Council on the Ageing Tasmania says a $1.6 billion investment in home care services to allow older people to stay at home longer is money well-spent and will lift burdens placed on residential aged care facilities.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But it is unknown how many of the additional 14,000 high-needs packages in the first will reach Tasmania with the national waiting list 60,000 names deep.
In four years’ time, there will be 151,500 care packages available – almost 64,000 more than anticipated this financial year.
This means that there will be 34,000 level 3 and 4 packages available over that time; an increase of 86 per cent.
Community Care Tasmania chief executive Wendy Mitchell said at the end of last year, 2474 Tasmanians were on the waiting list with 1217 waiting for high-level packages.
“Based on current allocation rates for Tasmania of around two per cent, we estimate that only 280 of the new packages will come to Tasmania over the next three to four years – a maximum of 90 per year,” she said.
“Even allowing for the extra packages in the last two budgets this will simply not meet the demand any time soon.”
COTA state operations manager Debra Lewis said due to the long waiting list, some older Tasmanians were being offered lower level care packages than they required.
“Others are not able to get any support,” she said.
“Some are leaving it all together and going off to manage as best they can which can lead to health issues … and push people into hospital or residential care earlier than they would have liked.”
Ms Lewis said government investment in home care packages was value for money and it enabled older people to stay connected with their community and comfortable within their own surrounds.
"There is a very strong demand from older people to stay at home for as long as they possibly can,” she said.
"And from an economic perspective, it is a less expensive option for government.
"We know that people are much happy and have a greater sense of well-being when they stay not only in their own home but in their own community."
The government will also provide:
- $102.5 million for mental health services for older people, including $82.5 million for those in residential care facilities;
- $253.8 million over four years to establish Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission from 2019;
- $29.2 million over two years to trial support strategies to allow older Australians to stay independent for longer;
- $32.6 million over four years to enhance the regulation of aged care provider quality to respond more quickly to care failures and;
- money for palliative care in residential care facilities.
The government will also allocate funding for an additional 13,500 residential aged care beds over four years.
It will provide additional money for elder abuse initiatives and the development of a national framework, including a national register of enduring powers of attorney.