Albanese government reduces home care waitlist by changing counting method
A Four Corners investigation can reveal the number of people waiting for full aged care funding at home stands at almost 154,000 — not 100,000 as officially reported.
The Australian government has altered the method used to count the number of people waiting for home care funding, leading to a reduction in the official waitlist by more than 53,000 individuals. Before the reforms, people receiving interim funding, which was equivalent to 60% of their approved funding, were still counted on the waitlist until they received their full funding package.
However, under the new system, once people start receiving the interim payment, they are immediately removed from the official list, even if they have not yet received their full funding. This change has resulted in a significant drop in the waitlist numbers, with the official figure dropping from 107,281 to 94,963 between October and December 2025.
According to Four Corners investigation, the true number of people waiting for full home care funding is closer to 154,000, not the previously reported 100,000. The change has raised concerns among experts, with former aged care inspector-general Ian Yates calling it "unacceptable," and emphasizing that the government should report these people receiving interim funding as an additional figure in their reports for monitoring purposes.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
