Australia's population is ageing rapidly. More than 4 million Australians are over 65; by 2050, this will exceed 8 million. The aged care system is under pressure — from Royal Commission findings that documented systemic failure and neglect, from workforce shortages, and from the growing diversity of older Australians whose needs existing services often fail to meet. Philanthropic grants play an important complementary role in supporting aged care innovation, connection, and wellbeing for older Australians.
The aged care system
Australian aged care is primarily funded by the Commonwealth Government, through:
- Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP): Entry-level support for people living at home
- Home Care Packages (HCP): Individualised packages for people with higher support needs at home
- Residential aged care: Government subsidies for care in aged care facilities
- Short-term restorative care and transition care
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (2018-2021) documented serious failures in quality of care, particularly in residential facilities. The Aged Care Act 2024 represents significant reform of the sector.
My Aged Care
The central access point for Commonwealth-funded aged care services; coordinates assessment and access to home support and residential care.
Private and community providers
Most aged care services are delivered by private and nonprofit providers — including major nonprofits like Baptistcare, Bupa, Hammond Care, Uniting Care, and Catholic Aged Care services, alongside for-profit residential providers.
NDIS interaction
Older people with disability who are under 65 when they enter the NDIS may continue receiving NDIS support into older age. The intersection of NDIS and aged care funding is complex.
Dementia care and support
Dementia affects more than 400,000 Australians; this number will more than double by 2050. Beyond clinical care (which government funds), people with dementia and their families need:
- Carer support and respite
- Dementia-friendly communities
- Social connection and meaningful activity
- End-of-life planning support
- Research into prevention and treatment
Dementia Australia and state-based dementia organisations provide services; philantthropy supports both services and research.
Social connection and loneliness reduction
Social isolation is a major risk factor for poor health outcomes in older age — comparable in effect to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Many older Australians are profoundly lonely, particularly those who live alone, have lost spouses and friends, or have mobility limitations.
Grants for social connection programmes — befriending, telephone visiting, community activities, men's sheds, intergenerational programmes — address this pervasive and damaging problem.
Culturally appropriate care
Australia's older population is increasingly diverse. People from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, and from LGBTQI+ communities all face specific challenges in an aged care system that was largely designed for Anglo-Australian Protestants.
Elder abuse prevention
Elder abuse — financial, physical, emotional, sexual — is a significant and underreported problem. Older Australians are particularly vulnerable to financial exploitation by family members and to institutional abuse in residential care. Grants for elder abuse prevention, awareness, and legal support address a serious human rights issue.
Technology and independence
Assistive technology — fall detection, medication management, video calling, smart home systems — can significantly extend the time older people can live independently and safely at home. Grants for technology access and digital literacy for older Australians reduce isolation and support independence.
Carer support
More than 2.65 million Australians provide unpaid care to older family members. Carers' own health and wellbeing are often compromised. Grants for carer support services — respite, counselling, peer support, information — sustain the informal care sector that provides the majority of care for older Australians.
Palliative care and end-of-life
Quality palliative care — pain management, comfort, dignity, and support for families — is not accessible for all dying Australians. Grants for community-based palliative care, hospice services, and end-of-life planning programmes improve the quality of dying.
Listen to older people: The aged care system has historically made decisions about older people without genuine input from them. Funders should ensure that older Australians — including those in residential care and those with cognitive limitations — have meaningful voice in the programmes that serve them.
Address intersectionality: The most marginalised older Australians — First Nations elders, older people with disability, older homeless people, LGBTQI+ elders — face compounded disadvantage. Grants that reach these populations produce the most significant equity benefit.
Workforce is the bottleneck: The aged care crisis is significantly a workforce crisis — low wages, poor conditions, and limited training drive chronic understaffing and high turnover. Grants that support workforce development, training, and conditions improvement address the system's most fundamental constraint.
System advocacy alongside services: Individual service grants help individual people; system advocacy changes the conditions for everyone. Funders who invest in both service delivery and aged care policy advocacy have greater leverage.
Tahua's grants management platform supports aged care funders and older Australians' organisations — with the grant tracking, outcome measurement, and relationship management tools that help funders invest effectively in quality care and connection for older Australians.