There has been an uprising in the senate today as the Coalition, Greens and independents have joined forces to push for the immediate roll out of the new in-home aged care package which was set to be released in November.
The calls have come after a senate inquiry found out that over 121,000 people were waiting to be assessed for in-home support, with the waitlist for approved recipients over 87,000. These home care packages are essential for Australia’s senior community who require complex needs for care post hospital procedures and desire to live at home and be active in the community for as long as possible.
The government had previously announced the new in-home support program would begin in July of this year which would’ve overhauled how aged-care facilities were funded and reduce wait times on average by three months. The reason the Government has said the program was pushed back to November was that the supporting regulation was not ready to be considered by parliament, and wished for providers and recipients to prepare for the changes. Services providers however say they are ready now.
With the immense pressure placed on the Labor party, it is most likely that they will see defeat in the upper house vote and front-loading of the new in-home support system is expected to occur as early as this week.
Image: Image: Shutterstock – Dragana Gordic
Produced By: James Bale
Featured In Story: Professor Michael Woods – Professor in Health Economics, University of Technology Sydney
First aired on The Wire, Wednesday 3 September 2025