“Unacceptable impact”, “broken promise”: consumer peaks lash Govt on home care

Advocates for the Older Person’s Advocacy Network (OPAN) are receiving hundreds of calls daily from consumers experiencing problems with Support at Home.

OPAN CEO Craig Gear said: “Our network member independent aged care advocates have reached capacity and are under significant demand taking hundreds of calls from older people every day with concerns about Support at Home.”

Consumers are concerned about price increases, reductions in services, complex service agreements, and interim funding with no certainty about when full funding will be available.

“Older people are telling advocates and OPAN that they do feel worse off under the new system – even those who may not be paying more themselves – that they are reporting receiving less services due to price increases.

“The problems also include a lack of transparency and comparability on pricing from providers despite a 7 November 2025 deadline.”

Last week’s Senate Estimates revealed:

• 93% of the Home Care Packages released in October were Interim Packages,
• 113,150 older Australians are awaiting an aged care assessment, and
• 107,281 are waiting for their correct level of home care.

OPAN is demanding the Government act “this year” to improve assessment timeframes, address higher prices, increase pricing transparency, and commit to a 10-week maximum time for Interim Packages.

Patricia Sparrow, CEO of Council of the Ageing (COTA), said the fact the 20,000 additional Home Care Packages released in October were ‘interim’ packages came as “a shock”.

COTA has received reports from consumers related to several issues, including sharp price increases, long wait times for reassessments, and pressure to sign contracts immediately.

Despite the Government’s ‘no worse off’ principle, Patricia said many older people are receiving less care for the same out-of-pocket cost. “Older people are telling us they are worse off as a result,” she said.

“Providers have also been slow to publish their prices. It’s welcome that Government and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission are now enforcing this requirement.”

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing sent a joint email to home care operators last week reminding them of their responsibility to maintain current prices online. 

Patricia said, one month into the new Support at Home program, consumers are being “let down” so far by the reforms.

Both OPAN and COTA Australia backed the new Aged Care Act and the reforms.