There were 1,470 people under the age of 65 living in residential aged care as of 31 December 2023, a 31% decrease on the number at the same time the previous year and still well short of the Government's target of having no people that age in residential aged care by 2025.
In 2019, the Government set targets for younger people in residential aged care:
- no people under the age of 65 entering residential aged care by 1 January 2022
- no people under the age of 45 living in residential aged care by 1 January 2022
- no people under the age of 65 living in residential aged care by 1 January 2025
The first two targets have not been achieved, and the third looks unlikely.
Only 42 people under 65 entered residential aged care between October and December 2023, down 27.6% from the previous year.
And only 34 people aged under 45 were living in residential aged care on 31 December 2023, a 30.6% decrease on the previous year.
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recommended nine measures to achieve and monitor the Government's targets for younger people in residential aged care, but according to the Interim Inspector-General's Progress Report on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the recommendations have only been partly implemented or not implemented at all.
