The Australian Government’s commitment to addressing the growing demand for home care packages (HCPs) is under scrutiny as new data reveals a waitlist of 87,597 older Australians awaiting support at their approved level as of 31 March 2025.
Despite assurances from the Albanese Labor Government of significant reforms and an imminent rollout of 80,000 new packages under the Support at Home program, set to begin on 1 November, the persistent delays and lack of transparency raise serious questions about the adequacy of current efforts.
The latest Home Care Packages Program Data Report, released by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, shows a 6,000-person increase in the waitlist from January 2025, when Senate hearings reported 81,000 people waiting. However, peak body Ageing Australia warns that the true figure is likely higher, as the data is four months old and excludes those still awaiting assessment.
As expected, questions sent by HelloCare regarding reports of a ballooning waitlist for home care packages were not addressed directly by the Department.
However, the Department did state that “99% of people waiting for an HCP at their approved level are already receiving home care through a lower-level HCP package and/or have also been approved for Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) services” which glosses over the fact that 16,784 individuals are receiving inadequate support at a lower level while others have still not been assessed.
Health risks and systemic strain
The growing waitlist has dire consequences. Australian Unity, a leading HCP provider and member of the Aged Care Transition Taskforce, warns that a waitlist projected to hit 100,000 by November 2025 could result in 600,000 avoidable hospital bed days annually due to falls and other complications.
Group Executive and Home Health Chief Executive Prue Bowden emphasised the human toll, stating, “People’s health and quality of life are deteriorating while they wait. Families and carers are left to fill the gap, stepping in where the system continues to let them down.”
This preventable strain on hospitals highlights a critical shortfall in the Government’s response. Despite providers like Australian Unity asserting they have the workforce and capacity to deliver more care, only 35,613 packages were released in the March 2025 quarter, averaging 2,739 per week.
This pace is insufficient to address the growing demand, with 39,983 approvals still outpacing releases, leaving thousands in limbo.
Reform ringing hollow
The Government has touted its $8 billion investment in the HCP program for 2024-25 and the planned rollout of 80,000 new packages under the Support at Home program as evidence of progress.
However, the delay of the program from July to November 2025 has drawn criticism from the sector, which argues that the Government’s decision to postpone has exacerbated the waitlist crisis.
Ageing Australia and other Taskforce members have called for an immediate release of 20,000 additional packages to bridge the gap before November, a plea the Government has not directly addressed in its response.
Moreover, the Government’s assertion that it will reduce wait times to an average of three months by July 2027 under the Support at Home program lacks detail on how this will be achieved.
When asked about measures to ensure transparency and accountability in meeting this target, the Government’s response offered no specific mechanisms, instead relying on broad promises of “tailored support” and increased funding.
This vagueness, coupled with the omission of data on assessment wait times, fuels doubts raised in Senate inquiries about the Government’s ability to deliver on its commitments.
A pattern of inaction?
The Coalition has accused the Albanese Government of “turning its back” on older Australians, with Anne Ruston’s office stating, “Older Australians are dying while they are waiting for support. That is the sad reality of this government’s inaction on home care.”
While the Government points to record levels of HCP uptake, with 299,765 people accessing packages as of 31 March 2025, this figure masks the growing backlog and the inadequacy of lower-level packages for those with medium to high needs.
The Government’s failure to release more packages immediately, despite provider readiness, and its reliance on outdated data further erode confidence in its strategy.
The promise of 80,000 new packages from November is a step forward, but without interim measures, thousands of older Australians face prolonged waits, risking their health and independence.
The article correctly notes that the Department’s statement regarding “99% of people waiting for an HCP at their approved level are already receiving home care through a lower-level HCP package and/or have also been approved for Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) services” glosses over the fact that 16,784 individuals are receiving inadequate support at a lower level while others have still not been assessed.
The statement also is misleading because it ignores the reality that a large portion of people assessed as needing CHSP support cannot receive it because there are no providers in their area with available CHSP funding. CHSP is massively under-funded in comparison to the demand, and I have been unable to find any published data about the actual shortfall of service availability.
As the major CHSP provider in my LGA we have only been able to accept 6% of the referrals for Domestic assistance and Property maintenance due to the lack of growth funding under CHSP (targets have remained the same for the last 10 years) and the bottle neck of clients waiting to move onto HCP funding. Unfortunately, how CHSP is set up means that there is no accurate way of knowing how many CHSP clients have had referrals rejected or issued a referral code and have not been able to access a service.