With just days to go until polling day, aged care has finally re-entered the political spotlight – but for the tens of thousands of older Australians still waiting for care, election promises offer little comfort.
This week, The Australian reported that Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care Anne Ruston made a late bid to win over aged care providers, pledging that a Coalition Government would reduce home care wait times to zero.
It’s a promise that echoes Senator Ruston’s submission to our political wishlist series, published in the pre-Election edition of SATURDAY. Speaking to The Weekly SOURCE, the Senator said:
“We will continue with the goal of working towards no Australian having to wait for the home care they have been assessed as needing.
“Zero is the only acceptable goal.”
But despite the strong rhetoric, there was no commitment to additional funding – or the urgent release of more Home Care Packages – the only meaningful way to eliminate the backlog of more than 81,000 people.
That makes this another promise made without a plan.
It’s a familiar refrain. Aged care barely rated a mention during last week’s National Press Club debate between Senator Ruston and Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler (pictured above). As one letter writer to the editor rightly pointed out (pictured top), the silence speaks volumes.
Ruth has every right to be angry.
As we report in this edition, providers are seeing a worrying slowdown in the release of Home Care Packages – leaving older Australians and their families in limbo.
Juniper CEO Russell Bricknell shared that his own father-in-law, who lives with advanced dementia, waited over a year for an assessment and a Package.
And the looming transition to the new Support at Home program on 1 July threatens to further disrupt the onboarding of new clients, putting even more pressure on an already overburdened system.
Without real action, more older Australians – frail, isolated, and sometimes without family – will be left waiting. Waiting for care. Waiting for assessments. Waiting for a bed.
Still, there is hope – and it lies within the sector itself.
This week marks the conclusion of our CEO political wishlist series. While each leader brought forward different priorities, one message stood out: the urgent need for a national strategy for aged care, led by providers in partnership with Government and stakeholders.
As we reported in SATURDAY, Whiddon CEO Chris Mamarelis is leading a new regional collaboration tackling health and aged care challenges through a provider-led, solutions-focused approach.
This is what leadership looks like. It’s grounded. It’s collaborative. And it’s delivering results.
If Whiddon can lead, others can – and must – follow.
