In Canberra this week I raised the distressing number of instances where older Mallee residents are struggling to get residential or home care services.  People from across the electorate continue to come to me to tell me of the months they wait to get a response from My Aged Care, let alone an assessment, and then approval to access the services they need.

This Labor government said they would put the care back into aged care, but instead they are blithely presiding over an aged-care crisis.

From 2021 under the Coalition, to now in 2026 under Labor, the wait time for an aged care assessment has doubled. Too many people are waiting up to six months just to get an assessment. It's worse than that; older people are waiting up to two months for any form of reply from My Aged Care.  

Amazingly, one residential aged-care provider in my electorate reports having empty beds due to the lack of assessments being done. The time from aged care assessment to approval to access being granted, has doubled in rapid time - from four months in 2023-24 to almost eight months on average, with many waiting a year.

The Albanese Labor Government made one Murrayville older resident wait more than two years until she was granted access the Commonwealth Home Support Services she had been assessed as being eligible to receive.  During that waiting time, tragically she became a widow. This is no joking matter for an arrogant Labor government that thinks it can shrug off criticism.  Service providers covering this lady's area have no capacity.

This is tragically common in regional Australia, where people are literally waiting years before accessing services.  Consumer group COTA Australia, and Ageing Australia, say urgent action on home-care packages is required. I agree with them - no-one should ever have to wait more than 30 days for the care they need. Under Labor, they are waiting six months for an assessment and eight months to access services, if not longer.

Mallee’s older residents are paying more for services and getting less out of their packages.