The human cost of aged care reform has been laid bare at the Senate Inquiry into Aged Care Service Delivery, with ACT provider Community Options warning that vulnerable clients are being left without support as smaller operators exit the system.
In its submission, the Not For Profit detailed the case of “Maria”, an 80-year-old woman from a culturally and linguistically diverse background who had long relied on her case manager to help her navigate complex health and social challenges.
When Community Options withdrew from aged care earlier this year, Maria was transferred to another provider. Despite being assessed as eligible for ongoing support, she has been left without services.
Several providers declined to take her on due to the complexity of her needs, leaving her isolated and at risk. Community Options has continued to provide informal support despite no longer being funded to do so.
“This case shows what happens when trusted, relationship-based care is stripped away,” the organisation said. “Clients with higher needs are falling through the cracks, and frontline staff are working beyond funded hours just to keep them safe.”
“No viable future beyond 2027”
Community Options’ board voted in January to withdraw from aged care after 35 years, citing the incompatibility of its brokerage model with the new Support at Home program.
Executive Director of Client Services Brendan Taber said survival would have meant “slashing staff-client ratios – a compromise we weren’t willing to make."
The provider has since transitioned 150 CHSP clients and 180 Home Care Packages to other organisations. But Brendan warned the replacements often mean heavier caseloads and less personalisation, pointing to one provider managing 900 clients with just two coordinators.
Community Options CEO Brian Corley (pictured top) told the Inquiry many CHSP providers saw “no viable future beyond 2027.”
“Better to exit now than die slowly,” he said. “Without long-term certainty, the workforce will not stay.”
The testimony came amid growing alarm over home care wait times, with the Inquiry hearing that 121,596 older Australians remain stuck in the assessment queue and nearly 5,000 died last year waiting for the right level of care.
The Inquiry delivers its final report on 15 September 2025.
