From today, Labor's new Aged Care Act comes into force, meaning older Australians will pay more for essential care, including up to $50 just for help with a shower, and some will have to forgo care altogether.
This week, Labor's Minister for Aged Care, Sam Rae, celebrated rising aged care provider profits in an interview with the ABC. To celebrate rising profits for providers while introducing big new co-payments is a slap in the face to older Australians.
The Greens were the only party to vote against the financialisation of care when the bill moved through the Parliament last year, and have called on Labor to reconsider, reverse the care-for-profit system and instead focus on ensuring every Australian can get the care they need at the time that they need it.
Home care co-payments risk losing care
Under the new Support at Home program, new co-payments mean that older Australians will be forced to pay pay up to $50/hour for help with showers, meals, and basic care at home, based on Department of Health data.
While participants in the old program prior to last September were promised they would be no worse off, but in practice older Australians are facing increased prices and fees resulting in lower levels of service. There is no limit on the amount providers can charge for home care fees until 1 July 2026. Aged care economic advisor StewartBrown has advised providers to increase their fees by between 30 and 38 per cent.
Residential care costs increase while inequity rises
Under the new Act, half of all older Australians will pay more to enter residential aged care, including 3 in 10 full pensioners and 75% of part-pensioners.
Labor have already raised a cap on residential aged care deposits from $550,000 to $750,000, which has driven up prices overnight. Providers can also now keep up to 10% of a residents so called 'Refundable' Accommodation Deposit
As Uniting NSW & ACT has warned, aged care residents who can afford this increased upfront deposit (usually from selling their family home) may be worth twice as much in revenue to an aged care facility as an older person who is living week to week, meaning older renters and poor people will find it harder to access care.
Waitlist continues to grow
In last Senate Estimates, it was revealed that as at the end of September, the waitlist for aged care only continues to grow.
The total combined number of people waiting for care (either for an assessment, or for an aged care package) is up from approx 217,000 in June-July to 238,248 at the end of September. Just 63,000 new packages will be released between 1 November and the end of the financial year.
The only reason for a shortage in the availability of home care is that the government chooses to release fewer home care packages than the community needs each year. The Greens-led Senate inquiry, as well as the Royal Commission, recommended ended the 'rationing' of care and instead moving to a 'demand driven' system, but Labor have rejected this in favour of enforced shortages.
As stated by Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Greens spokesperson for Older People:
"Under Labor's new Aged Care Act, the worse your health, the more you'll pay for care.
"From today, a tsunami of co-payments will break on older Australians."
"Minister Rae is celebrating increased profits for aged care providers, while under Labor's plan 1 in 3 people on a full pension are paying more for residential care, and others will be charged up to $50 every time they need help with a shower. That's shameful."
"Our parents and grandparents deserve to be looked after in their old age, not forced to choose between a shower each day and a meal."
"Aged care should not be for profit."
"While 1 in 3 big corporations pay no tax, but older Australians can't get basic help they need, something is seriously wrong."
"The Greens will fight to reverse care for profit, to end the shortage of care, and to make sure every older person in this country can get the help they need at the time they need it."
