Wait times to access care up, shows report

For the 2023-24 period, the Productivity Commission shows an increase across several points in the process of accessing aged care services, but there is hope the new single assessment system will reduce the wait.

A new report from the Productivity Commission shows year-on-year increases in the time taken across several stages that older people go through when accessing aged care services.

This includes the number of days from referral for an aged care assessment to when the Aged Care Assessment Team approves a services, the time between ACAT approval and both the assignment of a home care package and service commencement, and the number of days until someones enters residential aged care.

The Report on Government Services 2025, which published the chapter on aged care services on 30 January, presents data on elapsed time in three separate categories and measured in days at the 50th percentile (half of people) and 90th percentile (nine in 10 people) for:

  • aged care assessment times
  • home care elapsed times
  • residential aged care elapsed times

The report notes that system capacity to assess applications and allocate packages, consumer choices and market or provider supply side factors could all influence the number of wait days. Data for individual states and territories was not available in each instance, so the results discussed are in reference to the national statistics.

Aged care assessment times

Time between referral for an aged care assessment and ACAT approval

In 2023-24, half of older people referred for aged care assessment waited at least 22 days for an ACAT approval after referral, up from 17 days in 2022-23. In the same period, 10 per cent of people waited at least 138 days, a considerable jump from the 98 days recorded in 2022-23 and 43 days in 2020-21.

Time between referral for an aged care assessment and ACAT approval at 50th percentile (Report on Government Services 2025)
Time between referral for an aged care assessment and ACAT approval at 90th percentile (Report on Government Services 2025)

Home care wait times

Data on home care elapsed times is divided into the following sub-categories:

  1. ACAT approval and the assignment of a home care package
  2. assignment of a home care package to service commencement date
  3. ACAT approval to service commencement date

The report also noted the following limitations:

  • results are reported for medium, high and all priority older people
  • results measure days between ACAT approval to assignment of a home care package and service commencement for any home care package level, regardless of whether it was at the approved level or not
  • the report only measures results relating to the first time an older person is assigned a home care package and excludes package upgrades and opt back-ins

Time between ACAT approval and assignment of a home care package

In 2023-24, half of people waited at least 78 days to be assigned a home care package after ACAT approval, a noticeable drop from the 132 days recorded in 2022-23.

Time between ACAT approval and assignment of a home care package at 50th percentile (Report on Government Services 2025)

However, 10 per cent of people waited at least 216 days to be assigned a home care package after approval in 2023-24, up from 187 days in 2022-23.

Time between ACAT approval and assignment of a home care package at 90th percentile (Report on Government Services 2025)

Time between ACAT approval to service commencement date

According to the report, across all priority groups half of people waited at least 118 days after ACAT approval to commence their home care service, down considerably from 168 days in 2022-23. However, 10 per cent of older people waited at least 250 days between approval and service commencement, up from 236 days the year before.

Time between ACAT approval to service commencement date at 50th percentile (Report on Government Services 2025)
Time between ACAT approval to service commencement date at 90th percentile (Report on Government Services 2025)

Time between assignment to service commencement date

There was little variation in the time between package assignment and service commencement across all priority groups, with half commencing within 32 days in 2023-24 compared to 38 for 2022-23, and nine in 10 people commencing within 70 days in 2023-24 compared to 76 days in 2022-23.

Time between assignment to service commencement date at 50th percentile (Report on Government Services 2025)
Time between assignment to service commencement date at 90th percentile (Report on Government Services 2025)

Residential aged care

Elapsed times for residential aged care are measured between ACAT approval and residential aged care entry for all permanent residents, and for a high priority cohort. The report defines a high priority cohort as older people who enter residential aged care within 12 months of application, on the basis that older people with higher needs are unlikely to delay care entry by choice. It also notes that not everyone assessed by an ACAT is approved for care and some people get approval for multiple types of care.

Elapsed times for permanent residents who entered care during the financial year and within one year of ACAT approval

In 2023-24, half of permanent residents who entered care during the financial year and within one year of ACAT approval waited at least 68 days, slightly higher than the 63 days recorded in 2022-23. At the same time 10 per cent of this cohort waited at least 253 days to enter an aged care home, again slightly higher than the 2022-23 figure of 245 days.

Elapsed times for Permanent residents who entered care during the financial year and within one year of ACAT approval at 50th percentile (Report on Government Services 2025)
Elapsed times for Permanent residents who entered care during the financial year and within one year of ACAT approval at 90th percentile (Report on Government Services 2025)

The report also noted that 42 per cent of older people entered residential care within three months of their ACAT approval, with the median elapsed time being 136 days, meaning the national median elapsed time between ACAT approval and entry into aged care services has increased by 100 per cent since 2014-15.

Elapsed time between ACAT approval and entry into aged care services (Report on Government Services 2025)

Sector transitioning to single assessment system

Dr Ricki Smith (Access Care Network Australia)

Access Care Network Australia chief executive officer Dr Ricki Smith told Australian Ageing Agenda the new single assessment process brought in on 9 December 2024 should bring down the wait times even further.

Prior to the introduction of a single assessment process, a person would be assessed for the Commonwealth Home Support Program by the Regional Assessment Service and would then have to be transferred to an ACAT.

This would effectively leave a person needing to “join another queue” for their assessment if the RAS assessor found their needs exceeded what CHSP could provide, Dr Smith said.

However, with the Single Assessment System bringing together and replacing the Regional Assessment Service, Aged Care Assessment Teams and independent Australian National Aged Care Classification assessors, all organisations that conduct aged care needs assessments can do home support assessments for the CHSP and comprehensive assessments for the Home Care Packages Program, along with flexible aged care programs, residential respite and entry into residential aged care, simplifying access to aged care services.

Another benefit of the single assessment process is there are now multiple assessment organisations in every region, including state and territory health departments, said Dr Smith.

“That means if there is a sudden increase in demand in a service area, for example, the assessment organisations in that service area can work together to manage that demand,” Dr Smith told AAA.

“Similarly, if one assessment organisation in a service area has a capacity issue, there are at least one other, and in most cases two or three other, organisations that can step in and assist.”

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Tags: aged-care, Dr Ricki Smith, elapsed time, productivity-commission, report on government services, research,

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