Liberal Party MP Aaron Violi, the Member for Casey in the outer south east suburbs of Melbourne, introduced a Private Members Motion on Monday calling on the Federal Government to do more about the Home Care Package shortage, pointing out that the 24,100 Home Care Packages in the 2023-24 Federal Budget is fewer than half the 51,044 waiting list as of December 2023.
"This year alone, my office has been contacted by many constituents who have been told by service providers that their waitlist had closed, with too many people already on them," he said.
"Those service providers that do have waitlists do not have enough workforce to provide for those on their list."
He said one of his constituents, a 92-year-old, is unable to get on a home care waiting list because his local providers' waiting lists are full. An 89-year-old constituent has been told "no one is available to help at the moment". And a 99-year-old constituent has had her hours of care cut back.
Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie (pictured right), the Member for Mayo, which is southeast of Adelaide, supported the motion, saying many of her constituents are also struggling to get the home care services they need. Ms Sharkie has previously been vocal on aged care issues, including home care administration fees.
"Week after week, I'm contacted by elderly residents or their family members, and those residents are struggling to get a home care package," she said in Parliament.
"They've been assessed and they're just waiting. And those wait times have blown out. For the life of me, I can't work out why this is not front-page news."
"I had an elderly constituent who was approved for a level 4 home-care package in 23 September. Despite being terminally ill, she was... that allocated only 'medium' priority. After contacting my office and asking for assistance, she was advised that the timeline of one to three months was only a guideline and, sadly, we believe this person passed away without accessing any care."
Independent MP Helen Haines, the member for Indi in north eastern Victoria, said many home care operators in her electorate have also closed their books because of a "backlog" of customers caused by long travel distances eating into care time and the shortage of trained and suitable workers.
On the date of the election, 21 May 2022, waiting times were three to six months for all HCP levels, including the high-needs levels 3 and 4.
The largest database of homes: agedcare101
