More Australians are entering older age each year. This has resulted in over 1.3 million Australian people accessing aged care services. To support the growing need to gain access to information, SCHI recently co-hosted the quarterly Health Ageing Forum which focused on navigating the aged care system. The forum was designed to help seniors better understand recent funding changes and what they mean in everyday life.
By 2050, one in four Australians will be over 65, placing increased demand on aged care services. Home-based care is becoming the preferred option. The rate of people using home care has increased more than 3-fold, from 18.3 per 1,000 population in 2017 to 58.5 per 1,000 population in 2024 (AIHW 2025e).* This growth aligns with government policy and is driven by a consumer preference for in-home care.
Lucy Urquhart Comlink Australia and Darren Young from Council on the Ageing (COTA) Queensland presented with practical insights and strategies that made a real difference. They explored updates to aged care funding — including changes to Support at Home — and explain how assessments, allocations and entitlements work.
Attendees also heard a panel including lived experiences from community members who have successfully navigated the system with their own family, ADA Australia, and an assessor.
Colin Maddocks from The Healthy Ageing Partnerships and National Board member of EveryAGE Counts said, “The morning gave clear guidance and practical tips, which has made guests feel more confident, informed and prepared to make the right decisions for their care journey and that’s what this forum is about.”
“Attendees particularly enjoyed the accessibility to local services and experts and real-life scenarios. It’s important we look ourselves.”
Guests also had the opportunity to visit a range of informative stalls, including Sunshine Coast Health Nurse Navigators, Dovida, Carer Gateway and our stalls from our healthy ageing partners.
Speaking of; we are proud to support collaborative initiatives like Health Ageing Forum, which empower the Sunshine Coast community with the knowledge and tools for preventative healthcare. We can’t co-host the Health Ageing Forum without the support of Sunshine Coast Council, Comlink, Country 2 Coast PHN, UniSC, and Health Ageing Partnerships.
Save the date! We have 2 more forums coming this year. The next forum will be held on Thursday 17 September from 9am and it will focus on Healthy brain, healthy body, healthy life. This one shouldn’t be missed! To purchase tickets head to Eventbrite.
*Statistics found in this story is from Australian Institute for Health and Wellbeing.