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Aged Care Sector Continues to Grow

on Friday, November 29, 2013

The aged care sector continues to grow, with a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) showing that the sector has grown by 46 per cent in the past decade. According to the AIHW, there are now 253,000 government-subsidised aged care places which result in $12.9 billion of government spending at June 2012.

The national agency also acknowledged trends towards fewer aged care facilities, with larger aged care services.

 

“For example, at 30 June 2012, 47 per cent of facilities had 61 or more places, more than double the proportion a decade earlier” said Dr Pamela Kinnear, spokesperson for AIHW.

Major growth has occurred in the home and community care sector, where there is now one community-based aged care place for every three residential aged care places. In 2008, there was one community-based aged care place for every four.

Community care clients were on average 83 years old and women outnumbered men by more than two to one in both community and residential aged care. Indigenous Australians tend to enter aged care services at a younger age than non-Indigenous Australians.

Dr Kinnear explained that the growth of home and community care places was due to elderly people wanting to stay in their homes for as long as possible.

 

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