The government says it is on track to meet the 1 November deadline of allocating 20,000 new home care packages before the new Support at Home program commences.
As of Monday this week, 6,665 packages have been allocated with releases later this week expected to take that number to half of the additional 20,000 packages, Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae said in a statement on Tuesday.
The remaining packages are on track for allocation before the Home Care Packages program transitions to the new Support at Home program on 1 November.
The “delivery of these packages means more older Australians will get the care they need, when they need it, taking pressure off our hospital system and giving so many the world-class care they deserve in the places they love,” Mr Rae said.
The government agreed to release 20,000 additional home care packages before 1 November under an agreement made in early September to support Opposition amendments to aged care legislation. Another 20,000 Support at Home places will follow between then and the end of the year under the deal.
Labor also promised to release an additional 43,000 new Support at Home places – the remainder of the 83,000 promised new places under Support at Home – in the first half of 2026.
The announcements followed a Senate Inquiry – which last week called for the end of rationing of home care – and data revealed in the Senate about the growing waitlist for home care.
As of 31 July, over 108,000 people were waiting for the home care package they had already been approved for and another 120,000 seniors were waiting for an aged care assessment.
Mr Rae said demand for in-home care has more than doubled in the last five years to an anticipated 320,000 people by 31 October 2025 compared to around 155,000 home care packages in 2020.
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