Boosting Support for Older Australians

Senior Australians will receive more aged care support thanks to the Liberal National Government’s half a billion dollar aged care funding boost. This investment will ease the cost of living for 70,000 older Australians by reducing the daily maximum fees payable by up to $400 per year.

This significant boost includes the release of 10,000 high-level home care packages, which will deliver important services at home. The Government understands people’s preference to receive aged care services in their own homes and the desire to be able to live independently for as long as possible.

These home care services will include complex clinical care from a range of providers, nursing and mobility care, nutrition, hydration and meal preparation, and transport support, providing up to $50,000 per person in services each year.

Along with the extra 20,000 packages funded in the past year, this will see a 40 per cent increase in people receiving home care packages.

Additionally to this boost, the Liberal National Government will also invest $98 million to fund increased payments to GPs to attend residential aged care homes to treat patients, as we recognise the important role of GPs in supporting the health and care of patients in residential aged care.

These initiatives reflect the rollout of our Government’s unprecedented aged care improvements to help ensure older Australians receive the care they want and deserve, where and when they need it.

We have invested an extra $1 billion a year in aged care services since 2013 and have continued our record investment through the 2018/19 Budget’s $5 billion boost over the next four years.

With the Liberal National Government’s strong economy and our progress towards a surplus budget, we are able to guarantee the essential services Australians rely on without increasing taxes. It is this strong economic management that ensures we continue to invest record amounts of funding in aged care and other vital health initiatives.

It is great to see our commitment to improving care for older Australians continuing at full pace, and it is wonderful to know that the older constituents in Sturt will have greater accessibility to more affordable and better quality aged care thanks to the Liberal National Government.