Aged care in limbo: The delay devastating older Australians
Published on 11 June 2025
One week after the government suddenly announced that the new Aged Care Act would be delayed until 1 November, the sector continues to grapple with the repercussions.
Frustration with the reform process had already left many dissatisfied with the state of play. Dissatisfaction worsened after the government revealed that essential Home Care Packages will be delayed by four months, in line with the new 1 November start date for Support at Home.
These are just some of the major issues that aged care is now facing as it forges ahead on a new reform timeline that critics still believe older Australians and providers will be let down by.
Home care left in the lurch
Support at Home was meant to be the knight in shining armour for home care, the hero that would provide essential support and care to older Australians living at home.
Unfortunately, the additional four months could be the difference between living at home or entering hospital, residential care, or even death.
ABC Radio’s AM highlighted the issue on Wednesday morning as reporter Evelyn Manfield spoke to the cousin of the late Robyn Rawson. The 93-year-old passed away last year while still living at home — exactly where she wanted to be.
Robyn had been approved for a level 4 Home Care Package, yet she was still told it would take 6-9 months for her to even be moved up from her lower-level package.
“I can remember her saying at the time ‘That’s not much use to me ‘cause I’m going to be dead by then.’ And she certainly was. Within the next couple of months she deteriorated and passed away without receiving any of the benefits that she needed in those crucial last weeks of her life,” Kay Pritchard shared.
Roughly 80,000 people are on the waitlist for a Home Care Package. By no coincidence, Support at Home would have introduced 83,000 new packages from 1 July.
With Robyn’s 6-9 month wait time actually at the better end of the scale, some people are waiting 12 to 15 months, which is an unacceptable delay for many older Australians.
It also puts the government’s goal of reducing wait times to three months by 2027 in real jeopardy.
This delay has resulted in a major outcry from the aged care sector and federal crossbenchers, including independent members and senators.
The parliamentarians signed an open letter calling on the government to, at a minimum, fund 20,000 new packages to commence on 1 July 2025 under the current Home Care Packages scheme. These packages can then roll over onto the Support at Home when it commences.
Dr Helen Haines, the independent Member for Indi, said waiting until November will only result in the home care waitlist growing further, placing more and more pressure on providers as a result.
“While the sector acknowledges this delay as a frustrating but necessary step, we need more home care packages now to bridge the gap until November,” Dr Haines shared.
“In my electorate, people have approved packages but are waiting months for care because of a lack of providers. We also can’t delay the rollout of a pricing framework that fairly reflects the travel costs to deliver care in rural areas.”
Allegra Spender, the independent Member for Wentworth, said urgent action is needed to help lower waiting times.
“I regularly hear heartbreaking stories of parents and grandparents who are eligible for home care packages, but end up in aged-care facilities unnecessarily, because the home care package takes too long,” Ms Spender said.
“The rationing of home care packages fails families and older Australians and simply places more burden and costs on our aged care system. The government needs to deliver on its promise to provide more home care packages.”
In total, ten crossbenchers have signed the open letter, with Senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie joined by the likes of Andrew Wilkie and Dr Sophie Scamps, the independent member for Mackellar.
“These delays to Home Care Packages are putting pressure on families who are struggling to care for their loved ones and desperately need urgent support right now,” Dr Scamps added.
Even Ageing Australia Chief Executive Officer Tom Symondson has thrown his verbal support behind the open letter, telling AM that the sector needs to see those packages flowing through the system.
“If we don’t see them flow until November, we’re just going to see potentially well over 100,000 people waiting. When you’re all talking about the highest level of package, it’s almost $80,000 a year of support. That is absolutely life changing for an older person wanting to stay at home,” Mr Symondson said.
The information wasteland
There are countless reasons as to why the new Aged Care Act was delayed. Some have placed the blame on providers, stating they need more time to prepare (which they do). Others put the blame squarely on the government’s shoulders, emphasising that it is the key player that’s unprepared.
Realistically, all of the issues plaguing the reform journey are linked. However, at the very heart of it all, is an information wasteland.
Providers have been crying out for clear communication from the government and all relevant departments to assist with preparations for 1 July. The May election and caretaker conventions did not help in any way.
To their credit, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing/Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission have released and promoted new resources recently. This includes new training modules for Support at Home, a Priority Actions List, plus a detailed overview of all the upcoming changes and resources available to providers.
It may have been incredibly late for a 1 July implementation, but it will help for 1 November. Unfortunately, there is still a lot flying under the radar.
Ben Happ has been keeping a close eye on changes occurring in the Support at Home space, with a recent LinkedIn post highlighting how he stumbled across an updated version of the Support at Home Provider Transition Guide.
This was despite the lack of announcement or recognition by the department that updates to the document were made.
Mr Happ then discovered other May updates to the likes of Claims & Payments Business Rules Guidance, the Monthly Statement Template, Program Manual, and Assistive Technology & Home Modifications (AT-HM) List.
“I have no idea at this point as to the scale or importance of these updates but the fact that the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is not making the updates to these critical documents easier for providers to identify and quantify has me pissed off,” he wrote
“With everything we are expected to be doing at the moment, how hard would it be for the person who uploads the updated document into their DMS to change the date stamp so it appears at the top of their resources feed in chronological order.
“Can we also please have consistency in keeping a table of version history and their changes in all documents (not just some).”
After running the documents through Adobe Pro’s Compare Files tool, he found several notable changes across the content.
For the most part, the changes are linked to formatting and page numbering, with the exception of new hyperlinks and minor corrections to figures.
There were, of course, exceptions. The AT-HM List now includes ISO codes, while some item examples have been removed, and it appeared to introduce potential funding of guide and signal canes, incontinence alarms, dishwashing sinks, pointing lamps and toilet paper tongs.
In a sign of the times, the document was also updated after he made his original post.
Whether it is a simple update to service lists or the postponement of essential Home Care Packages, it seems like aged care providers are still the last to know.
Hopefully, that will change with new faces leading aged care reform. If not, providers won’t be the only ones under sustained pressure: residents, clients and families ultimately have the most to lose.