Council on the Ageing NSW has welcomed the Federal Government’s decision not to proceed with plans to transition the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) into the Support at Home program, saying the move will protect one of Australia’s most important preventative aged care services.
The peak body for older people in NSW has consistently argued that CHSP should be strengthened, modernised and expanded rather than absorbed into Support at Home, a program that is currently failing to provide timely and affordable care to many older Australians.
The decision follows growing evidence that the Support at Home system is in crisis, unable to meet demand or provide affordable services. Council on the Ageing NSW’s submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee highlighted that more than 100,000 older Australians were waiting for an ongoing Support at Home place, with the average wait between applying through My Aged Care and commencing ongoing services reaching 364 days.
Council on the Ageing NSW’s CEO Gohar Yazdabadi said the decision was a welcome recognition that CHSP plays a fundamentally different and vital role in Australia’s aged care system. She said:
“CHSP is one of the most important tools we have to help older Australians remain independent, connected and living safely in their own homes.”
“It makes no sense to fold a preventative program that is designed to provide timely, low-level support into a system that is already struggling to deliver care to the people who need it.”
“Today’s decision allows the Government to get CHSP right, to strengthen it, modernise it and make sure older Australians can access support before their needs escalate.”
Council on the Ageing NSW’s submission described CHSP as Australia’s principal preventative aged care program, providing low-level support that helps older people maintain their independence, avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and delay or prevent entry into residential aged care.
The organisation said these preventative functions should be recognised as an essential part of Australia’s broader health and aged care system.
COTA NSW has also warned that failures in home care have consequences far beyond aged care itself. Older people who are medically ready to leave hospital can remain in hospital because appropriate support at home is unavailable or delayed, contributing to pressure on hospital capacity.
Keeping CHSP separate provides an opportunity to ensure that this preventative support is available before older people reach that point.
Kathy Eagar, Professor of Health Services Research at the University of NSW and Co-convener of the CHSP Alliance, also welcomed the government’s announcement:
“It’s right that the federal government has listened to the concerns of older Australians, the CHSP Alliance and Council on the Ageing NSW. They have been steadfast in calling for CHSP to be a stand-alone program from Support at Home”.
“Keeping CHSP outside Support at Home gives the Government the opportunity to build a genuinely preventative model of aged care that complements, rather than replicates, the more intensive supports available through Support at Home.”
Paul Sadler, an expert on aged care, Co-convener of the CHSP Alliance and former CEO of Aged & Community Services Australia said:
“Today’s decision is a positive step. Now we need to make sure the Government builds on it by investing in CHSP to improve prevention, reduce waiting times and ensure that aged care is available when people need it — not months or years later.”
“We urgently need a system that helps older people maintain their independence, rather than waiting until their needs become urgent or they end up in hospital.”
CHSP must now be strengthened
Council on the Ageing NSW said the Government’s decision should be the beginning of a renewed focus on CHSP rather than the end of the reform process.
The organisation is calling for CHSP to be properly resourced, expanded and modernised, with a particular focus on ensuring older Australians can access services when they need them. Key to achieving this is listening to older people and ensuring the mistakes of the Stay at Home Program are not repeated.
The Senate Community Affairs References Committee has already recognised that proposed changes to CHSP were being considered in a system characterised by lengthy assessment delays and extended waits for service commencement. Council on the Ageing NSW argued that absorbing CHSP into such a system would have risked weakening one of the most effective preventative components of aged care.
