There were 51,044 Australians waiting for the level of home care services they were assessed as needing at the end of 2023, a 78% increase in only six months when wait times fell to historic lows, Senate Estimates heard in evidence from the Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) last week.

The number of older Australians on the National Priority System, the name given to the Home Care waiting list, stood at only 28,665 at 30 June 2023.

One reason the waiting list is increasing is people are staying on their Home Care Packages for longer, said Thea Connolly, First Assistant Secretary, Home and Residential Division, during the meeting on 15 February.

The other is the simple fact that demand for Packages exceeds supply.

Last year's Federal Budget included funding for an additional 9,500 Home Care Packages. As of 31 December, half of those had been released, mostly in Level 3 and Level 4. Approximately 183 Home Care Packages are released every week, and are assigned according to whoever is at the front of the queue.

Allocations are exhausted within hours "like Taylor Swift tickets", said LNP Senator Maria Kovacic.

"Around 12,000 of those (on the waiting list) are on a package at a lower level than their assessment," Russell Herald, Assistant Secretary, Home and Residential Division, told Senate Estimates.

Almost all of those on the waiting list have referrals for CHSP and may be accessing those services.