State of Aged Care in Australia

In Australia, Heritage Care helps individuals that require assistance, transition from home independance to full-time care in a residential senior aged care facility (sometimes known as a ‘nursing home’).

Who does age care benefit?

There is no minimum age for receiving government-subsidized elderly care; instead, access is decided by evaluated needs. Even though 65 is typically the minimum age, over 19,000 under 65 required an aged care service in 2017–18. Around one-third of them (34%) were in long-term residential care. 

How many people need elderly care?

During the 2017–18 financial year, more than 1.2 million individuals received aged care services, with the majority (77%) getting assistance at home or in other community-based settings. 

• Residential elderly care was used by 7% of the population.
• At least one type of assistance or care was sought at home by 22% of those surveyed.
• 71 % of people over 65 lived at home, with no recourse to government-funded elderly care.

The Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) is the most extensive elderly care program, with about 783,000 customers in 2017–18. The program assists people in remaining self-sufficient at home and in the community.

Managing Home Care Package Access

In 2017, the National Prioritization System (NPS) was implemented, along with other improvements to the Home Care Packages Program, to offer a uniform and equitable method for assigning home care packages based on people’s unique needs and circumstances, regardless of where they live (shifting the package of funding from a service provider to the client). Apart from informing package allocation, the NPS also provides reporting on the number of individuals waiting for a package and the average wait time at their authorized level (there are four levels available).

What is the size of the aged care system?

In Australia, approximately 9,000 services (outlets) are provided by more than 3,000 aged care providers. Private providers coexist with community-based and nonprofit organizations and state, territorial, and municipal government providers. The balance of ownership types varies per program, with the residential care program having the highest amount of for-profit services (for-profit providers manage 41 percent of residential aged care places). You may visit care property management.

Growth in Aged Care

The elderly care industry is projected to increase to meet the rising older Australian population, thanks to implementing a ‘target provision ratio’ (a strategy that specifies the overall number of funded spaces per 1,000 target population. Even though most of these spaces are assigned to residential care, the home care segment is quickly expanding, reflecting customers’ expressed desire to remain at home for as long as feasible (ACFA 2018).

What are the goals and objectives of aged care?

According to the Productivity Commission (2018), the goal of the aged care system is to enhance the welfare and independence of older people (and their careers) by allowing them to remain in their own homes or supporting their care requirements in residential care. The Aged Care Act of 1997 contains this overarching goal. The Act also establishes goals for fair access based on need, high-quality care to suit individual requirements and preservation of care recipients’ health and well-being.

Policy and practices are increasingly embracing a ‘wellness and reablement’ approach, in which people are helped to restore functional ability and reclaim independence (Nous Group 2018). While statistics on this aspect of senior care are scarce, data on special needs groups’ access to aged care is available (such as Indigenous Australians, financially or socially disadvantaged people, or people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless).

Royal Commission on Aged Care

The AIHW is engaged in various research projects that will assist the Commission and contribute to the body of knowledge on healthcare quality. These studies look at how people travel between hospitals and aged care facilities and patterns of pharmaceutical usage in various aged care settings and ways of doctors (general practitioner and specialist) use in multiple settings.