The Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services 2023, Aged Care, provides a data-heavy snapshot of the sector. We have gone through the figures and reveal here the statistical highlights.
As of 30 June 2022, there were 245,719 Australians receiving permanent residential aged care services, and 262,351 are receiving home care services.
The data shows the steady march of Australia’s ageing population. There were 4.5 million Australians over 65 (over 50 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait populations), up 28% from 2014.
In the 2022 financial year, the Federal Government spent $25.1 billion on aged care services, a 42% increase from 2014-15.
Yet spending per person over 65 (or over 50 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations) increased only 15% from $4,839 in 2014-15 to $5,570.
The Government’s increased investment in home care is reaping rewards. As of 30 June 2022, there were 215,743 Australians receiving home care packages – a jump of 23% from the previous year.
However, there are still long waits for home care services. The time between ACAT approval and being assigned home care services is still as much as 12 months despite thousands of new packages being funded.
The median number of days between ACAT approval and entry into residential aged care was 153 days in 2022 (61,000 admissions), almost four times the 40-day median recorded back in 2013 (58,000 admissions).
The ownership of aged care facilities has also shifted. As of 30 June 2022, 41.7% of aged care beds were operated by private For Profit providers, up from 36.2% in 2013.
Occupancy rates are falling – from 92.7% in 2013 to 86.2% as of 30 June 2022.
The proportion of new aged care residents receiving Government support has declined from 37.8% in 2013 to 33.9% in 2022.
It appears that a smaller proportion of homes are being accredited for three years. In 2021-22, 85% of homes were accredited for three years, whereas 93% of homes received the full three-year accreditation in 2012-13.
Just over one quarter (26.6%) of services received a re-accreditation audit during 2021-22 for residential aged care services, while only 8.5% received a quality audit for home care.
The table below shows the percentage of residential aged care homes and home care services reviewed during 2021‑22 that complied with the Aged Care Quality Standards.
We reported last week on the media’s focus on data showing there were almost 40,000 serious incident notifications during the year, with most related to the ‘unreasonable use of force’.
