Tuesday night’s Federal Budget was plain vanilla when colour is required

On the surface the Budget offered little for home care and residential care operators, or for older Australians. 

$3 billion extra cash over four years was touted, but already released detail has informed the sector that a small group of regional operators who have high numbers of supported residents can apply for additional funding after they have built new beds.

The Government is hoping 5,000 new beds will materialise but this will take up to five years when the Minister Mark Butler tells us that demand says we need 5,000 every year. 

Buried in the detail was a line suggesting 40,000 additional Support at Home packages could be delivered in 2026-27 – but without any clear modelling showing what that means for waitlists, demand or the growing number of older Australians stuck waiting for care. 

Very little to get excited about. 

And here is the challenge. Next year, 2027, is when the first wave of baby Boomers turn 82, the entry age for home care. We can see this bulge in demand coming and we are not prepared. 

Does this remind you of the fuel crisis, where we knew we had just 30 days fuel but did nothing to safeguard against an international shock. 

We at DCM, talking to executives every day, see the dominoes beginning to topple in retirement villages, home and residential care. We need good people to stand up and start talking about solutions before our version of the fuel crisis overwhelms us, older Australians and their families. 

Check out our special free edition of SATURDAY in your inbox from tomorrow where we delve deeper into this challenge and opportunity. 

Meanwhile, just consider if this vanilla budget will shift any needles for you or for older Australians. We think not. 

As little extra cash is realistically available, productivity, doing more with what we have got, is the only answer.