ALMOST half of all seniors who need help to continue living independently in their community are not getting the assistance they need, new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.
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The figures show that in 2012 about 774,000 people across all age groups who needed support either did not get assistance or did not get the help they needed.
People most commonly required help with health care, property maintenance and cognitive tasks.
Just over 48 per cent of women aged 65-74 and 46.5 per cent of men in that age had unmet needs, and 42 per cent of women and 48 per cent of men in the 75-84 years age group.
The most commonly reported reason was that services were too expensive or that they were unaware of available services.
One third of people who needed formal help with communication and 30.5 per cent who needed help with property maintenance said services cost too much.
Of the 2.4 million people who required support in 2012 about half had an unmet need for formal assistance with at least one activity of daily living.
The level of unmet need was similar across urban and rural areas, although Western Australians were more likely to report they were not receiving the support they needed (58.6 per cent) compared with NSW 47.6 per cent.
Australian Bureau of Statistics spokeswoman Michelle Ducat said people with intellectual and psychological disabilities were more likely to have unmet needs than those with physical or sensory impairment.-
Information on services at www.myagedcare.gov.au
