Labor holds off in-home aged care reforms until July 2024

The Albanese government will defer introducing a new in-home care program for more than one million older Australians until mid-2024.

Aged Care Minister Anika Wells. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The Albanese government will defer introducing a new in-home care program for more than one million older Australians until mid-2024, a year later than promised by the Coalition, amid concern in the sector that the rollout was being rushed.

A new Support at Home system to deliver in-home care, including for those with dementia and complex care needs, was recommended by the aged-care royal commission in its final report in March last year, with a proposed starting date of July 1, 2024.

The Coalition brought the starting date forward to July next year as part of its response to the commission.

However, Aged Care Minister Anika Wells said meeting that timetable would be too difficult, given the complexity of the changes required to services that cost the federal budget almost $10bn in the past year alone.

“In the past two months, I’ve heard repeatedly that the Morrison government’s rush job on home care puts people who are ­receiving in-home care at risk,” Ms Wells said.

“In-home care, on which more than one million Australians rely, is not an area to make policy on the run. We are returning to the royal commission’s recommendation of July 1, 2024, and taking the time to address the concerns.”

The government would use the additional time for consultation in the sector, Ms Wells said, ­including with older Australians needing additional support, their families and carers, as well as ­service providers and aged-care advocates.

“Most people want to stay in their homes for as long as possible, so it’s imperative that reforms to in-home aged care bring genuine improvements for older Aus­tralians in the long and short term,” Ms Wells said.

Council on the Ageing chief executive Ian Yates.

The government’s decision would not affect existing users of home care services.

“Rest assured, no one will be left behind or lose any services they currently have in place in this new timeline,” the minister said.

The current in-home care ­system in Australia, which ­includes Home Care Packages and the Commonwealth Home ­Support Program, has been beset with concerns about people being unable to access the appropriate level of support that they needed, with tens of thousands of people on waiting lists of up to nine months.

Anthony Albanese has named reforming aged care as one of his key policy priorities and on Wednesday the government introduced to parliament two new pieces of legislation covering minimum minutes of nursing home care, limiting provider management fees, and introducing a new funding model for residential aged care.

Council on the Ageing chief executive Ian Yates said it was ­appropriate to hold off on the new in-home care program for an extra year as getting the system right was critical.

“I think this would have happened whichever side won government in May,” Mr Yates said.

“The target date was always a significant stretch.

“On the other hand, we don’t want the momentum of reform to slow down, so no one should take their foot off the pedal.”

Paul Sadler, the acting chief executive of peak aged-care provider group Aged and Community Care Providers Association, said providers believed the royal commission’s timeline of 2024 was more appropriate.

“We look forward to working with the government to co-­design and pilot a system that replaces the existing home-care programs with a better, integrated model that fits the future,” Mr ­Sadler said.