The Federal Government's allocation of $531.4 million for 24,100 additional Home Care Packages in 2024-25 is not enough to solve the fact that people will still be on the home care waiting list, which already has some older Australians waiting more than 12 months to receive the level of care they are assessed as needing.
The Minister for Aged Care and Sport, Anika Wells, admitted so yesterday.
"We anticipate that that will help us bring the waitlist time down to a six month wait." she said.
The Povernment's latest figures show there are 51,000 people waiting for a package at their assessment level of need.
Tuesday's Budget announcement puts the average cost of a Home Care Package at about $22,000, however, historically, the average cost of a Package has been closer to $29,000.
The discrepancy indicates that most of the Home Care Packages released will be low level, either Level 1 or Level 2, despite the fact that the Home Care Packages with the greatest demand - and longest waiting times - are Level 3.
"When someone gets on to a Home Care Package, say they're assessed for a two or a three, they very rarely get on to a three," Tracey Burton, Executive Director of Uniting NSW.ACT, said yesterday.
"They might have a Package, but they're on the waiting list for the Package that they actually need.
"So, this expansion with the additional 24,000 is actually going to increase the number of people who are waiting to get lifted up that package list," Tracey said.
"There's still a lot of pressure there for the home care funding to meet the real needs of the community that's relying on it
"There'll be more people waiting for those higher level Packages."
The sector had hoped for the release of more Home Care Packages to relieve the pressure on waiting lists. Tim Hicks, Executive General Manager Policy & Advocacy at Bolton Clarke, had hoped for 40,000 Packages "to meet increased demand". Aged and Community Care Providers Association, the peak body for aged care providers, put the figure at 80,000 in its pre-Budget submission.
