Australia’s hospitals and aged care system are under extraordinary strain.
Australia’s hospitals and aged care system are under extraordinary strain.
A new PwC-RLC Retirement Census points to one part of the solution already hiding in
plain sight.
Retirement villages aren’t aged care.
That’s precisely their value.
They sit before residential aged care – helping older Australians stay independent, bringing support closer to home and easing pressure on hospitals and aged care.
Hospitals are overflowing, ambulances are ramping and thousands of older Australians who are medically ready to leave remain stuck in hospital because the support they need isn’t available.
![Property Council](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 768 1024"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Daniel Gannon, executive director of the Retirement Living Council
About 154,000 older Australians are waiting for ongoing Support at Home funding, with the median wait from application to services starting now almost 300 days.
We can debate hospital beds and aged care capacity, but those arguments mean very little to an older person who can’t get the support they need today.
The more important question is how we help people stay healthier, independent and out of hospital or aged care for longer.
That means prevention, early support and making better use of the places older Australians already call home.
The Census shows 73 per cent of retirement villages provide Support at Home services directly or through a third-party, while 45 per cent of retirement operators are approved home care providers.
![Serious mature couple calculating bills, checking domestic finances](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Finding suitable retirement accommodation can be a challenge for many.
Around 280,000 Australians already live in privately funded, age-friendly retirement villages, with more than 27,000 waitlist applications revealing strong demand.
This is community infrastructure governments don’t have to invent.
MORE NEWS:
How much your home value dropped in a month
How to kick your freeloading kids out of home for under $500
Super weird shopping quirk SA shoppers accept as totally normal
Adelaide home with X-rated feature that’s blowing buyers away
Shock $20k hack changing Aussie lives
The Federal Government’s decision to extend the Commonwealth Home Support Program to 2029 recognises that early support helps preserve independence and reduce pressure later.
But Australia still treats housing, health and aged care as separate policy problems when older Australians don’t experience them that way.
Housing affects health. Access to support affects independence.
The availability of care can determine whether someone returns home from hospital or remains in a bed they no longer clinically need.
Housing affects health, the Retirement Living Council says.
That’s exactly why so many older Australians are choosing retirement living – for social connection, safety and the comfort of knowing care and support will be there if and when they need it.
When hospitals are overflowing and aged care is stretched, the answer can’t only be more beds at the end of the system.
We must strengthen the communities helping older Australians stay independent and healthier for longer.
Retirement living is already doing exactly that.
The opportunity now is for policy to recognise its role and make far better use of it.
