An investigation by ABC's Four Corners has raised questions about the official figures for Australians waiting for home care funding, suggesting the true number is significantly higher than reported.

The investigation found that more than 53,000 people have been excluded from the official waitlist since government reforms began in November last year, because of a change in how the waitlist is counted. Under the new system, once a person begins receiving an interim payment of 60 per cent of their approved funding, they are taken off the official waitlist — even though they have not yet received their full funding.

More than 90 per cent of people granted funding under the Support at Home program receive an interim package, and remain on it for an average of 10 weeks before receiving full funding, according to the ABC's reporting. The official waitlist stood at 107,281 on October 31, 2025, before Support at Home was introduced, and dropped to 94,963 on December 31, 2025, after those receiving interim funding were excluded.

When Four Corners put its findings to Aged Care Minister Sam Rae, he initially denied there had been any change, saying the waiting list had always been calculated that way. A spokesman for the minister later said keeping people on the waitlist after they received interim funding would 'skew the distribution of places'.

The ABC reported that the department's latest figures put the waitlist at 100,191 at March 31, but using the method applied consistently since reporting began in 2017, the true figure is 153,909. Four Corners said it uncovered the discrepancy after comparing evidence given at Senate estimates on June 2, where officials disclosed that 53,718 people had been excluded from the waitlist as of March 31.

Former acting inspector-general Ian Yates told the ABC the changed reporting method was 'unacceptable' and called on the government to report people on interim funding as an additional figure. More than 4,800 people died in 2024-25 while waiting for their approved home care funding, according to the ABC.

Parliamentary inquiry hears of 'public policy failure'

The criticism was echoed at a parliamentary inquiry hearing on Monday, where Ian Yates, the former inspector general of aged care, described the Support at Home program as a 'public policy failure' with unacceptable wait times.

'By almost any and every measure, support at home has to be judged for public policy failure at this time,' Yates said. 'The government is denying the problems exist despite unprecedented expert critiquing, and despite unprecedented community concern, complaint, in fact, confusion and despair.'

Yates said it was 'scandalous' that the government was no longer publishing numbers and wait times for the tens of thousands of people on interim packages and waiting on reassessments and package reviews.

'Continued rationing, which is deliberately providing less care than the government has assessed as needed, always means creating human tragedies and inequitable provision of services,' he said.

Support at Home packages replaced an earlier program in November and deliver government-funded aged care services to help keep older people at home for longer.

The parliamentary inquiry, as reported by The Canberra Times, heard that the program needed 'drastic action'.

Government defends approach

In response, Aged Care Minister Sam Rae defended the government's record. He said the government wanted to 'deliver on the spirit of the royal commission's recommendation for a comprehensive program, one that delivers consistent access and availability, as well as choice and flexibility for older people.'

Rae also said some providers were seeing older people on the Commonwealth Home Support Program declining Support at Home services, which was creating bottlenecks.

The minister's spokesman, speaking to the ABC, said keeping people on the waitlist after they received interim funding would 'skew the distribution of places'.

Rae told the ABC that 'our methodical work to secure more care for more older Australians than ever is making a material impact.'

In May, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged problems in the aged care system, saying 'the state of aged care is not good enough.'

The ABC also reported that the number of people receiving home care has jumped four-fold since the royal commission, to more than 364,700. The average number of completed assessments per quarter rose from 46,500 in 2017-18 to more than 79,700 in March 2026.

However, the ABC noted that in its first three years in power, Labor released fewer home care packages per quarter than the Coalition's last three years — less than 37,700 compared with more than 45,700.

Cost concerns and program extension

Natalie Siegel-Brown, quoted by the ABC, argued that restricting funding to help people stay at home amounts to a false economy because the wait increases residential care costs. On average, it costs the commonwealth more than $117,000 a year to subsidise a person in residential aged care, compared with less than $30,000 for care at home.

Meanwhile, Labor announced on Thursday that the Commonwealth Home Support Program, which helps older people access entry-level services to live at home safely, will be extended to mid-2029. Rae said the government was not rolling the program into Support at Home, as it should remain standalone.

The royal commission into aged care, which was referenced in the inquiry, found substandard care in Australia was widespread and systemic, and that workers were underpaid, undervalued, and insufficiently trained.