Overview
Aged care services may be provided through both residential and community care. In many instances, older people also make use of services that are available to the general population, and younger people make use of services commonly associated with the elderly. The latter situation occurs more frequently among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than in the general population, because a shorter life expectancy and the earlier onset of chronic disease in the Indigenous population mean there is a greater proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people becoming ill and needing care at an earlier age. The Commonwealth recognises the differences between the two population groups in this regard. The population estimate used for aged care planning for the general population is people aged 70 years and over. The comparable population for Indigenous Australians is people aged 50 years and over.
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Community Aged Care Packages
Community aged care packages (CACP) are designed to assist elderly people who are living at home and who would otherwise be eligible for low level residential care.
As at 30 June 2005, out of a total of 28,899 people receiving community aged care packages, 1,141 (3.9%) identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin. There were 197 (0.7%) CACP recipients whose Indigenous status was not known or not stated.
In addition, the Commonwealth Government provides assistance for Indigenous Australians under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Strategy. At 30 June, 2005, there were 243 packages provided under the Strategy to Indigenous clients. A proportion of the 247 places provided under Multi-Purpose Services may also be used by Indigenous clients; however, these data are not currently available.
In 2004-05, 41% of Indigenous CACP recipients lived in remote and very remote areas, 23% lived in outer regional areas, with 15% and 21% living in major cities and inner regional areas respectively.
Of all Indigenous people receiving CACPs, 5% were aged 0-49 years, compared with less than 1% of non-Indigenous people. Where 90% of non-Indigenous CACP recipients are aged over 70 years, only 44% of Indigenous recipients fall into this age group. These data reflect the much younger age profile of Indigenous people requiring aged care services, compared to other Australian aged care recipients.
Residential Aged Care Services
Residential aged care services provide personal and/or nursing care to people in a care environment in which the person is also provided with accommodation that includes appropriate staffing, meals, cleaning services, and furnishings, furniture and equipment. Residential aged care may be permanent (long-term) or respite (short-term) care.
Of the 151,910 people receiving residential aged care in 2004-05, 0.6% identified as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. There were a total of 832 Indigenous people receiving permanent residential care, representing 0.6% of all permanent residential care residents, and 34 Indigenous people receiving respite care places, making up 1.2% of all respite care residents.
In 2004-05, 72% of all permanent residential aged care residents were female and 28% were male. In comparison, 57% of Indigenous permanent residential care residents were female and 43% were male, representing a much more even sex distribution for Indigenous permanent residential aged care residents. There was a similar sex distribution for Indigenous respite residents, 59% female and 41% male, compared to 65% non-Indigenous females and 35% non-Indigenous males.
As at 30 June 2005, 332 places were provided for Indigenous Australian residents under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Strategy. Also, a proportion of the 1901 places available through the Multi-Purpose Services may be used by Indigenous residents.
The overall permanent residential aged care usage rates were higher for non-Indigenous permanent aged care residents, 7.3 per 1,000 compared to 1.8 per 1,000 for Indigenous residents.
Home and Community Care Program
The Home and Community Care (HACC) Program is a major provider of essential community care services to frail aged people and younger people with disabilities, and their carers. The Program is funded jointly by the Australian, State and Territory governments and aims to promote and enhance the independence of people in these client groups.
The Home and Community Care Program Minimum Data Set (HACC MDS), implemented in 2001, collects data on the Indigenous status of clients.
In 2004-05, 44,197 individuals received HACC services from 3,100 agencies. Approximately 2.6% of these clients (19,236 individuals) identified as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background. This rate is higher than the 2.3% representation of Indigenous people in the total Australian population (Census 2001).
The overall sex distribution was similar for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous HACC clients in 2004-05, with females making up 65% of clients in both groups.
In 2004-05, Indigenous HACC clients were younger than non-Indigenous HACC clients and received more services with higher overall levels of assistance compared to non-Indigenous HACC clients. These data reflect the younger age profile and higher levels of disability in the Indigenous population.
Further information
For more general information on aged care services, see Aged care.