WA Aged Care Minister demands urgent action on home care shortfalls

Western Australia’s Aged Care Minister, Simone McGurk, has voiced her deep frustration at the ongoing delays in aged care support that are leaving vulnerable older people stuck in hospitals or transitional care with no clear pathway home.

Her comments follow the story of 90-year-old Jean McLaren, reported by The West Australian, who remains in a Mosman Park aged care facility instead of in her own home due to delays in upgrading her Commonwealth-funded home care package.

After a month in hospital, Ms McLaren was assessed as needing more support before returning to her Baldivis home. However, like tens of thousands of Australians, she has been left waiting. The national home care package waitlist now exceeds 87,000 people.

“I want to sleep in my own bed, go to my own bathroom,” Ms McLaren told The West Australian. “My husband and I bought that home and downsized for this very reason, so we could manage if one of us went first.”

Minister McGurk said Ms McLaren’s situation is not unique and reflects a broader problem impacting the state’s health and aged care systems.

“We’re sending a clear message to the Federal Government that we need more home care packages urgently,” Ms McGurk said. “Western Australia is getting less than our fair share, and the lack of available packages is putting pressure on already stretched aged care services and our public hospitals. It’s just not acceptable.”

With an average of 215 people across WA hospitals waiting for aged care services, the shortage is contributing to longer hospital stays and blocking beds for those who need acute care.

In response to this growing issue, the WA Government has committed $5 million to fund 42 transitional “time to think” beds, like the one Ms McLaren is currently in. These are designed to bridge the gap between hospital and home or permanent aged care, but they are not a long-term solution.

The Federal Government had planned to launch a new Aged Care Act and introduce more than 80,000 new home care places on 1 July 2025. However, the start date has now been pushed back to November.

Federal Aged Care Minister Sam Rae said the delay was to give providers more time to adjust to the changes. “The brief deferral will give aged care providers more time to prepare their clients, support their workers and get their systems ready for these historic changes,” he said.

But Minister McGurk said that while providers may have welcomed the pause in regulation, the delay in releasing new home care packages has only made the situation worse.

“All states are expressing frustration at the Federal Government’s slow response,” she said. “We really need those home care packages. Deferring them was not welcome.”

Ms McLaren, who has five children, ten grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren, said she’s grateful for the care she’s received so far. But she is eager to return to the comfort and familiarity of her own home, where memories of her late husband remain.

“I feel great,” she said. “It’s good to be alive. That’s a bonus.”