Aged care system mired in backlogs and shortages

Landmark legislation that enshrined the rights of older Australians is not delivering adequate care, with demand for aged care places a growing crisis the government is failing to address, the sector warns.  A year after the new Aged Care Act passed, advocates and state governments say the sector still needs the funding, workforce and infrastructure to make those rights a reality.  Ageing Australia chief executive Tom Symondson said older Australians should not still be waiting months for desperately needed care or be stuck in a hospital bed because there was nowhere else for them to go.  "And providers should not be hanging on for dear life while government takes away the very money they need to survive and grow," he said.. Australia's new Aged Care Act replaced the 1997 legislation in November 2025, introducing a rights-based framework.. La Trobe University's Hal Swerissen said the new act was meant to introduce enforceable rights for older people but cost-cutting had instead replaced quality care.  "Shortages of support at home and residential care continue to see long waiting times, regional shortages and large numbers of older people stuck in hospital beds with nowhere to go," he said.  "Out-of-pocket costs have increased dramatically, particularly for self-funded retirees, where annual residential care costs can now exceed $100,000 per year, increasingly leading to a two-tier aged care system - one for the rich and the other for the poor."  Delays transferring otherwise healthy people to aged care facilities meant hospitals had fewer beds available, delaying surgeries and lengthening emergency department wait times..

In September, Health Minister Mark Butler rejected calls for more aged care funding from state and territory counterparts, who said funding 5000 extra aged care beds annually fell short of what was needed.. The number of patients in hospitals awaiting transfer to aged care facilities grew from 2700 to more than 3600 in the past year and almost 100,000 people were waiting for Support at Home packages.. Residential aged care was facing the same capacity crisis, Mr Symondson said..

National bed occupancy has reached 95 per cent, while only a fraction of the 10,000 extra beds needed each year are being built.  Mr Symondson said the government's decision in October to increase residential care funding by less than inflation and wage growth had forced providers to shelve plans for more than 4000 beds.  La Trobe's Bianca Brijnath said the consequences could be devastating if algorithm-driven funding classifications overrode professional judgment and left important care needs unrecognised.. "A fair aged care system must recognise that older people have different needs and circumstances, and that equitable care cannot always be delivered through a standardised approach," Professor Brijnath said..   Navigating My Aged Care remained a complex and often overwhelming process and for people from multicultural backgrounds, language barriers, limited digital literacy and unfamiliarity with the system could make accessing support even more difficult, she said..

Australian Associated Press.