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Home Care Packages – Key Updates from First Quarter Data Report 2019-2020

January 20, 2020

On 25 November 2019, the Government announced that an additional $496.3 million would be spent on 10,000 home care packages across 2019-20 and 2020-21. This included:

3,000 level 3 packages
2,500 level 4 packages in 2019-20 and;
2,000 level 2 packages
2,000 level 3 packages and;
500 level 4 packages in 2020-21.
The net impact of these changes is that around 44,000 additional packages at a cost of around $2.7 billion have been allocated to the program over the forward estimates since July 2018
There were 28,638 home care approvals in the September 2019 quarter. This was 7.1% (1,893) more than the approvals in the September 2018 quarter (26,745)
The 118,050 people in care at 30 September 2019 represented a 10.6% (11,343) increase from 30 June 2019 (106,707) and a 30.2% (27,404) annual increase from 30 September 2018 (90,646)
48,100 home care packages were released during the September 2019 quarter, with 80.9% (38,900) being offered to people who were not in an interim package
At 30 September 2019, there were 62,942 people seeking a home care package at their approved level, who had not yet been offered access to a lower level package. Of these people, 96.1% (60,495) had been provided with an approval to access support through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP)
At 30 September 2019, there were 49,295 people who were seeking a home care package at their approved level, who had already been offered a lower level package
Wait times for people entering the National Prioritisation System (NPS) are 3-6 months for a Level 1, or interim Level 1 package, and still 12+ months for Level 2-4 packages
Many people have approvals for both home and residential aged care, and some will choose to take up a residential care place instead of a home care package. At 30 September 2019, 68.3% (76,617) of people in the NPS had dual approvals, having been approved for a permanent place in a residential aged care facility, reflecting their complex care needs, and also seeking a home care package at their approved level
4% of approved home care providers had indicated that they would not deduct an exit amount at 30 September 2019, stable from 41.6% at 30 June 2019
Seven providers published a maximum exit amount of $1,000 or more at 30 September 2019. This count has been gradually trending down over time
At 30 September 2019, the average published maximum exit amount was $222

To read the full Home Care Packages Data Report, click here.