Colbeck: Home Care Package wait list “worse than in 2019”

Delays in accessing home care are again under scrutiny, with former Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck drawing comparisons to pre-Royal Commission wait times.

The Aged Care Minister from 2020 to 2022 recalled his Government’s record on reducing the home care waiting list in the aftermath of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Safety and Quality in the Senate last week.  

Senator Richard Colbeck came under intense attacks from the then-Labor Opposition for his Government’s track record on home care when he was Aged Care Minister. 

“In 2019, the number of people on the national waiting list for a Home Care Package was somewhere in the order of 128,000 people,” he said. “It was way too high. Worse, the waiting time was over 12 months – in some cases, more than two years.”

“The Royal Commission into Aged Care told us unequivocally that it had to be fixed.”

In response, the then-Morrison Government funded an extra 118,000 Home Care Packages into the system, reducing the waiting list from 128,000 to a bit over 28,000 and reduced the waiting time for a Home Care Package up to 90 days.  

“The absolute tragedy and disgrace that we see today is that the numbers now are worse than they were in 2019,” he said.  

There are currently more than 130,000 people on the national waiting list and another 100,000 people waiting to be assessed. The national average waiting time is 14 months. In 2024-25, nearly 5,000 people died waiting for a Home Care Package.  

“It is not good enough,” the Senator said.