Waitlist for approved packages now over 120,000
Home care assessment wait times have increased, but comprehensive assessment wait times are trending down, department representatives have told the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee.
Representatives from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing have told the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee that as of 30 September, the number of people waiting on the national priority system for a home care package at their approved level has reached 121,909.
It includes the 16,000 people who have received a package lower than what they have been assessed as needing, department representatives shared at last week’s committee.
Meanwhile, out of the 310,363 total allocated home care packages, 296,852 people are actually on a home care package and receiving care, leaving 13,511 waiting to start receiving care.
But median wait times for comprehensive assessments have trended downward in the last few months, department representatives noted, with the median wait time sitting at 42 days – according to the September data.
This is down from the 43 days noted during the July to September period and the 51 days from the quarter prior, as highlighted by the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae in conversation with Australian Ageing Agenda last week.
Meanwhile the median wait time for home support assessments was 19 days and the median wait time for hospital assessments was one day.
It was also noted that at the end of September, there were 116,339 referrals for aged care needs assessments, 60 per cent of which are for those waiting for a comprehensive assessment. The rest are typically for the Commonwealth Home Support Program services pathway, department representatives said.
On 3 September, Mr Rae announced an additional 20,000 packages would be released prior to 31 October, and last week he said the government is on track to meet the 1 November deadline of allocating them before the new Support at Home program commences.
Department representatives speaking at the legislation committee confirmed that so far 10,001 packages have been released since 3 September in near equal tranches and that the same process would continue until 1 November.
Between 1 November and 31 December an additional 20,000 packages will be released and from 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026 a further 43,000 packages will be released as part of the Support at Home program.
Australian Ageing Agenda has reached out to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing for comment.
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Community Health nurse here. I find this data incorrect for our clients, its up to 6month for a home assessment and at least 9-12 months for a HCP. The demographic I see are complex and very chronically unwell and are still made to wait.
If the median wait time for home support assessments is 19 days why do we have over 40 clients who have been waiting for a home support assessment since May 2025?
I would question these timelines – as our local Assessment Services have much longer wait times for both Comprehensive Assessments and Home Support Assessments. Another factor to consider would be the outstanding Support Plan Reviews – where a client may already be receiving one service and requires additional supports. Some of these clients are waiting over 9 months for a Support Plan Review. Does the Department have any data regarding these timelines or proposed actions to seek a reduction of these waittimes?