-care facilities.

The government says home-care packages will increase to 164,135 in the year to June 2023, up 170 per cent since the Coalition took office in 2013.

Opposition aged care spokeswoman­ Julie Collins said the announcement was “another drop in the ocean”. “There are still over 104,000 older Australians waiting for home care,” she said.

“Time and time again the Morrison government’s miserly announcements of new home-care packages have failed to addres­s the true scale of Australia’s aged-care crisis.

“Almost 30,000 older Australians sadly passed away in just two years while waiting for home care. Older Australians waiting for high-level home-care packag­es are waiting almost three years to get the care they have been approved for.”

Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck said the package would help reduce wait times. “We remain­ focused on ensuring the health and wellbeing of those people we love most,” he said.