Wait Times for Home Care Assessment - September Newsletter
- Kate Helmore
- Sep 8
- 5 min read
With an increasingly ageing population, there is more pressure than ever on our aged care services. More Australians are wanting to remain independent in their homes and many are seeking Government funded services to support this. Whilst we’ve known about this ‘silver tsunami’ for many years now, services are yet to adapt and become more responsive to this population’s ever growing need. I am seeing many clients wait well beyond the advertised wait times for services, even for those in urgent need. Without greater funding and awareness, I worry for the future of our in-home aged care services.
For this reason, the theme I’ve chosen for September is
“Wait Times for Home Care Assessment”
The first step for accessing aged care services in Australia is to contact My Aged Care and request an assessment. They will ask a series of questions to determine your eligibility and if suitable, send your request through to your local assessment team. Depending on the priority of your request, you will be told how long you can expect to wait for an assessment. For regular (medium) priority referrals, they will tell you to expect a 2-6 week wait to hear from the assessment team. If you’re a high or urgent priority, you will be told to expect a call within 10 business days.
These wait times are arguably already quite long considering this is only to have an initial chat with the assessment team who will then triage and book your assessment anywhere in the next few months. However, what I’ve been incredibly disappointed in is how much further these wait times are blowing out.
What's Happening Now?
One of my clients was recently deemed an urgent priority and we were told to expect a call within 10 business days… that was over 47 business days ago. Another was a medium priority and we were advised 2-6 weeks. It’s now 10 weeks later and we still haven’t heard back. This is despite my clients proactively following up the assessment agencies and reiterating the need for assessment. I want to be clear that my frustration is not with the individual assessment agency. If I’ve learnt anything in my time in aged care, it’s that delays are commonly indicative of systemic issues, not the individuals delivering the service. However, the fact that an elderly man who has been determined by the system as ‘urgent’ is waiting months to even be contacted for an assessment is not good enough.
Previously there were Regional Assessment Service (RAS) assessors that could assess for Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) services (lower-level support) and Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) assessors that could assess for Home Care Packages. At the beginning of the year, the Government made a move to streamline these assessment services and changed many contracts with assessment providers. All my client referrals in SA are now sent through to the Department for Health and Wellbeing, which appears to have done nothing but significantly slowed processing times.
So How Long Does It Actually Take to Get Help in the Home?
I previously wrote a newsletter on the ‘Realistic Wait Times’ associated with in-home services, which you can read HERE. Whilst some of this data is now out of date, it’s important to consider that the wait times listed on the My Aged Care website are only indicative of the wait between being approved by an assessor for a package and then being assigned the package. These wait times don’t include the wait time after being referred to an assessment agency (in my recent experience, currently 2-4 months) and then the wait until an assessment is booked (usually another 1-2 months).
According to the most recent Home Care Package data report that was released in July 2025 for the January-March quarter, there were 87,597 people waiting in the National Priority System for a Home Care Package. This was an expected wait time of:
Level 1 – 6–9 months
Level 2 – 6–9 months
Level 3 – 9–12 months
Level 4 – 12–15 months
At present, the My Aged Care website tells consumers that they can expect to wait 9-12 months for any level of package, however this only reflects waits for Home Care Packages, not Support at Home (the program replacing HCP’s from 1 November 2025). Through experience with my clients, they are often waiting several months beyond their predicted wait times and for new referrals, an additional 3-6 months to get an assessment.
If you’re reading all of this confused by what it means, you’re not alone. There remains no clear reporting of true wait times for services. Even the broad 9-12 month guidelines are often not accurate in practice, yet there is minimal accountability.
The impact of this is older Australians receiving help in the home later, therefore when they are frailer and in greater need of assistance. For some, they will move into residential care before receiving support in the home. For many, they will receive their package and only be able to utilise it for a few months before needing to move into residential care.
The whole purpose of providing services for ageing Australians in their home is so that people can remain at home for longer. By proactively accessing supports, people can gradually increase services as needed and hopefully avoid a crisis.
So What Can We Do About It?
I don’t like writing these newsletters and it all feeling doom and gloom. I’m a firm believer that we have to be able to advocate for matters important to us.
Firstly, if you or a loved one are currently waiting for an assessment, continue to politely contact the assessment provider and query when you will be booked for an assessment. Whilst you shouldn’t have to do this, I think it’s important there is noise surrounding how blown out these assessment times have become.
Secondly, write to your local MP. I know it feels like a hassle, but it goes a long way to reiterating to our local members what’s really happening within the aged care sector. Until someone themselves experiences the painstaking delays in service access, they are often completely unaware of just how difficult these situations have become.
I felt as part of this I should walk the talk, so I’ve sent my local MP an email outlining my concerns. I’ve also included below a template that you could use for your local MP, to hopefully make this feel more achievable.
Dear ____,
I am writing to you as a constituent of ____.
I am increasingly concerned by the considerable wait times for seniors to access in-home
services. Whilst the wait times listed on the My Aged Care website currently show 9-12 months for any level of package, it is far longer than this in practice.
If an individual contacts My Aged Care and is eligible for an assessment, they’re told it will be 2-6 weeks to hear from someone at the Department of Health and Wellbeing if they’re a medium priority, and 10 business days if they’re a high priority. However, in practice these waiting times are more like 2-4 months at present, even for urgent matters. **Include personal experience if applicable.
The additional concern is that once they’re contacted by the Department, they will then wait another 1-2 months for a comprehensive assessment. This ends up adding an additional 3-6 months to the already long 9-12 month wait for a package.
I wanted to take the time to bring this matter to your attention as ___include your reason for contacting____.
Warm regards,
_____.
As always, please feel free to pass this newsletter on to friends or family. If they want to subscribe, they can do so via my website.
If you want to have a look through some old podcast episodes, you can search for ‘The Truth About Ageing’. I release episodes sporadically which are available through your favourite podcast app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify) or at www.navigateagedcare.com.au/podcast.
Occasionally I also post updates on socials, which you can find at:
Facebook - @navigateagedcareau
Instagram - @thetruthaboutageing
Big love,
Kate.
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