Aged care advocates have welcomed the proposed reforms for the sector as the pressure of an ageing population grows. The government will spend almost 1-billion dollars over the next four years to improve care for older Australians and industry leaders have reacted positively believing the changes will be affordable and fair for the elderly.
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00:00Sue Watts lives alone in the suburbs of Hobart, but twice a week the 70-year-old gets a helping
00:08hand from a support worker.
00:11For services such as domestic cleaning and help to get to medical appointments.
00:17Home care packages allow people like Sue to maintain independence at home, rather than
00:23rely on residential care.
00:25If I didn't have them I'd feel really lost and alone.
00:27And I don't have a lot of family to support me.
00:30But the home care system is under severe strain, with a growing wait list of more than 60,000
00:36people.
00:37I know of a case at the moment of a 95-year-old woman who is being told she's going to have
00:41to wait a year just to be assessed.
00:43At 95 she doesn't have a year to wait.
00:47The federal government has now unveiled a multi-billion dollar reform package to expand
00:52access to an extra 300,000 people over the next decade.
00:57Home care packages involve three types of service categories.
01:01Clinical care, such as nursing and physiotherapy.
01:05Support for independents, like respite and transport.
01:08And everyday living, including cleaning, meals delivery and gardening.
01:12Under the proposed Support at Home scheme, recipients wouldn't have to contribute any
01:17funds for clinical care.
01:19But the other categories would be means-tested, meaning a part-pensioner would pay between
01:245 and 50% of independent services, while a self-funded retiree would cover 80% of everyday
01:31living services.
01:32A no-worse-off principle would apply for those already receiving support, but some new recipients
01:38would have to contribute thousands of dollars each year.
01:42And the reality is we do have people who are utilising aged care that do have significant
01:48super balances, who do have assets.
01:51There's not enough information.
01:53I don't know.
01:54I'm really scared.
01:55I don't know how much more I'm going to have to find.
01:56The government wants the reforms in place by mid-next year.