Stirling Griff (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Senator Colbeck, and it relates to the budget measures for home-care packages. According to the latest quarterly report from the Department of Health, there are still 103,599 Australians waiting for home-care packages, and 7,400 are waiting for a level 4 package. While the government's media release talks about the number of places it has funded since 2013, it appears the budget allocation of only 23,000 extra places still leaves a shortfall of at least 70,000 places. Can the minister explain why the budget only promises 23,000 additional home-care packages over four years, across all package levels, despite current waiting lists of 100,000 people who are waiting up to 18 months for a package for which they have been approved?