Taxpayers paid $4,500 for dead man's chair amid aged care delays
Deidre de Jonge was burying her husband when she received the phone call she had been waiting on for months.
A tragic tale emerged in June as taxpayers footed a $4,500 bill for a lift chair meant for Gerrit de Jonge, who had passed away two weeks prior in Townsville. The chair arrived late, after his death, serving as a painful reminder of the aged care funding delays experienced by De Jonge. She had been waiting months for her husband to receive the necessary equipment to support his final weeks at home.
Similar stories unfolded across the country, with 107,000 Australians waiting for the federal government's Support at Home program. One such case involved Daryll Mulgrue, who lost her partner Geoff Small six months before he was due to receive funding for his home care. Despite Small's approval for complex care Support at Home funding in January, he never received it, leading to his death at Charters Towers Hospital.
OPAN, a consumer advocacy group, argued that the system is deeply flawed and needs reform, emphasizing the dire consequences of delayed funding.
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.
