One-quarter of the 108,000 older people listed for home care are missing out on support through either a home care package of the Commonwealth Home Support Program, according to the latest home care data for January to March.
77,918 Australians were being supported by home care packages at 31 December 2017 – a 12-month increase of 9,261 – but Labor says demand is outstripping funding.
Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt has laid the blame for the figures squarely on Labor’s Living Longer Living Better however.
“Under Labor, older Australians were subjected to unbearable delays in assessment and service delivery for home care support,” he said.
“Now Labor lies about the number of older Australians waiting to receive support from the Commonwealth.”
The Government has promised to increase the number of home care packages from 87,500 now to 151,000 by 2022 including 34,000 of the more in-demand higher-level packages.
