Advocacy groups looking for more support this election

As Australia settles into caretaker period in preparation for the election on 3 May, several advocacy groups offering services critical to the aged care sector have called for better funding and support from the next federal government amid fears they will be left behind at a crucial time for the sector.

Dementia Australia says lack of awareness critical

As dementia continues its path to becoming the nation’s leading cause of death, Dementia Australia is calling on all political parties to commit to immediate action and hosting a series of information sessions to assist people living with dementia, their families and carers with information and support in the lead up to the election.

Dementia Australia chief executive officer Professor Tanya Buchanan said with an estimated 433,300 Australians living with dementia, 29,000 people living with younger onset dementia, and around 1.7 million people involved in their care, dementia cannot be ignored during this election.

“The situation is already critical with our hospitals, acute care and aged care systems all unable to meet demand. Two in three people living with dementia live in the community and there are long waits to receive home care packages,” Professor Buchanan said.

“People living with dementia wait longer in hospitals to get access to residential aged care than someone who doesn’t have dementia. The length of stay in hospital is five times longer than for someone without dementia.

“Without a significant intervention the number of Australians who will be living with dementia is set to double in the next 30 years. We simply cannot afford to wait, the 48th Parliament must be the one to commit to action,” Professor Buchanan said.

Dementia Australia has called for federal government commitments to:

• launch a national conversation on dementia to raise awareness of the condition and to promote brain health at all ages
• establish a team of dementia specialist care coordinators within Dementia Australia to deliver nationally consistent support and navigation to people living with dementia, their families and carers
• build the capability of the workforce to provide care and support for people living with dementia.

While we cannot change getting older, genetics or family history, Professor Buchanon said scientific research showed looking after brain health could make a big difference to reducing or delaying the risk of developing dementia.

“Dementia prevalence data is available for every Federal electorate – for 2025 and with projections to 2054. We recommend all parties, independents and candidates use this data to help them understand why dementia must be a policy priority nationally and for their electorates,” she said.

Dementia Australia advisory committee chair Ann Pietsch, who lives with Lewy body dementia, also emphasised the importance of all political parties and candidates keeping a focus on dementia.

“Raising awareness and educating people about dementia is of paramount importance for all Australians – there is still much to be done,” Ms Pietsch said.

Fund national falls prevention group programs, says APA

April marks Falls Prevention Awareness Month, and the 2025 theme is falls prevention is everyone’s business. With this in mind the APA is calling for the next federal government to fully fund a nationally consistent, twice-weekly group falls prevention program, delivered by physiotherapists through primary health networks.

Falls are a significant cause of potential harm in healthcare and a national safety and quality priority, with an older person hospitalised from a fall every three minutes in Australia. But according to a survey of 1,040 Australians completed by independent consumer research agency Antenna on behalf of APA more than a third ranked falls and fall-related injuries as the least concerning health risk.

“Falls cause more than just broken bones. They lead to isolation, fear, loss of dignity – and in some cases, death. We know what works. We just need the government to fund it,” APA national president and gerontological physiotherapist Dr Rik Dawson said.

The survey also found that more than half of Australians aged 45 and over have experienced a fall or knows someone who has, seven in 10 have seen someone lose their independence because of a fall and nine in 10 support making physiotherapy-led falls prevention programs free for people over 65.

“Falls destroy lives, strip people of their independence, and strain our health system – and they are far from inevitable,’ said Dr Rik Dawson.

“We already have the evidence and the public support. What’s currently missing is government action.”

Physiotherapy-led programs in residential aged care reduce falls by 55 per cent and by 24 per cent in the community, and APA believes investing in prevention could save the healthcare system almost half a billion dollars a year.

Meals on Wheels wants funding to appoint paid executive officer

Meals on Wheels Australia is urging for bipartisan support for the service. It lists rising prices, an increasing compliance burden and difficulty recruiting and retaining volunteers as placing pressure on the service. The peak’s chair, Paul Sadler, told Australian Ageing Agenda their volunteer numbers fell by 10,000 nationally from – 45,000 to 35,000 – during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not recovered.

MoWA – who receives funding and support through the Commonwealth Home Support Program – has asked for the following commitments:

1. full funding for the service through grants or activity-based funding mechanisms and not a move to individual budgets
2. adequate indexation based on the advice of Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority
3. allocation of CHSP growth funding targeted to areas where there are service waiting lists.

MoWA is also seeking support to employ a paid executive officer.

In addition to critical nutritious meals, MoWA services provide social connection and a wellbeing check, which the peak argues reduces costs to the health system.

“Importantly, our service model is not only a drop-and-go meal delivery like our commercial counterparts. We provide more than just a meal as our volunteers chat with the older people they are delivering to, often providing the only social contact that week. Further, they undertake a welfare check on the older person and report back any difficulties or ill health they are experiencing,” chair Paul Sadler told AAA.

MoWA is concerned that several meals services have their books closed to new clients, and with the Home Care Package wait list increasing – and a waiting time of up to 15 months – and CHSP providers closing their books to new clients via My Aged Care, the crucial service is becoming inaccessible because the demand is too high.

“When we surveyed members last year, 10 per cent of MoW services had their books closed. We don’t know exactly how many older people are waiting for CHSP services, unlike HCP where we know it is more than 80,000. But with the ageing of the population, we know that demand is continuing to grow for our services right across the nation,” he said.

Mr Sadler said MoWA and similar services were the “bedrock,” providing much needed assistance to people in their local communities and enable older people to stay at home.

“The CHSP program provides help to 834,000 older Australians at last count, which is more than double any other aged care programs such as home care packages or residential aged care. It’s reach is unequalled anywhere else, and it is an early intervention program by design, so it provides low levels services,” he emphasised.

“It’s less than $4,000 per person per year; the average funding for CHSP, so we’re not spending a lot of money to support that large number of older people.”

Streamlined migration needed to combat workforce shortage

Provider peak body Ageing Australia has also called on all parties to ensure aged care remains a national priority ahead of the election by addressing the workforce crisis, supporting transition to the new Act, and improving access for older Australians.

Ageing Australia CEO Tom Symondson said chronic workforce shortages and challenges attracting and retaining workers – on top of financial sustainability pressures – had the sector needing support.

“To address the workforce crisis, we’re calling for streamlined migration, strengthened education and training and a boost to incentives for regional providers to attract the workers needed,” Mr Symondson said.

Ageing Australia is also calling for improved access to aged care, reduced wait times, strengthened affordability measures and support for innovative care models and more time to implement the 1 July reforms.

“We have the chance to build an aged care sector that all Australians can be proud of, but we need a measured approach to reforms of such magnitude and that means more time to get them right,” he said.

“Failure is not an option. The last thing we want to see is an older person receiving a lower level of care on July 1, just because we rushed reforms. The runway is getting shorter by the day.”

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