Labor will bring forward 20,000 in-home aged care funding places in the next eight weeks, caving to demands from the Senate crossbench and the Coalition and moving to avoid a further defeat on surging wait lists.
The Albanese government delayed introduction of its new in-home care system from 1 July this year, despite more than 87,000 elderly people already being approved and waiting for care. The new scheme and broad changes to care for elderly Australians, will begin on 1 November.
But the combined force of the opposition, the Greens and ACT independent David Pocock were set to hand Labor its first major defeat since the May election this week, until the health minister, Mark Butler, and the aged care minister, Sam Rae, backed down on Wednesday.
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The government agreed to support a motion from Coalition aged care spokesperson, Anne Ruston, to roll out the 20,000 new packages before November.
Labor refused to support motions from the Greens and Pocock, whose amendment requiring 20,000 additional places passed the Senate earlier in the day. Consideration of Labor’s own legislation was repeatedly pushed back in the Senate as the government sought to avoid defeat.
About 121,000 people are waiting for an assessment, while 108,000 are waiting for a package.
“We had to drag the government kicking and screaming, but after losing a vote in the Senate we have finally forced them to do the right thing by older people,” Greens spokesperson, Penny Allman-Payne, said.
“Senior ministers have had to step in and clean up the mess made by Sam Rae. Labor was too arrogant to make changes themselves, which is why we have united to force them to do the right thing by older people.”
Australia’s ageing population is pushing the aged care system to the limits. The country is on track for a doubling of people over 65 and a tripling of those aged over 85 within 40 years.
Butler defended the government’s tactics, insisting Labor wanted to make a deal with the Coalition, rather than engage with the Greens or the crossbench.
“We’ve been considering our position, and we have said the bill needs to pass before the end of this week,” he said.
The Coalition claimed the backdown as a victory. Ruston said she was surprised by the announcement of an extra 20,000 places only hours after Labor had voted against a similar plan.
“I think there was quite a lot of confusion, and clearly a bit of a backflip that occurred … because the Labor party absolutely put on the record that they voted against the release of 20,000 home care packages.”
Pocock criticised the government for cutting out the crossbench to make a deal with the Coalition.
“It’s disappointing, but not surprising,” he said.
Nearly 5,000 Australians died last financial year while waiting for the correct level of home care, according to data from the department of health released last week.
One of those was Boris Gutkovich, the father of Diana Horvatovic, the chief executive of aged care provider St Basil’s. The organisation operates residential care and home care in Sydney and Canberra.
Gutkovich died in hospital at the end of February, unable to safely be discharged to his home because he was still waiting on his level four support package, which he had been approved for, to come through.
The level four support package would have helped Gutkovich with showering, dressing and other mobility needs.
“Because he was unable to be safely cared for at home … because the package wasn’t available, they were then looking at placing him into a residential setting,” Horvatovic told Guardian Australia.
“Look, it was heartbreaking. I was no longer the professional, I was the child supporting my parents - both my dad who was the one that was actually physically sick and deteriorating and unable to come home … and also watching my mother who was unable to comprehend how the system was failing her.”
