Announcement date
14 May 2024
Link to announcement
Budget Paper No.2
Problem being addressed
Home Care Package (HCP) recipients face long and growing wait times. People who have been approved for a HCP are prioritised in the National Priority System (NPS). There are currently over 272,000 HCP care recipients and 55,000 people on the HCP NPS waiting to receive a package they have already been assessed and approved for under the current Aged Care Act 1997. Demand for the HCP Program continues to grow faster than the release of new HCPs, with a substantial increase in wait times for services. Without an injection of new packages, the average wait time for a HCP will be 10-12 months at 30 June 2025, up from a low of 2 months in May 2023.
The Royal Commission recommended (Rec. 39(b)) that between 1 January 2022 and 30 June 2024, people be allocated their approved level HCP within one month of being assessed. Lengthy wait times for home care result in: danger of declining function, inappropriate hospitalisation, carer burnout and premature admission to residential aged care.
Proposals
The proposal seeks to provide 24,100 additional HCPs reducing the NPS wait times to six months.
Assessed Impact Analysis outcome
Impact Analysis Equivalent
Assessment comments
Consistent with the Government’s Impact Analysis requirements, the Final report of the Aged Care Taskforce and Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has been certified by the Department of Health and Aged Care as meeting the requirements of an IA. In addition, the Department completed supplementary analysis to address questions 6 and 7.
The Office of Impact Analysis (OIA) does not assess the quality of reviews and documents used in lieu of an Impact Analysis. Impact Analysis Equivalents are assessed by OIA for relevance to the recommended option and for the coverage of the 7 Impact Analysis questions conducted.
The OIA assessed that the options analysed in the certified review and the supplementary analysis are sufficiently relevant to the proposal to meet the requirements in the Australian Government Guide to Policy Impact Analysis.
Regulatory burden
The Department of Health and Aged Care estimates this measure will not result in an increase in regulatory costs over ten years.