Report on Government Services 2021
Part F, section 14: RELEASED ON 20 JANUARY 2021
14 Aged care services
Impact of COVID-19 on data for the Aged care services section
COVID-19 may affect data in this Report in a number of ways. This includes in respect of actual performance (that is, the impact of COVID-19 on service delivery in 2020 which is reflected in the data results), and the collection and processing of data (that is, the ability of data providers to undertake data collection and process results for inclusion in the Report).
For the Aged care services section, there has been some impact on the data that is attributable to COVID-19, but this has not affected either the comparability or completeness of any indicators. The data affected relate to the measurement of compliance with aged care quality standards.
This section focuses on government funded care and support services for older people and their carers, which are provided at home, in the community and in residential care facilities.
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- Key Facts
- Indicator Framework
- Indicator Results
- Indigenous Data
Total government expenditure reported on aged care services in 2019-20 was $21.5 billion. This comprised expenditure of $13.6 billion on residential care services, $6.7 billion on home care and support services and $1.2 billion on other services, such as flexible care and assessments.
As at June 2020, there were 217 145 operational places (excluding flexible places) in residential care services, and 142 436 recipients of Home Care Packages Level 1–4.
During 2019-20, there were 88 640 older clients receiving Home Care Packages Level 1‑2, 86 123 older clients receiving Home Care Packages Level 3‑4 and 829 193 older clients of the Commonwealth Home Support Program. There were also 238 778 older clients who received permanent care and 65 709 who received respite care in a residential aged care facility during that period.
The aged care system aims to promote the wellbeing and independence of older people (and their carers), by enabling them to stay in their own homes or by assisting them in residential care. Governments seek to achieve this aim by subsidising aged care services that are:
- accessible — including timely and affordable
- appropriate to meet the needs of clients — person-centred, with an emphasis on integrated care, ageing in place and restorative approaches
- high quality.
Governments aim for aged care services to meet these objectives in an equitable and efficient manner.
The performance indicator framework provides information on equity, efficiency and effectiveness, and distinguishes the outputs and outcomes of government aged care services. The performance indicator framework shows which data are complete and comparable in this Report.
An overview of the Aged care services performance indicator results are presented. Information to assist the interpretation of these data can be found in the indicator interpretation boxes in the Aged care services section and data tables.
Equity — Access indicators
Use by different groups
Proportion of service clients who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, compared with the proportion of the aged care target population who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (per cent)
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aged care target population, 30 June 2020 | 3.7 | 1.0 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 2.2 | 5.4 | 2.3 | 46.0 | 3.5 |
| ACAT assessments, 2019‑20 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 30.6 | 2.0 |
| Residential aged care, 30 June 2020 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 33.7 | 1.0 |
| Home care levels 1–2, 30 June 2020 | 4.9 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 2.9 | 63.8 | 4.0 |
| Home care levels 3–4, 30 June 2020 | 4.9 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 5.4 | 34.2 | 3.6 |
| Transition care, 30 June 2020 | 0.2 | 0.1 | – | – | – | 1.3 | – | – | 0.1 |
Effectiveness — Access indicators
Unmet need
Rate per 1000 hospital patient days (for overnight separations only) that were for aged care type patients, 2018‑19
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate per 1000 | 9.2 | 0.4 | 14.5 | 12.5 | 20.7 | 6.3 | 16.9 | 26.8 | 9.4 |
Effectiveness — Quality indicators
Compliance with service standards
Proportion of all re-accredited residential aged care facilities that have been granted a re-accreditation approval for a period of three years, as at 30 June 2020
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 85.2 | 93.7 | 90.3 | 87.4 | 95.5 | 85.9 | 64.0 | 83.3 | 89.4 |
Compliance with service standards for Australian Government residential aged care, home care and support service providers
Proportion of residential aged care site audits that met all requirements under each of the standards, 2019-20 (per cent)
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard 1 — Consumer dignity and choice | 73.3 | 99.2 | 96.4 | 89.1 | 78.7 | 92.3 | 85.7 | 100.0 | 87.1 |
| Standard 2 — Ongoing assessment and planning with consumers | 58.7 | 89.4 | 84.5 | 89.1 | 80.3 | 92.3 | 57.1 | 75.0 | 77.7 |
| Standard 3 — Personal care and clinical care | 50.7 | 90.2 | 71.4 | 82.6 | 63.9 | 92.3 | 42.9 | 75.0 | 70.4 |
| Standard 4 — Services and supports for daily living | 78.7 | 94.7 | 96.4 | 93.5 | 86.9 | 100.0 | 57.1 | 100.0 | 88.7 |
| Standard 5 — Organisation’s service environment | 82.7 | 97.0 | 92.9 | 100.0 | 98.4 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 92.6 |
| Standard 6 — Feedback and complaints | 80.0 | 97.0 | 92.9 | 95.7 | 90.2 | 92.3 | 85.7 | 100.0 | 89.9 |
| Standard 7 — Human resources | 69.3 | 93.2 | 91.7 | 95.7 | 80.3 | 84.6 | 42.9 | 100.0 | 83.5 |
| Standard 8 — Organisational governance | 62.7 | 93.9 | 83.3 | 89.1 | 73.8 | 92.3 | 57.1 | 75.0 | 79.1 |
Proportion of home care and support service providers quality audits that met all requirements under each of the standards, 2019-20 (per cent)
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard 1 — Consumer dignity and choice | 50.0 | 93.8 | 63.6 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | .. | 75.0 | 88.2 |
| Standard 2 — Ongoing assessment and planning with consumers | 50.0 | 75.0 | 54.5 | 100.0 | 38.5 | 80.0 | .. | 75.0 | 67.1 |
| Standard 3 — Personal care and clinical care | 50.0 | 87.5 | 54.5 | 100.0 | 61.5 | 100.0 | .. | 75.0 | 77.6 |
| Standard 4 — Services and supports for daily living | 75.0 | 93.8 | 54.5 | 100.0 | 76.9 | 100.0 | .. | 75.0 | 84.2 |
| Standard 5 — Organisation’s service environment | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Standard 6 — Feedback and complaints | 75.0 | 96.9 | 72.7 | 100.0 | 84.6 | 100.0 | .. | 75.0 | 89.5 |
| Standard 7 — Human resources | 50.0 | 87.5 | 45.5 | 100.0 | 92.3 | 100.0 | .. | 75.0 | 81.6 |
| Standard 8 — Organisational governance | 50.0 | 68.8 | 36.4 | 100.0 | 69.2 | 80.0 | .. | 75.0 | 67.1 |
Client and carer satisfaction
Proportion of people aged 65 years or over and living in households/their carers, who are satisfied with the quality of assistance received from organised and formal services in the last six months, 2018 (per cent)
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Older people | 82.6 ± 1.6 | 85.1 ± 3.0 | 83.4 ± 2.9 | 85.3 ± 6.4 | 95.2 ± 7.5 | 76.4 ± 6.1 | 78.9 ± 7.1 | 100.0 ± np** | 84.4 ± 1.2 |
| Primary carers | 72.4 ± 7.0 | 75.1 ± 8.5 | 72.1 ± 9.2 | 70.6 ± 8.0 | 47.1 ± 32.7* | 45.3 ± 34.2* | 70.0 ± 22.9 | — | 71.3 ± 3.4 |
Complaints received
Number of in-scope complaints received for residential aged care services by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission per 1000 residential aged care residents, 2019-20
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| no. | 30.7 | 37.4 | 32.0 | 25.7 | 41.0 | 33.6 | 30.1 | 54.9 | 33.4 |
Efficiency indicators
Cost per output unit
Australian Government expenditure on aged care assessments, per completed assessment, 2019‑20
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ | 683.55 | 627.35 | 699.18 | 763.99 | 694.44 | 761.63 | 849.07 | 1 756.70 | 689.65 |
Outcome indicators
Social participation in the community
Proportion of older people (aged 65 years or over) who did not leave home or did not leave home as often as they would like, 2018 (per cent)
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| With profound or severe disability | 48.1 ± 6.1 | 47.7 ± 7.9 | 43.8 ± 7.6 | 37.2 ± 9.3 | 38.9 ± 16.5 | 43.4 ± 14.1 | 44.8 ± 19.4 | 45.2 ± np** | 45.5 ± 2.5 |
| Without disability | 5.5 ± 1.4 | 6.9 ± 1.6 | 3.4 ± 1.2 | 6.2 ± 2.1 | 6.9 ± np** | 1.5 ± np** | 5.8 ± np** | — | 5.8 ± 0.9 |
Maintenance of individual functioning
Improvement in the level of physical function for Transition Care Program (TCP) clients, reflected in the movement from the average Modified Barthel Index (MBI) score on entry to the average MBI score on exit, 2019‑20 (number)
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average MBI on entry | 79 | 65 | 73 | 54 | 68 | 63 | 85 | 82 | 70 |
| Average MBI on exit | 91 | 73 | 85 | 64 | 85 | 81 | 95 | 89 | 81 |
Notes
These data and caveats for these data are available in section 14 and relevant data tables.
Some percentages reported in these tables include 95 per cent confidence intervals (for example, 80 per cent ± 2.7 per cent).
* Indicates the estimate or proportion has a relative standard error between 25 per cent and 50 per cent and should therefore be used with caution. ** Indicates the estimate or proportion has a relative standard error greater than 50 per cent and is considered too unreliable for general use.
np Not published. .. Not applicable. – Nil or rounded to zero.
Performance indicator data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this section are available in the data tables listed below. Contextual data and further supporting information can be found in the section.
| Table number | Table title |
|---|---|
| Table 14A.18 | Representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in the aged care target population and aged care recipients |
| Table 14A.29 | Elapsed times for residential aged care, by Indigenous status |
| Table 14A.33 | Hospital patient days used by those eligible and waiting for residential aged care |
Note: An errata was released for section 14 Aged care services above.
Errata
The following data have changed for section 14 Aged care services:
- Data table 14A.14: Amended data for operational number of residential care places per 1000 people aged 70 years or over, for 2020 for all jurisdictions (except ACT) and nationally
- Data table 14A.15: Amended data for operational number of residential care places per 1000 people aged 70 years or over and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians aged 50–69 years, for 2020 for all jurisdictions (except ACT) and nationally
- Data table 14A.16: Amended data for operational number of residential aged care places per 1000 population for inner and outer regional areas, and remote and very remote areas
- The changes above have resulted in amended text on page 14.6 for the number of residential care places relative to the aged care planning and target populations.