Cost-of-living crisis impacting crucial home care services for older Australians

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A major provider of Meals on Wheels in Perth's south is facing the closure of its kitchen, due to a lack of funding. As the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, the service is a lifeline many older Australians can't afford to lose.

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00:00Former Meals on Wheels driver, Ron Griffiths, knows all too well the value this service

00:09provides.

00:10Good to see you.

00:11Oh, good to see you too.

00:13After a recent fall during an intense hailstorm, the 90-year-old had to shelter under his patio

00:18for about 24 hours.

00:20It was his delivery driver from Meals on Wheels provider, Chorus Kitchen, who raised the alarm.

00:25She rang the office to say that the dog was out but hadn't delivered the meal.

00:31And that was terribly important, because they do this quite often with old folk, because

00:35they might have had a stroke or a fall.

00:38Some have even died.

00:40But the provider's days could be numbered.

00:42Its kitchen's slated for demolition to make way for an aged care centre.

00:46We're doing about 2,500 meals per week, or around 10,000 per month.

00:53So this time last year, it was about 5,000 per month, or 1,200 per week.

00:59There are fears those who rely on in-home services may be forced to make tough decisions.

01:04For older people, especially those who live on a pension, they live off that pension purse.

01:10And something gives, you know, when things become tight.

01:14The peak body says there needs to be more investment in the sector.

01:18The government should fund the real cost of services to ensure these critical services

01:24are available to all people across the state, when and where they need them.

01:28The federal government recently announced a raft of changes to better support in-home

01:31care services, including supplementary grants for providers whose operating costs exceed

01:36their revenue.

01:37But those changes won't come into effect until mid-2027, at the earliest.

01:42Meals on Wheels WA may not even make it to the end of the year.

01:46For the communities to lose the service, it would be devastating.

01:50And I'm sure a lot of other families would feel exactly the same way.

01:54A vital service in need of its own lifeline.

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