Ageing in a Healthcare Maze: Are Older Australians Being Let Down?
- Replies 62
Many Australians over 60 feel lost in a healthcare system that seems built for efficiency, not compassion. A recent SBS story captures this perfectly: one daughter caring for her non-English-speaking parents says she’s “overwhelmed” – every GP visit lasts hours and only covers a single issue, no one consistently follows up, and the family often waits weeks for tests or results.
As she puts it bluntly, “the system feels more like it’s working against us than supporting us”.
Her experience isn’t unique. Across Australia, older people and their carers report broken promises: long hospital waits, hidden fees at the doctor, bewildering aged-care queues, and poor communication between providers.
Image source: nci / Unsplash
Key challenges older Australians face:
- Lengthy waits and overcrowding: Emergency departments are overflowing. In 2022–23 only about 65% of ED patients were seen within their target time (down from 67% the year before). The median wait for treatment sits around 20 minutes, but many older patients sit for hours. Elective surgery delays have climbed too – half of public patients now wait about 49 days for surgery (up from 40 days in 2021–22) and nearly 10% wait over a year for their procedure. The result is “ramp block” in EDs: ambulances queue outside hospitals while in-patients linger inside. AMA Tasmanian President Michael Steel warns that “nearly 10% of total hospital acute bed capacity is occupied by patients needing aged care or NDIS services without appropriate placement options”. In other words, frail older patients stuck in hospital have nowhere to go next, blocking beds and leaving ambulances waiting.
- High costs and GP shortages: General practice is meant to be a safety net, yet many GPs no longer bulk-bill. A caregiver in the SBS story recalls that “where we live, all the GPs used to bulk bill. Now they don’t… You can’t expect people on a pension… to pay $100 to see a doctor”. It’s no surprise that more Australians are delaying care: ABS figures show about 8.8% of people reported skipping needed GP visits due to cost in 2023–24, up from 7.0% the year before. Seniors, who often have fixed incomes and multiple health issues, are especially vulnerable. Even once in the clinic, appointments feel rushed and transactional. One older patient told SBS that visits were limited to one problem per appointment, even though she has multiple health issues. And with few doctors bulk-billing, out-of-pocket fees have risen sharply, pushing some pensioners toward unpaid self-care.
- Complicated aged care: Australia’s aged-care system still hurts families. About 4.2 million Australians are 65 or older today, and that will nearly double by 2042. Yet services lag far behind need. Government data show almost 28,700 people were waiting for their approved home-care package in June 2023 – many of them seniors barely coping at home. Official estimates say a person with moderate urgency could wait 6–9 months for a Level 3 package and 1–3 years for Level 4 before any services start. In practice, families end up repeating paperwork, pleading for extra visits, or turning to cash-strapped private carers. Even the government’s “My Aged Care” gateway is confusing. A recent CSIRO report (cited by National Seniors Australia) notes that My Aged Care doesn’t talk to other medical records systems – GPs, pharmacies and clinics often have to re-enter patients’ data manually. The result is fragmentation: no one person “holds the thread” of an older patient’s needs. In short, navigating aged care is a nightmare for families, and many end up bringing loved ones to hospital because no other help is in sight.
- Fragmented care and poor coordination: Whether in hospital, clinic or home, healthcare for older people is often siloed. Specialists may never see the GP notes; allied health may not know the nurse’s plan; out-of-hours carers may not know a client’s history. Experts lament that our systems don’t share data well. For example, a CSIRO review found countless cases of duplicated effort – GPs prescribing via paper and retyping into aged-care software, and residents being asked the same questions over and over. Thousands of providers and half a million aged-care consumers “are still challenged by inconsistent data and communications, unconnected agencies and software, and poor access to information”. As CSIRO researcher Dr David Hansen says, “if everyone involved…has access to the same, up-to-date data… older Australians can receive high-quality care”. Today that ideal is far from reality. Even the Productivity Commission noted years ago that the aged care system is “difficult to navigate” with “inconsistent and inequitable” coverage – a verdict many would say still holds.
- Rural, remote and cultural gaps: Seniors outside big cities or from non-English backgrounds face even steeper challenges. Health services are fewer and farther apart, transport is scarce, and culturally appropriate care can be limited. An academic review notes especially long waits and less availability of GPs and specialists in rural areas, and cultural “shame” or language issues for some communities. These problems compound the general system woes, making it doubly hard for older Australians in the bush or from Aboriginal and migrant backgrounds.
- Bulk-billing boosts: In late 2023 the federal government tripled the bulk-billing incentive for pensioners and concession-card holders, and by early 2025 Labor proposed extending it to all cardholders. Health Minister Mark Butler reports this move spurred an extra 6 million GP visits over a year – roughly 100,000 more bulk-billed visits each week. By Dec 2024, 77.5% of GP visits were bulk-billed (up 1.9 points since Oct 2023). The government’s media release calls this a “game changer”, and urgent care clinics funded by the government have already provided over a million fully-bulk-billed appointments. In other words, there are now walk-in GP clinics — often in regional or outer-suburban areas — where pensioners can see a doctor for free. This will help reduce expensive ED visits and ease budgets for older patients. Still, peak medical bodies caution that more is needed. The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has outlined an election “19-point plan” calling to keep strengthening Medicare: for example, dramatically boosting the Medicare rebate for longer visits so those who aren’t bulk-billed pay far less out-of-pocket. As RACGP President Dr Michael Wright puts it, “for a moderate investment we can have a major impact in improving the healthcare of our nation”. Such proposals aim to ease cost barriers for seniors who need extended, continuous care.
- Aged care reforms: The Royal Commission into Aged Care (2018–2021) heralded sweeping change, and steps are now being implemented. A new Aged Care Act was passed in late 2024, replacing decades-old law. Rules are being tightened: from October 2024 every residential facility must now provide at least 215 minutes of care per resident each day (including 44 minutes by a registered nurse). Providers will soon issue monthly care statements so families know exactly what services are delivered. The Commonwealth is also simplifying home care. The coming Support at Home program (from July 2025) will merge all in-home care schemes (Home Care Packages, Short-Term Restorative Care, etc.) into one “simpler and more equitable system” to help older people “stay at home for longer”. A new Single Assessment system (already introduced in 2024) will cut down duplicate evaluations – one form will determine eligibility across all services. In short, bureaucratic red tape is finally being sheared away. These changes take time, but they reflect a determination to close some gaps.
- Local initiatives and workforce building: Some hopeful fixes are grassroots-driven. In places like Loxton (SA), the community has stepped up: local scholarships now train school leavers and even hospital staff in aged-care skills, filling local care jobs. This year Loxton’s scheme has already graduated trainees who moved directly into the new village-aged-care home. It’s a reminder that boosting the aged-care workforce (through higher pay, training, immigration and recognition) is just as crucial as funding.
- Telehealth and new roles: The pandemic proved seniors can use video calls for some care. Telehealth GP consults (with no gap payment) remain an option for many older patients unable to travel. Also, the rise of Nurse Practitioners and ‘nurse in the home’ programs is helping to deliver care where GP or hospital access is limited. Pharmacies, allied health and community nurses are increasingly integrated into senior care – a direction experts encourage.
- Data and digital upgrades: The government is finally investing in health IT. There are moves to integrate My Aged Care with the My Health Record so patient data flows seamlessly, as CSIRO recommended. Over time, we may see shared care plans and care-coordinator roles to ensure no one “falls through the cracks.”
These steps offer cause for cautious optimism. But for seniors today the system still feels patchwork. Longer wait times and higher costs are not fixed overnight. Even as bulk-billing edges up, some pensioners still fear the day a beloved GP retires or opens his wallet. And every year, tens of thousands wait for home care – sometimes growing frailer in the meantime.
The coming government budgets and policy debates will need to prioritize the old. Notably, all sides have pledged more Medicare dollars in the 2025 election, indicating a bipartisan recognition that bulk billing and home care deserve focus.
What will the future hold? It’s easy to feel cynical after decades of unmet promises. Yet the alternative is to simply accept our elders suffer the consequences of an overstretched system. Older Australians (and those of us heading that way) should ask: Will our healthcare system care for us as we age, or will it continue to ask us to battle it?
With population ageing already here – ABS projects 65+ Aussies will nearly double by 2042 – we must ensure reforms keep pace. Will the promised changes materialize in time for the next wave of retirees? And how should we, as individuals and a society, shape the system we all one day rely on?
Only by asking these questions can voters and policymakers push for the solutions we need. In short: Is this the healthcare future we want for ourselves and our parents? Each of us may soon find out firsthand.
.png){kind=icon}
up on World Health Assembly 20 th May voting to adopt the Pandemic Agreement,they have voted in support.WHO have been trying to get countries to agree to their control of
