The number of people accessing aged care services has increased by more than 12,000 in a year, according to the GEN Aged Care Data Report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) released late last month.
The data shows that the total number of admissions into RAC, home care and transition care across Australia is up from 216,500 in 2016-17 to 229,471 in 2017-18.
But there has been a decrease in the number of admissions into permanent RAC – from 73,100 in 2016-17 to 71,928 in 2017-18.
The number of people accessing respite care, however, is up from 75,338 in 2016-17 to 79,099 in 2017-18, while home care has also increased to 52,666 in 2017-18 compared to 43,173 the previous year.
Further data from the AIHW also revealed patterns in those leaving aged care. The statistics indicate that on average, women stayed in permanent residential care (two years and 10 months) almost a year longer than men (two years) in 2017-2018.
