More than 10,000 younger people died in residential aged care over the past decade, new data shows.
A recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report also notes that nearly 28,000 young people were living in aged care between 2009 and 2020 with close to 9 out of 10 of those either still living there, or having died while in aged care.
And nearly 10,000 more young people turned 65, meaning they were no longer classed as ‘young’ so not included in the statistics.
Summer Foundation CEO Dr Di Winkler said waiting for people to die or turn 65 is not a strategy to address the issue of young people being forced to live in aged care.
In an article in The Australian on 23 February she said: “What has been done by governments to date is failing.
“Governments, aged care providers, health and disability workers, people with disability and the broader community all agree that young people don’t belong in aged care. We need the federal government to provide a clear commitment to putting an end to young people having to live in aged care once and for all, and we need a plan to ensure we achieve it.”
The AIHW’s Exploring pathways for young people living in residential aged care report shows the outcomes for young people living in aged care between 2009-10 and 2019-20.
