The Government will immediately roll out the new Home Care Packages (HCPs), but none have been allocated to the highest Level 4 as the Government seeks to rebalance waiting times and reduce the amount of unspent funds in the system – now approaching $1 billion.
The previous release last November in response to the Royal Commission’s Interim Report included 3,000 Level 4 packages across 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison stressed that his Government had invested in 50,000 new places – at a cost of $3 billion – since the 2018/19 Budget in May 2018, over two years ago.
However, COTA Chief Executive Ian Yates (pictured) has already said the new packages are well short of what is needed by the Government’s own standard. He wants a maximum two-month wait time after assessment.
“It’s still unacceptable that people can wait for over a year for high care at home after they have been assessed as needing it,” he said.
The latest data shows 104,000 older Australians were on the waiting list for their approved HCP as of 31 December 2019 – over 21,000 waiting for a Level 4.
Of the 104,000, only 2.1% (around 2,185 people) didn’t have a lower-level package or access to CHSP services.
