Budget could have done more to support older Tasmanians: COTA

Council on the Ageing Tasmania chief executive Sue Leitch said there is more that could have been done in that space. 

"Given that we have 2000 people on the waiting list at the moment we are still concerned that it's not going to go far enough to address the people that are waiting at the moment," Ms Leitch said. 

"The times people are waiting at the moment is up to two years for the higher packages."

Ms Leitch said COTA had asked that the government to consider investing enough money so that no person would wait longer than three months. 

"That is something that is more manageable for older people and their families to support them through that wait period. When you've got people waiting up to two years, getting supports in place in the mean time can certainly be challenging," she said. 

"People may be getting a lower level package which doesn't support all their needs and they may actually need to go into residential care where, if a home care package at an appropriate level had been made available earlier, they could actually have stayed at home."

Tasmanian Council of Social Service chief executive Kym Goodes said while she welcomed the increase in aged care home support packages, the 10,000 released nationally will not even scratch the surface of demand.

"Many older Tasmanians are despairing as they wait for a package to allow them to remain in their own homes," Ms Goodes said.

Also included in the budget was a $1.1 billion Strengthening Primary Care Package which will target healthcare accessibility for older patients. 

Australians over the age of 70 will be able to voluntarily enter into an agreement with their general practice and receive more personalised, consistent and coordinated care, with usual services continuing to be rebated under Medicare.

Ms Leitch welcomed this action and said COTA will be looking closely as to how that will play out. 

"We hope that the reintroduction of indexation for GPs on Medicare payments is going to help some of the bulk-billing issues we have seen in the state," she said. 

University of Tasmania Institute for the Study of Social Change director Richard Eccleston said the Medicare accessibility changes were a significant policy. 

"Something that is really important is Medicare for older Australians, in Tasmania in particular, with an older and more dispersed population," Dr Eccleston said. 

Ms Leitch said she had hoped the government would expand on initiatives with a broader approach to the issues associated with ageing, such as the welcome announcement of the More Choices for a Longer Life initiate released in the previous budget. 

"It hasn't come through in this budget, unfortunately," Ms Leitch said. 

"There is significant investment needed in oral and dental health measures for older people. It's an area that is really underdone in the health portfolio and can have significant health impacts on the overall health of older people."

Ms Leitch said another area of disappointment was that there was no increase to Newstart payments. 

"That is a significant issue for older workers. There are about 350,000 older job seekers across the country that are living in poverty," she said. 

"It's very hard for people to survive on that, let alone get out and about to find work."