One million Australians will have dementia by 2065. Is this budget enough to get ahead of the crisis?

The Federal Government has committed more than $224 million to dementia-specific initiatives in its 2026-27 Budget, a move welcomed by Dementia Australia – though the peak body is calling on Canberra to go further and fully fund the ten-year National Dementia Action Plan.

What the budget promises

The centrepiece of the dementia package is a $200 million investment to expand the Specialist Dementia Care Program (SDCP), adding up to 20 new units nationally, and to scale up the Hospital to Aged Care Dementia Support Program from 11 to 20 locations. For aged care providers, the expansion of both programs is significant: specialist dementia units provide intensive, purpose-built care for people with the most complex behavioural and psychological symptoms – precisely the cohort that places the heaviest demands on mainstream residential facilities and their staff.

The Budget also allocates $6.7 million to continue the Support for Informal Carers respite grants program for a further year, and $11.5 million to sustain the National Centre for Monitoring Dementia within the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ensuring that progress against the National Dementia Action Plan continues to be tracked and reported.

Health Minister Mark Butler framed the broader aged care package – a $3 billion commitment spanning beds, home care and dementia supports – in unambiguous terms.

“Dignity in older age – through a world class aged care system – is the least our parents and grandparents deserve,” he said. 

Minister for Aged Care Sam Rae echoed that sentiment in welcoming the personal care changes that sit alongside the dementia package, noting:

“Showering, dressing, continence care – these aren’t optional extras. They’re the basics of ageing with dignity, and no older Australian should miss out because of cost.”

The impact on aged care providers

For aged care leaders, the expansion of the SDCP addresses a longstanding pressure point. People living with advanced dementia and complex needs have historically been difficult to place appropriately, often remaining in hospital longer than necessary or being managed in general residential aged care settings that lack the specialist infrastructure and trained workforce. Growing the network of dedicated units – and expanding the transition pathway from hospital – should, in theory, ease that pressure and improve outcomes for residents.

But Dementia Australia Chief Executive Officer Professor Tanya Buchanan says investment at this level, while welcome, is not yet commensurate with the scale of the challenge.

“There are an estimated 446,500 Australians living with dementia in 2026,” she said. “Without a significant intervention, the number of Australians living with dementia is expected to increase to more than one million by 2065.”

Funding needs to go beyond facilities and into the community

With two in three people with dementia currently living in the community – not in residential care – Professor Buchanan argues that funding must extend well beyond facility-based settings. “We must ensure funding extends to support all Australians of all ages, impacted by all forms of dementia, wherever they live,” she said, adding that prevention and brain health must be prioritised alongside management in acute and residential settings.

The National Dementia Action Plan, a joint ten-year commitment made by the Federal Government and all states and territories in 2024, provides the strategic framework for that broader response. Dementia Australia is urging the Government to fully fund and implement the plan – including a national brain health awareness campaign – rather than addressing dementia in a piecemeal, budget-by-budget fashion.

So, where to from here?

For leaders in aged care, the message from this budget is mixed: the investment in specialist dementia care is real, and the expansion of dedicated units will create new capacity for the sector’s most complex residents. But the workforce, community-based care, prevention, and the full architecture of the National Dementia Action Plan still await the sustained commitment that advocates have been calling for. 

As Professor Buchanan put it: “People living with dementia, their families and carers have told us and the Government what they need – and they have been patient.”

The clock, and the numbers, are not.