Thousands still waiting on home care packages

More than 1000 people are waiting on home care packages in some electorates, new figures reveal, as Labor continues its bid to rein in wait times

The NSW seats of Lyne, ­Cowper and Richmond all had more than 800 people waiting on home care packages. Picture: Kari Bourne / Sunshine Coast Daily

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

More than 1000 people are waiting on home care packages in some electorates, new figures reveal, as Labor bids to rein in wait times for packages that have blown out to as much as 15 months.

The NSW seats of Lyne, ­Cowper and Richmond all had more than 800 people waiting on home care packages, according to data released in mid-2024, while more than 1000 people were on the waitlist in the regional seat of Page.

Cowper was one of nine marginal electorates with a high rate of elderly Australians waiting on a home care package, along with Banks, Gilmore, Menzies, Boothby, Fowler, Robertson and the teal-held seat of Kooyong, which all had between 580 and 880 people waiting.

The figures, provided by the Department of Health and Aged Care in response to questions on notice from the latest round of Senate estimates, showed more than 25,000 people were waiting on a package in NSW, 16,000 in Victoria and more than 12,000 in Queensland.

According to estimates from November, people are waiting three to six months for a level one package, and 12-15 months for a level four package.

The different levels represent different degrees of need, with level one designed to support those with lower needs,while level four represents the most comprehensive package.

Approximately 221 of the 1000 people who had requested a home care package in the Nationals-held seat of Page were waiting for a level four package, while nearly 500 were waiting on a level three package, which offers intermediate care and support with day-to-day tasks, and is experiencing an average wait time of nine to 12 months.

Aged Care Minister Anika Wells. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The figures, released before Labor’s landmark aged-care reforms last year, were seized upon by the Coalition, which got wait times below six months for all levels when it was in government.

“It is shocking that the most vulnerable older Australians are now having to wait longer than a year to get the care they have been assessed as needing,” opposition health and aged care spokeswoman Anne Ruston said.

“Labor has pitifully budgeted for only an additional 7615 home care packages this financial year, which will see the wait times for older Australians to receive care blow out even further.”

The comments come ahead of a federal election, due by May 17, in which the Coalition is expected to highlight its record in a number of policy areas including aged care while in government as part of its message to voters that it will get the country “back on track”.

But Aged Care Minister Anika Wells, who was recently promoted to cabinet, said the government would deliver more than 100,000 packages in 2024-25 and 2025-26, which represented “the most delivered in any two-year period”.

“People assessed as having an urgent need for care, approved as a high priority, are typically being assigned their home care package within one month,” she said.

“We have now delivered on the number one recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety – a new Aged Care Act. Starting from July 1, 2025, the new Act will create a range of improvements including a new regulatory model, strengthened aged-care quality standards, a statement of rights and a streamlined single assessment system.”

The Act was set up in conjunction with a $4.3bn investment into a new support-at-home program, with funding in the last Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook allocated to setting up the ICT infrastructure needed for the new scheme.