Budget 2020: Increase in at-home care places simply ‘doesn’t cut it’

Former teacher Judith Sherrington spent much of her adult life on the move and taught English all over the world in classrooms from Paris to Adelaide.

Former teacher Judith Sherrington at home in Sydney. Picture: Britta Campion

Former teacher Judith Sherrington spent much of her adult life on the move, teaching English in classrooms from Paris to Adelaide.

But life has slowed down for the 83-year-old since having a kidney transplant nearly 20 years ago and she now lives in a granny flat in her daughter’s garden.

Ms Sherrington says that while she has tried to maintain her independence and is in “pretty good nick, all things considered”, she could use an extra pair of hands. “I could do with more help because I can’t really stand on my own, I can’t cook anymore, so I get frozen meals delivered from dinner ladies that are quite good,” she said.

Ms Sherrington, who receives “low level care” through the commonwealth-subsidised Home Care Package, is on a waiting list for a higher standard of care. She applied for a level three package, which constitutes “moderate care”, in February. If she is successful, her package will increase from $15,750 to $34,240 a year.

“They say my priority is medium,” she said. “I’m not desperate, but I could definitely use some more help. My daughter and son are very supportive, but they’re also working full-time.”

She said she was pleased to discover the Morrison government had announced it would spend $1.6bn on more home care packages, but said the 23,000 new places wasn’t enough considering more than 100,000 Australians were waiting for at-home care.

“I would say that’s not nearly enough,” she said.

Ms Sherrington said it was a shame the government was planning to wait for the 2021 budget and the findings of the Royal Commission into Aged Care before significantly overhauling the aged-care system. “They need to act now.”

Under her current plan Ms Sherrington receives visits from carers twice a week, including a physiotherapy session.

Ian Henschke, Chief Advocate at National Seniors Australia lashed the increase on Wednesday, declaring it would only address a “small fraction” of the backlog of elderly Australians in need. “23,000 over four years means that you’ve actually given fewer than 6000 extra packages each year”, he told Sky News.

He dismissed the commonwealth’s claims the new measure would mean 99 per cent of people needing a homecare package would have access in some form.