This National Advance Care Planning Week (16-22 March), leading home care provider Silverchain is calling on the Australian Government to ensure advance care planning support is available to all Australians receiving federally funded aged care services.
Advance care planning is a process where individuals identify their values, beliefs, and preferences to guide future health care decisions when they are unable to communicate their wishes. It helps ensure that people’s preferences are respected in the face of potential future incapacity or medical emergencies.
Under the Federal Government’s aged care reforms, which came into effect in November 2025, dedicated funding for advance care planning is only available to those in residential aged care.
Silverchain Group Chief Executive Dale Fisher AM said denying older people access to advance care planning if they choose to age at home is an unnecessary distinction.
“Universal advance care planning should be a fundamental consideration as a person enters aged care, whether at home or in residential aged care,” Adj Prof Fisher said.
“This is fundamentally unfair and ignores the needs of the more than one million Australians who choose to receive aged care at home. The clear preference of most Australians is to be supported to live at home as they age.”
For clients receiving Support at Home services in their own homes, advance care planning is expected to be delivered within the capped care management allowance for each person, unlike in residential aged care, where it’s a separate service item. The absence of dedicated advance care planning funding for people receiving care at home creates an unfair divide between care in a residential facility and care at home.
“Nationally, there remains a significant disconnect between what people want for end of life care and the reality they face. Many people want to die in their home, yet only a small percentage do. Advance care planning is a key component that empowers older Australians to exercise their fundamental right to choose where and how they want to receive their care,” Adj Prof Fisher said.
“The Support at Home program emphasises the right of older people to remain at home but doesn’t include advance care planning as a separate service item, as it is for residential aged care. This will play a crucial role in whether the wishes and preferences of older Australians are respected and documented.
“The silver tsunami of our ageing population is already here. Our care system isn’t ready for or oriented towards this. Australia has a unique opportunity to move more care into the home. We fall short of the proportion of care that can be and should be delivered in the home. More Australians want this shift, but policy and funding are lagging. Advance care planning is just one example,” Adj Prof Fisher said.
The theme of this year’s National Advance Care Planning Week campaign, ‘Your story, your choice’, recognises that every person’s stories and preferences are unique to them, and their health care choices deserve to be heard.
