Thousands of seniors die while awaiting government home-care funding, Senate probe continues
Older Australians are dying as they wait for the federal Support at Home aged-care funding, with 107,000 people on the waiting list.
A Senate inquiry is examining the federal Support at Home aged-care scheme after reports that seniors are dying while waiting for assistance. In June, the waiting list numbered 107,000, not counting the 53,000 already receiving interim funding. Families like De Jonge in Townsville received a $4,500 chair weeks after her husband’s death, and Mulgrue in Charters Towers never got the care package promised to her partner Geoff Small, who died six months after approval.
Advocates say more than 4,800 deaths occurred in 2024-25 while people waited for funding, and average wait times are about ten months. The aged-care department defended the program but did not comment further. Critics argue the system is broken and call for temporary extra funding.
Why it matters
Delays in aged-care funding are leading to preventable deaths among older Australians.
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