Many older Australians need care in the home if they are to stay out of a residential facility, but what if they don't have a home to receive the care in, or if their rental is insecure, or they can't afford the care co-payment after paying high rents?
Older persons' housing and homelessness consultant, Jeff Fiedler warns there's a real danger of Australia becoming a divided society between those elderly people who own their homes and those who rent and who are rapidly becoming an "underclass".
A former Ageing on the Edge campaign worker, Jeff is developing a podcast To age well, we must be housed well promoting the aged care needs of older people in precarious housing and he wants to hear from seniors who are facing housing and care problems.
He's hoping to collate the stories and present them to Government to highlight the issue.
"The Federal Government aged care policy has focused largely on the provision of aged care in the home," said Jeff. "This makes great sense as older people have widely expressed a preference to stay in their home as long as possible and services such as the Commonwealth Home Support Program (for low levels of care) and Home Care Packages (for more complex needs) are the backbone of the aged care system.
"However, the Government assumes older people have a decent home in which to receive their aged care services, yet more and more older people are at risk of homelessness in the private rental market in Australia.
Homelessness increasing
"According to the ABS in the five years between 2011-2016 general homelessness increased by 12 per cent whilst homelessness for people aged 65 and over increased by 38 per cent and for women in that age bracket the increase was 55 percent," said Jeff.
"You can't receive aged care if you don't have a home!"
The ABS census also showed that in the five years between 2011-2016 there was a 42 per cent increase in older people living in housing stress in the private rental market, totalling 132,000. On current trends this number is expected to increase to 440,000 by 2031.
A person is considered to be in housing stress if they are paying more that 30 per cent of their gross income in rent. Research has shown that many older, single people, particularly age pensioners, are paying as much as 50 per cent or more of their, already limited, income in rent.
As rental costs sky-rocket, many older people find it impossible to find affordable housing and the wait times for public and social housing in states and territories is continuing to climb. Many areas have wait times for public and social housing in excess of 10 years and it can be difficult to get onto the wait list.
"The private rental market is unsuitable for ageing in place," said Jeff. "There is no security of tenure (people can be evicted with 60 days' notice); the housing is often very poor quality and detrimental to people's health; high rents mean older people can't afford decent food, heating and medications to keep them healthy and tenants have no rights to have modifications installed such as rails, ramps and other aids.
"Government aged care policy and funded services do not consider the aged care needs of the rapidly growing number of older people at risk of homelessness in the private rental sector."
Royal Commission
Jeff said the Aged Care Royal Commission acknowledged that 'the aged care system is predicated on the assumption that a person has access to a home to reside in, or sell, to access aged care services'.
Recommendation four of the royal commission report refers to the development of a National Cabinet Reform Committee on Ageing and Older Australians that would, in part, 'work with housing ministers on options to provide for more integrated solutions to the housing and care needs of older people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness'.
The private rental market is unsuitable for ageing in place. There is no security of tenure (people can be evicted with 60 days' notice); the housing is often very poor quality and detrimental to people's health; high rents mean older people can't afford decent food, heating and medications to keep them healthy and tenants have no rights to have modifications installed such as rails, ramps and other aids.
- Jeff Fiedler
If you are living in precarious housing unsuitable for your needs, or you have had trouble accessing aged care services because you've been forced to relocate, or because of the cost of aged care, condition of your home, problems accessing modifications or any other reasons, Jeff would like to hear from you.
It's expected the podcast will go to air in March or April and respondents can be anonymous. Jeff is also happy to advise callers.
Jeff can be contacted on 0417-117-232 or agewellhousewell@gmail.com