The latest home care report shows increasing choice in home-based care for senior Australians, with almost 92,000 now receiving home aged care packages, a record annual growth rate of 29 per cent.
The Home Care Packages Program Data Report (1st Quarter 2018–19) highlights how the Morrison Government is maintaining its commitment to provide more senior Australians with subsidised care and support, so they can continue to live in their own homes for longer.
During the September Quarter 30,150 home care packages were released, an average of 2,320 per week.
For the first time, detailed breakdowns on the support people receive while they are in the national prioritisation system are included in the report.
The report reveals that more than 95 per cent of people approved for home aged care support have been offered a lower level home care package or have been approved for assistance through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP).
CHSP assistance is being expanded and includes transport, domestic help such as house cleaning, personal care, home maintenance and modifications, food preparation and meals on wheels, nursing, social support and respite care.
This is on top of the additional $1.6 billion investment in home care packages in the 2018-19 Budget, increasing home care packages to 151,000 by 2022, including 34,000 more high-level packages.
Under Labor, there was no transparency and no national aged care approval system to allow the monitoring of senior Australians’ care needs.
Our Government’s continuing home care expansion is fundamental to our $5 billion aged care funding boost over the next four years, to give senior Australians more certainty, options and independence.
CHSP already assists around 800,000 senior Australians per year and our Government is growing the program from January 2019, with an extra $100 million over two years.
We will provide more than $2.7 billion for the CHSP and $2.5 billion for the Home Care Packages Program this financial year.
Home care packages services include personal clinical care, mobility, domestic assistance, nursing, nutrition and transport.
