Over 100,000 Older Australians Remain on Home Care Waiting List

More than 100,000 older Australians are still waiting for government-funded in-home aged care services, despite the rollout of thousands of additional care places and shorter waiting times for some applicants.

New figures from the Department of Health show 100,191 people were waiting for a place in the Support at Home program at their approved level of care as of March 31.

The program helps older Australians remain in their own homes for longer by providing care and services tailored to their assessed needs.

The latest quarterly data (pdf), covering January to March 2026, shows 364,723 older Australians had access to Support at Home ongoing services.

The figures also showed an improvement in assessment backlogs, with the number of people waiting for an aged care assessment falling to just under 98,600 from more than 103,000 previously.

Amid concerns about lengthy waiting lists, Health Minister Mark Butler said the government had significantly expanded the number of care packages available.

“We’ve put more packages into the system than has ever happened before,” he told ABC Radio.

“It’s a 25 percent increase in package numbers in one single year. I mean, that’s a huge injection of new supply. And we have seen tens of thousands of more people get packages.”

At the same time, Butler pointed out that demand for aged care services is also rising rapidly as more older Australians enter the system.

“So satisfying all of that demand is going to be a very difficult job for government. We don’t have any higher priority than a good, aged care system.”

Residential Care Waits Stretch Beyond a Year

Separate data released by the Department of Health on May 12 paints a broader picture of delays across the aged care system.

The report (pdf) examined people who started residential aged care or Support at Home services between Nov. 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026.

The report found the longest waits were for residential aged care.

People entering ongoing residential care waited an average of 396 days—about 13 months—before receiving services. Those seeking short-term residential care faced even longer waits, averaging 434 days, or about 14 months.

However, the median waiting time for both categories was six months.

Home-based services generally became available more quickly. Priority pathways recorded some of the shortest waits, with people requiring end-of-life care typically receiving support within a month.

Those seeking assistive technology or home modifications waited around four  months on average.

Concerns About Support at Home Transition 

In November 2025, the Albanese government rolled out the Support at Home program to replace two existing aged care schemes—the Home Care Packages program and Short-Term Restorative Care program.

Backed by $4.3 billion in funding, the program aims to reduce waiting times, add 300,000 places over the next decade and support 1.4 million older Australians by 2035.

However, the transition drew warnings from the aged care sector, with providers expressing concern about the pace of the rollout.

Appearing before a Senate inquiry in February, Ageing Australia CEO Tom Symondson said a poorly managed rollout could affect around 80,000 dependants relying on the system.

“We don’t oppose reform. We oppose reform done badly that does not make things better,” he said.

The CEO also noted that many Home Support Program providers are small organisations that may struggle to cope with a rushed transition.