Wait times for aged care support blow out under Labor

Wait times for aged care services have blown out significantly under the Albanese government, as the sector accuses it of stalling ahead of the May budget.

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

Older Australians are waiting up to 12 months for home aged care services – in some cases more than twice as long as when the ­Coalition was in office – as the sector accuses Labor of taking its foot off the pedal ahead of the budget.

The Australian can reveal wait times for aged care services have blown out significantly under the Albanese government, sparking warnings older people are dying before getting help.

According to the government’s latest quarterly home care packages report, elderly people seeking more intense levels of support are waiting up to a year compared to up to six months under the former government.

Industry leaders and the Coalition have accused Labor of failing to provide enough funding for home care packages given it is an area of exponential growth.

The delay in people receiving help at home comes despite Labor’s pledge to fix the aged care sector, with Aged Care Minister Anika Wells attacking the Morrison government’s “rush-job on home care” and promising to “get in-home care back on track” soon after Labor took office in 2022.

Amid mounting concerns from the sector that the government’s care agenda has been derailed ahead of the May 14 budget, Aged Care Industry Association chief executive Peter Hoppo urged it to “make the tough decisions necessary to ensure that we can afford the aged care system older Australians deserve”.

“It is difficult to criticise the government’s enthusiasm for wanting a higher quality of aged care in Australia, but as we move toward the budget and an election year, it does feel like they are starting to take their foot off the pedal when it comes to ensuring that the sector is on a sustainable footing,” Mr Hoppo said.

“A crucial piece of the puzzle for us is what is happening in relation to the recommendations of the Aged Care Taskforce. Given that the minister chaired the taskforce, it is of great concern that it is taking so long for the government to come back with any commitments regarding the recommendations.”

Independent South Australian MP Rebekha Sharkie blamed the blowout in wait times on a reduction of packages allocated by the government in the last federal budget, saying “people are dying waiting for care in the home”.

“I believe the current wait lists are a result of the government only allocating 9500 packages in the last federal budget,” she said.

“For years, government had ­allocated 40,000 packages per annum and made headway in reducing delays and allocating packages to those who needed them. We need to see investment in this year’s federal budget or older Australians will continue to suffer.”

The aged care sector has become increasingly agitated at the government’s handling of the issue, after Labor revealed attempts to overhaul the nation’s aged care system and give new rights to protect elderly residents would be pushed out indefinitely.

The government is also seeking to delay aged care workers’ wage rises of up to 13.5 per cent, prompting warnings from unions staff would leave the sector.

Providers are also urging Labor to respond to the recommendations of a taskforce that investigated how to make the sys­tem more sustainable, and recom­mended wealthier people pay more for care and be supported by the government to stay in their own homes for as long as possible.

The final report was handed to the government in December but not yet released until last month, and the government has not yet responded to its recommendations. Ms Wells said the government was committed to helping people remain independent in their homes for as long as possible. She attacked the former Coalition government for allowing wait times to blow out to “three years with more than 129,000 people waiting for care in 2019”.

“People assessed as having an urgent need for care, approved as a high priority, are being assigned their Home Care Package within one month,” Ms Wells said. “Over 284,000 people now have access to a Home Care Package, more than ever before.”

Aged and Community Care Providers Association chief executive Tom Symondson urged the government to fund an additional 80,000 home care packages in 2024-25 and invest $6.1bn across three years, warning there must not be a lag between supply and demand.

Council on the Ageing chief executive Patricia Sparrow said people should not have to wait up to a year to receive help at home and deserved “swift access to support to live safely … at home”. She urged the government to “act now” to reduce wait times to no more than 30 days from application to first service.

“The government has promised transparency and accountability as part of aged care reform, and this should include a transparent waitlist report,” she said.

“This should include a measure of the time from application to start of the first service, covering home care, home support and residential care. Without this, Australians will remain in the dark about the true wait times for aged care.”

Opposition health and aged care spokeswoman Anne Ruston attacked Ms Wells for failing to support older Australians to remain in their own homes, noting Labor had funded only an additional 9500 home care packages in its recent budget compared to 80,000 packages under the former government over two years.