People using aged care
Australia’s aged care system offers a variety of services to cater to people as they age.
Last updated: 26 April 2023
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Contents
Aged care use by age
Aged care use by sex
Aged care use by age and sex
Aged care use by age and sex over time
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians using aged care
People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds using aged care
States and territories
Remoteness
COVID-19 and people using aged care
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Related information can be found on other GEN topic pages:
For a confidentialised unit record file (CURF) on this topic, view the GEN data: People using aged care.
The aged care system offers a continuum of care under three main types of service:
- Home support (Commonwealth Home Support Programme), which provides entry-level services focused on supporting individuals to undertake tasks of daily living to enable them to be more independent at home and in the community.
- Home care (Home Care Packages Program), which is a more structured, more comprehensive package of home-based support, provided over four levels.
- Residential aged care, which provides support and accommodation for people who have been assessed as needing higher levels of care than can be provided in the home, and the option for 24-hour nursing care. Residential care is provided on either a permanent, or a temporary (respite) basis.
There are also several types of flexible care, and services for specific population groups, available that extend across the spectrum from home support to residential aged care:
- Transition care, which provides short-term care to restore independent living after a hospital stay
- Short-term restorative care, which expands on transition care to include anyone whose capacity to live independently is at risk
- Multi-purpose services, which offer aged care alongside health services in Regional and remote areas
- Innovative Care Programme, which includes a range of programs to support flexible ways of providing care to target population groups
- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program, which provides culturally-appropriate aged care at home and in the community.
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Department of Veterans’ Affairs community nursing and Veterans’ Home Care services for eligible veterans and their families, which provides support to help people stay independent and in their own home.
For more information on aged care services in Australia see the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act, or visit the Department of Health and Aged Care website.
Aged care use in Australia
The Australian Government uses Aged Care Planning Regions (ACPRs) to plan the distribution and types of aged care services to be made available across Australia.
On 30 June 2022, approximately 407,000 people were using residential aged care, home care or transition care in Australia. This comprises 188,000 people using permanent or respite residential aged care, 216,000 using home care and 3,500 using transition care. In addition, during 2021–22 over 818,000 people were assisted under the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (home support).
You can learn more about ACPRs on the Department of Health and Aged Care website.
To find detailed information on the people using aged care in different ACPRs and Primary Health Networks (PHNs), please visit the My aged care region dedicated page on GEN.
Aged care use by age
A person’s access to government-subsidised aged care is determined by their assessed need, not their age. Although the majority of people using aged care services are aged 65 and over, younger people also access these services, chiefly due to challenges associated with accessing age-appropriate accommodation and supports in the community. The Australian Government has committed to no people under the age of 65 living in residential aged care by 2025, except in exceptional circumstances. For more information on younger people in residential aged care, see the Younger people in residential aged care dashboard.
At 30 June 2022 (or during the 2021–22 financial year for home support):
- People living in permanent residential aged care were older (58% of care recipients were aged 85 and over) , while people accessing home support and home care were younger (30% and 41% were aged 85 and over, respectively).
- Across residential care, home care and transition care services, approximately 6,000 people (1.5%) were aged under 65. This included 2,900 younger people living in permanent residential care and 2,900 people using home care.
- The proportion of people using aged care services who were aged under 65 was slightly higher in home support (2.2%) compared with permanent residential aged care (1.6%), home care (1.4%) and respite residential care (0.8%).
Aged care use by sex
Men and women differ in their patterns of aged care use. This is partly driven by the fact that women’s life expectancy exceeds men’s, so there are more women at older ages needing care than men.
At 30 June 2022 (or during the 2021–22 financial year for home support):
- Around 2 in 3 people (65%) using aged care services were women.
- More women than men were using permanent residential aged care (66% women, 34% men), home care (65% women, 35% men) and home support (65% women, 35% men).
- The smallest differences in aged care service usage between men and women were in respite residential care and transition care (59% women, 41% men).
Aged care use by age and sex
The age profiles of men and women using aged care services differ. Women make up a larger proportion of the oldest people using aged care, in part because women’s life expectancy exceeds men’s, resulting in more women at older ages needing care. Conversely, men make up a larger proportion of the youngest people using aged care.
At 30 June 2022 (or during the 2021–22 financial year for home support):
- Almost two-thirds (64%) of women living in permanent residential care were aged 85 and over, compared with 48% of men.
- The age profiles of men and women using home care or home support were similar between the sexes. Around 2 in 5 women (41%) and men (40%) using home care were aged 85 and over, while approximately 3 in 10 women (29%) and men (30%) using home support were aged 85 and over.
- There were more men than women in residential care in younger age groups, despite more women using aged care services overall. For example, 2.5% of men living in permanent residential aged care were aged under 65, compared with 1.2% of women.
Aged care use by age and sex over time
Over the last 10 years women have consistently used more aged care services than men. However, this has differed somewhat over time for different care types. For example, men now represent a larger proportion of people living in residential aged care than in the past, but the opposite trend is apparent for home care.
At 30 June 2022 (or during the 2021–22 financial year for home support):
- The number of people using home care had increased almost fourfold from 55,000 people in 2012 to 216,000 people – an increase of 294%.
- The number of people using permanent residential aged care had increased from 167,000 people in 2012 to 181,000 people – an increase of 8.3% – while the number of people using respite residential aged care had increased by 85% over the same period (from 4,000 people in 2012 to 7,500 people).
- The number of people using home support increased 13% over 5 years from 723,000 people in 2016–17 to 818,000 people.
Trends over the period from 2012–2022 indicate that:
- Proportionately more men have entered residential aged care over time (men made up 30% of residents in 2012, compared to 34% in 2022).The increase in people using permanent residential aged care since 2012 was proportionately higher among older people (10% increase in people aged 85 and over; 5.8% increase in people aged under 85).
- The proportion of men using home care has increased over time, with men making up 32% of home care users in 2012, and 35% of home care users in 2022.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians using aged care
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face multiple health and social disadvantages. As a consequence, they are more likely to develop serious medical conditions earlier in life, and have a lower life expectancy than their non-Indigenous counterparts. You can learn more about Indigenous Australians in aged care by viewing the Indigenous Australians dashboard, or learn about the health and welfare of Indigenous Australians on the AIHW website.
Delivering culturally appropriate aged care can improve access to, and the quality of, aged care for Indigenous Australians. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program (NATSIFACP) provides culturally appropriate care for Indigenous Australians in certain locations, mostly in rural and remote areas, that are close to their communities.
In recognition of poorer health among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, aged care services are offered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from age 50. In practice, Indigenous Australians may face barriers to accessing and using aged care services for complex, inter-related reasons, including remoteness, language barriers, and the effects of racism and continued socioeconomic disadvantage.
At 30 June 2022 (or during the 2021–22 financial year for home support):
- Indigenous Australians represented 2.6% of people using the most frequently used mainstream aged care services (residential care, home care, home support and transition care) where Indigenous status was known.
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39% of Indigenous Australians using home support, 28% using home care, and 19% using permanent residential aged care were aged under 65.
People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds using aged care
Many older Australians were born overseas, have a parent who was born overseas, or have a preferred language other than English. These groups of people can be referred to as culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD).
Many CALD Australians face barriers in accessing and engaging with services that support wellbeing, although these Australians are by nature heterogeneous, and situations and needs vary greatly.
At 30 June 2022 (or during the 2021–22 financial year for home support):
- Across all mainstream aged care services (residential care, home care and home support), 33% of people were born overseas. Of those, 67% were born in non-English-speaking countries, and 33% were born in other English-speaking countries.
- People using these mainstream services also spoke a range of languages. Home care had the largest proportion of people with a preferred language other than English (18%), followed by respite residential care, home support and permanent residential care (11%, 9.6% and 9.0% respectively).
States and territories
The proportion of older Australians that use aged care services differs between Australian states and territories, and this variability is more pronounced in residential aged care than home care.
At 30 June 2022 (or during the 2021–22 financial year for home support):
- South Australia had the highest number of people per 1,000 of the target population using permanent residential aged care (62), while the lowest number of people per 1,000 was in the Northern Territory (36). In the Northern Territory, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program (NATSIFACP) is a prominent part of aged care service provision.
- Home care services were used most in the Northern Territory and least in the Australian Capital Territory (74 and 53 people per 1,000 of the target population, respectively).
- The Northern Territory had the highest number of people per 1,000 of the target population using home support (346), while the lowest number of people per 1,000 was in Western Australia (208).
Remoteness
In general, the proportion of the population that uses aged care services varies across remoteness regions and depending on types of aged care services.
Additional care types, such as Multi-Purpose Services (MPS) and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program (NATSIFACP), also cater to members of the population, often in remote areas. For more information on flexible care programs, see the MPS fact sheet and Indigenous Australians fact sheet and dashboard.
At 30 June 2022 (or during the 2021–22 financial year for home support):
- Usage of aged care services was similar across remoteness areas in younger age groups, but there were noticeable differences in usage by remoteness in those aged 85 and over.
- Among the target population aged 70 and over, 20 people per 1,000 in remote and very remote areas (MM 6 and MM 7) used permanent residential care, compared with 56 per 1,000 in metropolitan, regional and rural areas (MM 1 to MM 5).
- Home support had a different trend, with less variation between remoteness areas within age groups. Per capita usage was lowest in metropolitan areas (MM 1) for all age groups and highest in remote areas (MM 6) or regional centres (MM 2) across most age groups.
The Modified Monash Model (MMM) is one of several classifications for defining whether a location is a city, rural, remote or very remote. The model measures remoteness and population size on a scale of Modified Monash (MM) category MM 1 to MM 7. MM 1 is a metropolitan area, including Australia’s major cities, and MM 7 is a very remote community, such as Longreach. You can learn more about MMM on the Department of Health and Aged Care website.
COVID-19 and people using aged care
Australia has faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 illness can be more serious for people who have pre-existing health conditions, including older Australians.
People in residential aged care were acutely impacted by COVID-19 because the close proximity of residents increased the risk of virus transmission. Older people also had an increased risk of death if they contracted COVID-19. Three-quarters (75%) of all COVID-related deaths in the first year (to 5 March 2021) of the COVID-19 pandemic were among people living in residential aged care.
In the 2021–22 financial year there were 56,228 residential aged care cases, 41,871 staff cases and 2,173 residential aged care deaths. As at 30 June 2022, 29% of all COVID-related deaths in Australia were among people living in residential aged care.
Across all types of aged care, the lockdowns and social restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected access to formal and informal support. Some older people in the community were encouraged to seek health services remotely through telehealth, for example.
For further information on the impact of COVID-19 on people in residential aged care, see the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act and the COVID-19 outbreaks in Australian residential aged care facilities weekly report.