Increasing costs and workforce shortages plaguing aged care are so serious most providers are worried about how Australia's system will cope in years to come. or signup to continue reading Seven out of 10 providers are concerned about how the nation will handle a rapidly maturing population, according to the Aged and Community Care Providers Association's state of the sector survey released on Wednesday. Recent reforms include a $4.
3 billion support at home scheme, which would see the government cover clinical care costs to allow people to live independently for longer, before switching to an aged-care facility. It's estimated 1.4 million Australians will benefit from the changes expected to come into effect from July 2025, after the government struck a deal with the coalition.
Some 97 per cent of survey respondents were concerned about increasing costs, with half of residential providers reporting they were losing money. The margins of home care providers declined to $1.80 per client a day in the first half of 2023/24, down from about $3.
20 in 2022/23. More than 90 per cent of providers nominated government funding as a concern, with respondents noting problems were worse in regional and rural areas. One-in-five smaller providers was not confident in their ability to maintain services in the next 12 months.
Association chief executive Tom Symondson said the survey revealed the sector's realities. "This is a report about our sector at a critical juncture in its transformation.