A Senate inquiry could soon be launched into the Albanese Government’s decision to withhold the release of 20,000 additional Home Care Packages – despite more than 87,000 older Australians remaining stuck on the national waitlist.
Independent ACT Senator David Pocock this week gave notice of a motion to refer the matter to the Community Affairs References Committee for inquiry, with a vote due to take place on Monday 28 July.
The proposed inquiry would scrutinise the consequences of delaying the Support at Home program to 1 November – while also withholding the release of any new Home Care Packages until then.
Government rejected crossbench plea
The call comes after the Government knocked back a joint plea from a group of crossbench MPs and Senators, including Pocock, who wrote to Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae in June asking the Government to urgently release additional Packages from 1 July to address the growing waitlist.
In a letter to the crossbenchers, seen by The Weekly SOURCE, Minister Rae stated:
“We made the difficult decision to defer the start date of the Act until 1 November, so that providers, clients and staff working in the sector are ready for the transition.
“We recognise that the deferral of the Act has implications for those who are receiving or eligible to receive home care, and that the consequence of deferral is that new funding for Support at Home packages will commence rolling out at a later time. We will continue to monitor the impact of the deferral over the period until 1 November, particular as regards access to home care.”
“Huge human cost” of delayed care
The Government’s decision means the rollout of the 83,000 new Packages promised for 2025-26 under Support at Home will now be delayed until November.
“While the Home Care program will transition to a new Support at Home model in November, there’s no reason to withhold desperately needed Home Care Packages in the interim,” Senator Pocock said in a press release.
“There is a huge human cost to delaying the release of more Home Care Packages. For some people, that means being stuck in hospital longer because they can’t get the support they need to return home safely. For others, it means entering residential aged care earlier than they otherwise would have or simply struggling at home without the help they need.”
Families were contacting his office “in absolute despair”, the Senator said, adding that a system where people are effectively waiting for another recipient to die in order to access a Package is “completely unacceptable”.
Inquiry to examine full fallout of delay
The motion tabled this week outlines wide-ranging terms of reference for the proposed inquiry, including:
- The impact of the delay on seniors, their families and carers;
- The ability of the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) to meet demand until November;
- The flow-on effect on State and Territory hospital systems;
- Impacts on the aged care workforce;
- And the feasibility of the Government meeting its own target to reduce Home Care Package wait times to 90 days by mid-2027.
The Greens and Coalition have indicated support for the motion, alongside several crossbench Senators, with the inquiry to report by 15 October 2025 if it proceeds.
Senator Pocock questioned how the Government could meet its 90-day wait time promise without immediate intervention.
“Refusing the request to release Home Care Packages simply isn’t good enough when there is a clear solution the Government could implement,” he said.
The latest data from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing shows over 87,000 Australians remain on the national queue for a Home Care Package, with many waiting more than 12 months to receive the highest level of care.
