The Government’s Support at Home Program is not working as intended, and Country to Coast Home Care Services is calling for urgent action due to concerns about the impacts on older people and staff.
Director and Founder, Lucy Lincoln, will attend Ageing Australia’s inaugural Parliamentary Engagement Program, taking place in Canberra on 14–15 October, an event discussing Support at Home among politicians and policymakers.
“Australians need the Support at Home program. There are not enough hospitals or residential facilities to support older Australians, and many people want to age in place, in the comfort of their own homes.
“The government is encumbering Support at Home providers with an excessive level of administration requirements, which is redirecting resources away from frontline care where it matters most,” Ms Lincoln said.
The administrative requirements to keep the lights on have approximately doubled for providers under Support at Home, and older people are finding it increasingly complex to access care and funding.
“Older people are using services 25% less, even though they need them, because of how much they must financially contribute, restrictive funding arrangements and lengthy delays. Reduced service utilisation should not be interpreted as reduced need. In many cases, people are delaying or declining essential support because of the cost.
“This creates a false economy. Reducing expenditure on care management and early support in the home may appear to generate short-term savings, but it increases the likelihood of preventable deterioration, carer breakdown, hospital admission and premature entry into residential aged care. These outcomes will ultimately cost the Australian Government considerably more than providing appropriate and timely support in the community,” Ms Lincoln said.
“We cannot safely coordinate care with the government’s set quarterly budget allocation of 10%, which lasts approximately 6 weeks in practice. Providers can then choose either to absorb the costs or reduce the level of coordination available to participants. Neither option is sustainable,” Ms Lincoln said.
Country to Coast Home Care Services remains committed to the objectives of the aged care reforms and to delivering safe, high-quality support. However, the current settings require urgent adjustment if Support at Home is to achieve its intended purpose.
“We feel it is important to distinguish care management activities from the costs associated with operating a home care service. Our business operating costs are not funded through care management and are built into service pricing. However, the costs of operating under Support at Home far outweigh those of the previous program, and we are seeing many providers close down, leaving older people without help or quality options.
“Unless we do something about the structure of Support at Home and make changes, this structure is ironically going to be costing the government far more, nor is it working for older people, staff or providers,” Ms Lincoln said.
As an immediate alternative to closing or dropping service quality, Country to Coast has hired offshore staff to support the onshore team with administrative and governance requirements.
“Many providers are paying their staff less to stay afloat, and we are now seeing people who are poorly suited to working with older people in these roles with vulnerable families. Instead, we have chosen to pivot to protect our local, quality service by providing smarter global support. With offshore support, our local team can stay focused on delivering exceptional support to the people we serve.
“It is an exciting milestone to become a global employer. All staff operate under the same standards, systems, and expectations, which strengthens our operational capacity and helps our local team focus on frontline service delivery and client support,” Ms Lincoln said.
The Government has acknowledged the administrative challenges associated with providers adapting to the Support at Home reforms. Providers were offered a one-off $10,000 Transition Support Grant to help upgrade IT systems and prepare for the new program and legislative requirements.
Country to Coast Home Care Services is calling on the Government for:
- An investigation into reduced service use, including participant contributions.
- Urgent increase to the 10% care management allocation, informed by the actual work required to safely support participants.
- Appropriate funding for providers to meet increased administrative burden.
- An assessment of Support at Home failures leading to preventable hospital admissions and premature residential care entry.
- Restore our ability to give people what they need when they need it. Flexibility for providers to respond and help.
More information, please contact Communications Manager, Emily Alexandra 0401 868 360 emily@ctchomecare.com.au.