An average of 17 older Australians died while waiting to receive necessary home care each day last year, according to the latest official figures – an increase of more than a third on the previous year. Source: ABC News.
New data published by the Health Department revealed 6436 older Australians approved for Support at Home, but in the queue for funding, died in 2025-26.
The figure is an almost 34 per cent increase from the 4812 people who died while waiting under the former National Priority System for home care packages in the previous year.
However, the figures are not directly comparable, because of the transition from the older system to the current one.
“Everybody on the wait list is a person; they’re not a statistic or a number,” Shadow Health Minister Anne Ruston said.
The Opposition said the data emerged after the Albanese Government failed to comply with two Senate orders to produce the figures.
Council on the Ageing Australia chief executive Patricia Sparrow described the figures as “an absolute tragedy”, which demonstrated just how badly the system was keeping up with demand.
Ms Sparrow said when people did not get support at home for basic needs like showering or eating they could end up in hospital or be forced to move into residential aged care sooner.
“We need to make sure older people are respected … they don’t put their hand up for assistance until they really need it,” she said.
More than 106,000 Australians were on the official waiting list for a Support at Home place as of June 30.
The waitlist, known as the Support At Home priority system, determines how older people are prioritised for funding, and also includes people who are already receiving funding for a lower level of care, and are waiting for a higher level to be allocated.
Aged Care Minister Sam Rae said the rate of people who died waiting for Support at Home was “significantly lower than the rate of death for older Australians in the broader population”.
Mr Rae said while there was “more work to do” the government had delivered an additional 83,000 home care places in 2025-26, with a further 32,000 rolling out this year.
FULL STORY
An average of 17 older Australians died every day waiting for home care last year, new figures reveal (By Stephanie Dalzell and Paige Cockburn, ABC News)
