The Federal Government’s latest data report on home care shows that the present ‘drip feed’ funding model is failing to reduce the overall waiting list for home care packages (HCPs).
The Department’s chart (pictured above) says that currently, Level 2 and 3 HCP recipients only have to wait three to six months to receive a package, but the package is only an interim Level 1 – they then have to wait longer for their approved level. A Level 4 recipient is waiting over a year just to get a Level 2 package and must then wait an additional year for their assigned package.
COTA and the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) are calling for these times to be brought down to a maximum of three months – a move COTA estimates would require the release of 30,000 high-level packages.
However, at the moment, the Government has only committed to providing 20,000 packages over 2019-2020 – with one half high level and the other half across all levels.
You can read the full report here.
