08/09/2026
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Support at Home has now been running for 10 months. So whatās the verdict?
Ten months is long enough to move beyond the promises and start looking at the results.
At the end of June, 106,977 older Australians were still waiting for an ongoing Support at Home place.
The median journey from applying for aged care assistance to actually commencing ongoing Support at Home was 297 days.
Nearly 10 months just to get through the system and start receiving ongoing support.
And remember, that's the median. Half of those journeys took even longer.
From what I'm seeing firsthand, some of the people being left behind are also some of the most vulnerable.
They're often stoic. They minimise their difficulties. They don't necessarily know what to tell an assessor or how strongly they need to advocate for themselves.
I've helped people with very significant needs who have been caught in the system for more than 12 months.
As the saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the oil.
But aged care shouldn't work that way.
The person least able to advocate for themselves may be the person who needs our help the most.
There have been improvements and changes along the way, and I don't believe every problem in aged care can simply be blamed on Support at Home.
But 10 months in, I think older Australians are entitled to ask a very simple question:
Is Support at Home actually delivering what we were promised?
The Senate is now conducting an inquiry specifically into the Support at Home Program, with its next public hearing scheduled for 22 September.
I'll be following it closely.
Because 10 months in, it's time we started judging Support at Home by its results, not its promises.
