Measure 6.3 Increased availability and use of respite services by people living with dementia
Respite care allows people living with dementia to be cared for while their usual carer takes a break. Improving carers’ awareness of, access to and satisfaction with respite care can assist carers in managing the physical, mental and social demands of their caring role.
Some data that provide insights on use of respite services are available from:
The indicators shown below should be interpreted with caution as NHDH data may not be nationally representative of all people living with dementia across Australia. The Carer Wellbeing Survey may also under-represent carers who are not engaged with carer support organisations.
Data development is underway, with ongoing work to improve the availability of national data to inform this measure. Data from the recently conducted Living with Dementia Survey may be added to reporting when they become available.
Carer use of respite care services
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Indicator
Proportion of carers of people living with dementia who had accessed respite care services in the past year.
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Baseline value
40% of carers in 2024
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Latest value
Baseline value only
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Progress
To be provided in future updates
The desired outcome is that more carers of people living with dementia can access respite care services for the person they care for, meaning this indicator will increase over time.
Change over time
Future updates of this report will track changes over time for this indicator.
Historical change over time: 2022 to 2024
The proportion of carers who had accessed respite care services in the past year varied from 43% in 2022, to 35% in 2023 and 40% in 2024. These differences were not statistically significant.
In 2024, the proportion of carers of people living with dementia who accessed respite care services in the past year did not differ significantly across population groups:
- 38% of women and 40% of men
- 38% of carers living in Major cities and 40% of carers living in regional or remote areas.
These data come from AIHW analysis of the Carer Wellbeing Survey (CWS).
The CWS is an annual national survey into the wellbeing of carers and their support services. In the most recent year available (2024), 9,166 carers were surveyed across Australia.
AIHW analysis of CWS data uses weighted percentages. Statistical significance (or non-significance) of differences in proportions between population groups or years for all comparisons of CWS data have been calculated based on a two-proportion z-test using weighted proportions.
While various demographic information is collected in the CWS, those with low counts and/or high relative standard errors are not presented in this report. Data for population groups are reported for this most recent year of data only and where data quality allows. This includes gender and remoteness area.
Remoteness area in the CWS uses the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Structure. In this report ‘regional or remote’ incorporates the categories of Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote and Very remote.
While the CWS may under-represent carers who are not well connected with carer organisations and supports, it still provides important insights into the experiences of carers of people living with dementia.
For more detailed data, including the counts used to calculate proportions, see the Supplementary data tables.
For more information, see the Technical notes.
Use of respite care services
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Indicator
Proportion of the National Health Data Hub (NHDH) dementia cohort who accessed respite care services.
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Baseline value
13% of dementia cohort in 2021–22
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Latest value
Baseline value only
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Progress
To be provided in future updates
It is important to note that this indicator currently only includes residential respite care, which is respite care provided in a residential aged care home. The indicator does not currently include other types of respite care such as respite care at home, flexible respite care, community and centre-based respite care or cottage respite care. Patterns of use of these types of respite care may differ from those for residential respite care.
The desired outcome is that the proportion of the NHDH dementia cohort who access respite care will increase over time.
Change over time
Future updates of this report will track changes over time for this indicator.
Historical change over time: 2018–19 to 2021–22
Between 2018–19 and 2021–22, the proportion of people living with dementia who accessed a residential respite care service remained steady around 12% to 13% (Figure 6.3.1).
Figure 6.3.1: Proportion of the NHDH dementia cohort who accessed a residential respite care service, 2018–19 to 2021–22
A column graph showing the proportion of people with dementia who accessed a residential respite care service was 12% in 2018–19 and 2019–20, and 13% in 2020–21 and 2021–22.
| Year | Proportion of dementia cohort |
|---|---|
| 2018–19 | 12% |
| 2019–20 | 12% |
| 2020–21 | 13% |
| 2021–22 | 13% |
- Participants missing age information were excluded from the NHDH cohort.
- Participants with missing remoteness area or socioeconomic area are included in the NHDH cohort.
Source:
AIHW NHDH 2021–22, analysis of NHDH
Transitions after first residential respite service
Due to data availability, transitions are only reported among people who exited residential respite care during the first 9 months of 2021–22. Transitions are reported once per person, based on their first episode of residential respite care during this period.
Figure 6.3.2 shows that more than half (52%) of people with dementia who exited a residential respite care episode between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2022 entered permanent residential aged care within 7 days of discharge, and 59% within 3 months of discharge. This reflects a growing trend in the use of residential respite care as a transitional pathway into permanent residential aged care (AIHW 2023). This approach is a different pattern of using residential respite care than originally envisaged in the Aged Care Act 1997, in which people would resume their previous living arrangements after a temporary break in residential respite care (ACFA 2018).
Figure 6.3.2: Transitions to residential aged care or mortality following first residential respite service use between 1 July 2021 – 31 March 2022
A stacked column graph showing that most people who exited residential respite care between 1 July 2021 and 30 March 2022 resided in permanent residential aged care 7 days after exit (52%), compared with only 0.5% residing in permanent care the day before entering residential respite care.
| Timeline | Community | Permanent residential aged care | Residential respite care | Deceased |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day before residential respite service | 98.8% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0% |
| 7 days after residential respite service | 35% | 52.4% | 8% | 4.7% |
| 3 months after residential respite service | 23.6% | 59.3% | 3.8% | 13.3% |
Source:
AIHW NHDH 2021–22, analysis of NHDH
The proportion of the NHDH dementia cohort who accessed a residential respite care service in 2021–22:
- was similar among males and females (13% and 12%, respectively)
- was lowest among people aged under 65 (2%) and may reflect sentiments about the suitability of residential respite services for people under 65 (Cations et al. 2017)
- increased with age up to 85–94 years (14%), then decreased in the oldest age group (10% of people aged 95 and over)
- was lower among people living in Very remote and Remote areas (9%) compared with those in Inner regional, Outer regional and Major cities of Australia (13%)
- showed little variation across socioeconomic areas.
These data come from the AIHW analysis of linked health and aged care services data in the National Health Data Hub (NHDH 2021–22).
The NHDH is a longitudinal, person-focused, de-identified health linkage system, that comprises data from state and territory, Commonwealth and non-government data sources. As of August 2025, data in the NHDH spanned from 1 January 1997 to 30 June 2024, bringing together core government administrative health, welfare, disability and aged care datasets.
This indicator includes persons identified with dementia using data from admitted patient care, emergency department presentations, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the National Death Index, and aged care assessments. As such, NHDH data may not be representative of all people living with dementia across Australia, with some people not accessing services offered by the included NHDH data sources.
Although some datasets spanned until the end of the 2023–24 financial year at the time of analysis, National Screening Assessment Form data were only available from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2022. To ensure a consistent lookback period for identifying people with dementia across financial years, the most recent year of reporting was 2021–22.
Remoteness area is classified according to the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Structure.
Data for transitions and population groups are reported for this most recent year of data only and where data quality allows.
For more detailed data, including the counts used to calculate proportions, see the Supplementary data tables.
For more information on the NHDH data and coding rules used in the analysis, see the Technical notes.
AGFA (Australian Government Financing Authority) (2018) Report on respite for aged care recipients, AGFA, Australian Government, accessed 8 September 2024.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2023) Respite use on the way to permanent residential aged care, GEN Aged Care, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 8 September 2024.
AIHW (2021–22) National Health Data Hub, aihw.gov.au, accessed 5 August 2025.
Cations M, Withall A, Horsfall R, Denham N, White F, Trollor J, Loy C, Brodaty H, Sachdev P, Gonski P, Demirkol A, Cumming RG and Draper B (2017) Why aren't people with young onset dementia and their supporters using formal services? Results from the INSPIRED study, PLOS One, 12(7): e0180935, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0180935.