Silverchain calls on Gov to make advance care planning accessible for all

This National Palliative Care Week (11-17 May), leading home care provider Silverchain is calling on the Australian Government to amend its Support at Home aged care program to ensure that it incorporates advance care planning for all Australians receiving federally-funded aged care support.

Starting 1 July 2025, the aged care reforms are set to fund advance care planning only if the older person is living in a residential aged care facility. This approach creates a divide between care at a residential facility versus care at home.

The theme of this year’s National Palliative Care Week campaign, ‘What’s Your Plan?’, encourages Australians to discuss and document their end-of-life wishes.

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.

“The clear preference of most Australians is to be supported to live at home as they age; this is represented in the choice more than one million older Australians that have already made to access aged care support at home,” Adjunct Professor Fisher said.

“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. We need greater access to advance care planning to support people’s end of life wishes,” Adjunct Professor Fisher said.

According to the Productivity Commission, about 70 per cent of Australians would prefer to die at home, but only 15 per cent are able to do so.

“Last financial year, Silverchain supported more than 7,000 Australians to die at home as they wished, through specialist community palliative care,” Adjunct Professor Fisher said.

“Supporting people to stay at home, especially through their final months of life if that’s what they wish, must be seen as essential to the sustainability of our entire health and aged care system.

“The Support at Home program emphasises the right of older people to remain at home. Advance care planning is a key component that empowers older Australians to exercise their human right to choose where and how they want to receive their care.

“Advance care planning must be included as a separate service item within the new Support at Home program, as it is for residential aged care, as it will play a crucial role in ensuring the wishes and preferences of older Australians are respected and documented,” Adjunct Professor Fisher said.

Australia has the third highest life expectancy in the world, behind Monaco and Japan. By 2066, older Australians (65 years and above) are expected to make up more than a fifth of the population.

“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,” Adjunct Professor Fisher said.

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.