Another 46% reported they were only able to provide respite care some of the time, according to the survey of 112 services.
74% of aged care providers also reported high or very high demand for emergency respite, while 88% reported the same for planned respite.
Overall, weekend respite was the hardest to access (72%) followed by emergency respite (68%) and planned respite (66%).
The report also reveals the top reasons listed for not accessing respite were low availability of places (81%), high care needs (68%) and affordability (62%) – issues that would all be familiar to providers.
The fact is most providers don’t have the staff or facilities to offer respite care to people with dementia or high care needs.
Who will take the blame though?
