Anglicare Australia has launched a report showing that older Australians are spending months without support while they wait for care at home.
Some are being pushed into residential aged care and even hospital as their health worsens.
Life on the Wait List surveys aged care providers and finds that:
- There is surging demand for care at home, especially for domestic assistance and equipment
- None of the aged care providers surveyed could meet demand for home support in their communities
- Funding constraints were the biggest barrier to meeting demand.
“Our findings show that the Government’s funding boost for care at home can’t come soon enough,” said Anglicare Australia’s Acting Executive Director Maiy Azize.
“The wait list for care has ballooned to 68,000, double what it was just one year ago. People are facing excruciating waits to get the care they’re entitled to – time they simply don’t have.
“Some are forced to wait so long that their condition worsens, and they get pushed into residential care before they’re ready. Others end up in hospital as they try to cope with daily life without the help they need.
“These Australians are eagerly awaiting the Government’s new Support at Home program. We congratulate the Government for taking action that is so badly needed. When the new program begins in July next year, it will be a game changer for older people across the country.
“But with such a massive waiting list on the books now, we need to make sure people who have already been waiting for too long can get the help they need. We’re calling on the Government to release enough Home Care Packages to clear the wait list in its next mid-year Budget update.
“That will set the new system up for success, stopping it from inheriting a rapidly growing wait list before it even starts. And it will stop older people from spending more time they don’t have waiting for care without any other support. “This is a critical investment that will help more older Australians get the care they need, when they need it, where they need it.”