Older Australians are waiting for up to 12 months for home aged care services as the sector accuses Labor of taking its foot off the pedal ahead of the Budget. Source: The Australian.
The Australian revealed wait times for aged care services have blown out significantly under the Albanese Government, sparking warnings older people are dying before getting help.
According to the Government’s latest quarterly home care packages report, elderly people seeking more intense levels of support are waiting up to a year compared to up to six months under the former government.
Industry leaders and the Coalition have accused Labor of failing to provide enough funding for home care packages given it is an area of exponential growth.
The delay in people receiving help at home comes despite Labor’s pledge to fix the aged care sector, with Aged Care Minister Anika Wells attacking the Morrison government’s “rush-job on home care” and promising to “get in-home care back on track” soon after Labor took office in 2022.
Amid mounting concerns from the sector that the Government’s care agenda has been derailed ahead of the May 14 budget, Aged Care Industry Association chief executive Peter Hoppo urged it to “make the tough decisions necessary to ensure that we can afford the aged care system older Australians deserve”.
Independent South Australian MP Rebekha Sharkie blamed the blowout in wait times on a reduction of packages allocated by the Government in the last federal budget, saying “people are dying waiting for care in the home”.
“I believe the current wait lists are a result of the Government only allocating 9500 packages in the last federal budget,” she said.
“For years, government had allocated 40,000 packages per annum and made headway in reducing delays and allocating packages to those who needed them. We need to see investment in this year’s federal budget or older Australians will continue to suffer.”
FULL STORY
Wait times for aged care support blow out under Labor (By Jess Malcolm, The Australian)
