Over 24,000 more Home Care Packages – What does it mean for you?

The 2024–25 Budget was announced earlier this month, and the Albanese Government continues to bolster Aged Care services with a focus on enhancing quality, safety, and accountability.

In addressing waitlists for Home Care, the government is investing $531.4 million to provide an extra 24,100 Home Care Packages in 2024–25. Furthermore, through the Strengthening Medicare package, older Australians will have improved access to healthcare services, including hospital outreach services, virtual care, and short-term care after hospital stays.

The evidence is clear that people’s physical and mental health is better at home and early investment reduces longer-term costs to society when people remain at home:

• Timely support at home delays or can avoid entirely entry into an Aged Care Home
• Quality care at home take stress off the broader health system, with less non-emergency ambulance calls, less visits to GPs and less hospital admissions
• People simply want to remain living in their own homes as they age – with the right supports in place.

Decades of neglect has eroded our Aged Care system

The Aged Care system has suffered from neglect and systematic underfunding and light-touch regulation as captured in the Royal Commission’s report Care, Dignity and Respect. However a shining light for those who could access it was the introduction of Home Care Packages in 2017 which has supported hundreds of thousands of Australians to remain living at home.

Home Care Packages provide a coordinated approach to support at home with funding that is flexible and tailored to an individual’s needs. There are four levels of Home Care Packages, each offering a different amount of funding based on the recipient’s care needs:

Level 1 – Basic care needs – $10,271 per year

Level 2 – Low care needs – $18,064 per year

Level 3 – Intermediate care needs – $39,311 per year

Level 4 – High care needs – $59,594 per year

Home Care Packages have been transformative for hundreds of thousands of Australians

The introduction of the Home Care Package program has been the most significant and impactful change to Aged Care in Australia. At its best, it has connected older Australians needing support to remain living at home with skilled workers who can not only deliver quality supports but also connect older Australians to community programs that meet their needs and personal preferences. For this reason, CareAbout welcomes the additional 24,100 Home Care Packages released in the Budget.

Empowering people through collaboration with quality Aged Care providers

The essence of the Home Care Package program is Consumer Directed Care, with people at the centre, however the system isn’t perfect and we’ve repeatedly called for a redistribution of funds to clear the bottle-neck of people waiting on assessment to access the program. There are also issues with workforce shortages that are only now starting to be redressed with the 15% Aged Care worker pay rise and there’s still existing complexity in ensuring you’re in the right-stream of support.

Biggest ever pay rise to Aged Care workers in the history of the Fair Work Act

A key announcement of the Budget includes a substantial $11.3 billion investment to improve the wages of Aged Care workers, marking the largest one-off increase in history, with further increases planned for the future. This will help retain and attract skilled workers to support older Australians.

Aged care workers have been undervalued and underpaid for too long,” said Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler. “We are supporting a wage increase for them because it’s the right thing to do.

A robust Home Care program benefits everyone

The Home Care Package program has transformed the lives of so many. The extra Home Care Packages being released will allow an additional 24,100 Australians to remain living safely at home in the way that they choose. Maintaining independence and freedom of choice is fundamental to quality of life, and we are thrilled to be in a position to help our customers do so through finding them quality, trusted Home Care providers.