The number of people aged 65 and over is expected to increase from 2.8 million (13.4 per cent of the total population) in June 2007 to 7.2 million (25.3 per cent) by 2047.

An even bigger change is anticipated for the old old, those aged over 85 years, who tend to be the main users of aged care services. This group is expected to increase from 400 000 (1.7 per cent of the total population) in June 2007 to 1.6 million (5.6 per cent) by 2047.

The aged dependency ratio (the proportion of people aged over 65 to people of traditional working age, 15-64) is projected to increase from almost 20 per cent in 2007 to over 42 per cent by 2047.

Our Population

The male retirement age of 65 was set in 1909, when the average male lifespan was around 58 years.

In 2004, life expectancy was 78.1 years for men and 83 years for women.

The proportion of people aged 65 and over is projected to grow from 13 per cent of the total population in 2005 to over 23 per cent in 2035, that is from 2.7 million older Australians in 2005 to 6.2 million in 2035; and to over 26 per cent (7.5 million) in 2055.

In 2005 1.9 million people were aged 70 and over (9 per cent of the population); this will be over 4.7 million in 30 years (18 per cent of the population).

In 2005 312,000 people were 85 and over (1.5 per cent of the population); this will be over 1.6 million in 50 years (6 per cent of the population).

Over the next 20 years the number of Australians who are 70 and over will grow at a rate 3.3 times faster than the total population.

Between 1980 and 2005, the total number of age pensioners increased from 1.3 million to 1.9 million. Currently, almost 78 per cent of people of Age Pension age receive the full or partial Age Pension (or service pension equivalent).

Aged Care Funding

Total Australian Government outlays for ageing and aged care services (Department of Health and Ageing and Department of Veterans’ Affairs) in 2005–06 is expected to total $7.1 billion.

In 1995–96, the Australian Government spent $2.5 billion on residential aged care. In 2005–06 the amount is expected to be $5.3 billion — an increase of $2.8 billion over ten years.

Aged Care

A person aged 70 has a 36 per cent chance of needing high-level aged care during his/her life.

In 2004–05 the occupancy rate for aged care homes was 95.3 per cent.

As at 30 June 2005 there were 183,395 allocated residential type places, of which 161,165 places were operational.

At 30 June 2005 the average age of residents was 83.5 years.

About 60 per cent of high-level care residents enter from hospital, 4.5 per cent from low-level care, and 35.5 per cent direct from the community.

About 30 per cent of low-level care residents enter from hospital, and 70 per cent from the community.

The average length of stay is 34.4 months, with 37 per cent of people staying less than 1 year, and 20 per cent staying more than 5 years.

A maximum of 15 per cent of care places may be for extra service places, while 16–40 per cent of places must be for concessional residents, depending on the region.

Community care

There were 32,588 community care places operational at 30 June 2005. This includes 1,672 operational EACH places.

Nationally, there were 1,828 EACH packages allocated by 30 June 2005 and an additional 900 packages were allocated through the 2005 Aged Care Approvals Round.

In addition, 667 EACH-D packages were allocated through the 2005 Aged Care Approvals Round.

Home and Community Care

It is estimated that HACC supported 32.2 million hours of service and the delivery of 12 million home meals in 2004–05. Services were provided to some 744,000 people.

The average age of HACC clients is 71.6 years, 65 per cent are female, 92 per cent are pensioners and 56 per cent have a carer available to assist them.

Centre-based day care provided the most hours of care, followed by domestic assistance, personal care, social support, home nursing and respite care.

Carers

There are about 2.6 million carers and approximately 475,000 people acting as primary carers for people living at home who are aged or have a moderate, severe or profound disability.

76 per cent of primary carers are aged less than 64 years.

Primary carers are predominantly female; 42 per cent care for partners, 26 per cent children and 23 per cent their parents.

Dementia - Facts and Figures

Up to 200,000 people aged over 65 are estimated to have some form of dementia. This is expected to rise to around 265,000 by 2020 and 500,000 by 2050.

Dementia is one of three major factors precipitating entry into residential aged care.

The 2005–06 Budget provided $320.6 million to make dementia a National Health Priority. This initiative includes three key measures:

$70.5 million for research, improved care initiatives and early intervention programs

$225.1 million for Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia packages

$25 million for additional dementia specific training for aged care and community workers.

Health Care

Many more Australians are living to old age. A large proportion live a healthy life without diseases and disability.

The prevalence of diseases and disability increases with age.

The 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers found that over 61 per cent of people aged 70 and older reported living with a disability compared with 20 per cent for the population as a whole.

In 2003–04, people aged 70 and older constituted just over 9 per cent of the population but accounted for over 27 per cent of hospital separations and almost 42 per cent of hospital patient days.

Public Health

For those Australians 65 years and over, 7 per cent were current smokers; 8 per cent had risky or high alcohol intake; 75 per cent were sedentary or had low exercise levels; 35 per cent had one or less serves of fruit per day, and 82 per cent had 4 or less serves of vegetables per day.

Being overweight or obese was highest in older Australians between 55 and 64 years of age, compared to all other age groups, at 72 per cent for men and 58 per cent for of women.

Assistance with Finding an Aged Care Placement