People with disability in Australia

Government-subsidised aged care in Australia is provided based on need, not age. As such, sometimes younger people (aged under 65 years) enter permanent residential aged care to have their care needs met.

While for some people with disability residential aged care is a setting of choice, generally younger people are considered to be better served by other services for their long-term care needs.

The Australian Government is working to reduce the number of younger people entering residential aged care, and to help younger people who are living in residential aged care to move into age-appropriate accommodation with the supports they need (Department of Health and Aged Care 2022). The Younger People in Residential Aged Care Strategy 2020–25 sets out to achieve this goal through the following targets, apart from in exceptional circumstances:

• no people under the age of 65 entering residential aged care by 2022
• no people under the age of 45 living in residential aged care by 2022
• no people under the age of 65 living in residential aged care by 2025.

The Government has outlined 3 exceptional circumstances for approval and entry of a younger person to residential aged care, where it is their preference. Entry can be for:

1. Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people aged 50–64
2. A person who is homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, and aged 50–64
3. Maintaining family connections (Department of Health and Aged Care 2023).

Younger people who are eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) can also use their NDIS funding to access alternative accommodation and support arrangements (Department of Health and Aged Care 2022).

The overall progress being made towards these targets is being tracked on the AIHW GEN website.