Thousands of older Australians still waiting for care
Although waiting times have decreased, more than 100,000 people are still on waiting lists for home aged care.
The latest quarterly data for the first three months of 2026 showed waiting times for high priority cases decreased by two weeks, from 1.5 to 2.5 months to between one and two months.
Medium priority cases fell from eight to nine months to six to seven months, while standard priority cases dropped from 10 to 11 months to seven to eight months.
The figures also revealed that 364,723 people had access to support in their homes, up almost 18,000 on the previous quarter.
However, despite the quota increase, 100,191 people are still on the waiting list for approval.
Health Minister Mark Butler admitted reducing the waiting list was a challenge as the population ages.
“There is a historic increase in demand as a particular generation enters the aged care system, so meeting all of that demand is going to be a very difficult task for the government,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.
“At a time when demand is growing faster than ever in our nation’s history, we are seeing wait times decreasing at every level.”
Figures from the quarter showed more than 79,000 places were released during the three-month period; This meant an average of 6,088 places each week.
The federal government announced in November that 83,000 support homes would be released by the end of the financial year, although there was a delay of up to four months in the availability of places.
As of the end of March, 61,500 quotas were filled.
The remaining quotas are expected to be filled by the end of June.
Mr Butler said he was confident the government could meet demand for a growing number of aged care places.
“We have put more packages into the system than ever before, which is a 25 percent increase in the number of packages in one year,” he said.
“We’ve seen tens of thousands more people receiving packages, we’ve seen wait times drop at all levels, which is pleasing.”
The average wait time for evaluation is less than a month.
Aged Care Minister Sam Rae said older Australians were able to get into the system faster.
“We know there is more to do, but these figures are encouraging signs that our methodical work is shifting the dial to deliver care to more older Australians than ever before,” he said.
“Older people have told us they want care they can trust, close to home and at an affordable price.”
