Bevan Eatts MLA

Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Bevan Eatts MLA, says Western Australia cannot afford to be a bystander as the number of older Australians stuck in hospital waiting for aged care reaches crisis levels across the country.

New national figures show more than 3,600 Australians are now stranded in public hospitals waiting for aged care placements or support services, up from around 2,700 a year ago. In Western Australia, the number has increased from 230 to 423 patients in just 12 months.

Mr Eatts said the figures exposed a growing failure in the aged care and health systems, but warned WA could not simply blame Canberra while hospital pressures continued to worsen.

“Western Australia has seen the number of older people stuck in hospital nearly double, yet the Cook Government has no clear strategy to reduce demand before people reach crisis point,” Mr Eatts said.

“Of course, the Commonwealth must deliver more aged care places, more Support at Home packages and faster access to care. But WA also needs a plan of its own.

“Every older Western Australian occupying a hospital bed because they have nowhere else to go is a person who has been failed by the system, and every blocked bed means longer waits for patients needing hospital treatment.”

Nationally, health ministers have warned that growing aged care delays are contributing to bed block, emergency department congestion and increased pressure on elective surgery.

Mr Eatts said the State Government should be focused on keeping older Western Australians healthier and independent for longer through practical measures that reduce avoidable hospital admissions.

“Too often the debate starts when someone is already in a hospital bed. We need to start much earlier. A serious prevention strategy would include falls prevention programs, medication reviews, stronger primary care, improved access to allied health and community nursing, and support for home modifications that help people remain safe and independent.”

People aged 65 and over account for more than half of all hospital patient days in Australia, despite making up less than one-fifth of the population.

Mr Eatts said the Cook Government should publish regular WA-specific data on falls-related admissions, potentially preventable hospitalisations, repeat presentations and hospital bed days among older Western Australians.

“The Minister can tell us how many older people stuck waiting are to leave hospital. What she can’t tell us is whether the Government is doing enough to stop people ending up there in the first place.

“The reality is that WA cannot build its way out of this challenge. We need a prevention plan, an aged care plan and a hospital demand reduction plan working together.

“Canberra must fix aged care, but the Cook Government also has a responsibility to help older Western Australians stay healthy, stay independent and stay out of hospital wherever possible.”

Shadow Minister for Aged Care Bevan Eatts MLA is calling for the Federal Labor Government to explain conflicting official figures on aged care wait times, saying older Australians and their families deserve to know how long they will actually wait.

Mr Eatts said the Government’s repeated claims that aged care wait times are “continuing to fall” do not appear to align with its own published data.

According to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s recently released June data, standard-priority applicants face a wait of seven to eight months which is no change from March reports.

“Australians are being told wait times are falling, yet the published figure appears unchanged from March,” Mr Eatts said.

Mr Eatts said concerns were heightened by the absence of a June-quarter statistical report, making meaningful comparisons with previous quarters impossible. and further compounded by government reports using different methodologies to calculate waiting times.

“Families need to know whether help is around the corner or many months away,” Mr Eatts said.

“When an older person is assessed as needing care, every day matters, let alone months. Families need clear answers, not confusion.”

In response to a recent Senate Estimates question, the Department confirmed its published wait time information includes both new applicants and people seeking a higher level of care, following reassessment. However, the Department’s statutory Wait Times Report excludes reassessments altogether.

“As a result, Australians have been presented with two official wait-time figures measuring different groups of people,” Mr Eatts said. “It’s not good enough”.

Mr Eatts said he would write to Federal Minister for Aged Care Sam Rae, seeking an explanation of the different methodologies and asking for consistent, comparable wait-time reporting.

Nationals WA Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Bevan Eatts MLA, has warned that the State Government’s own commissioned report shows Western Australia will need between 1,600 and 2,700 additional aged care beds by 2030, yet there is still no plan to deliver them.

Mr Eatts said, while aged care funding was primarily a Commonwealth responsibility, the State Government could no longer use Canberra as an excuse for inaction while hospitals, ambulance services and regional communities bore the consequences.

“Labor knows there is a problem. Its own report says so. The question is why it continues to talk about the issue instead of using the powers it already has to address it?”

Mr Eatts said aged care shortages were now affecting the wider health system.

“When older Western Australians are medically fit to leave hospital but can’t access aged care, they stay in hospital beds. That means fewer beds for other patients, longer waits in emergency departments, and more ambulance ramping.”

He pointed to the most recent figures: a record number of patients sitting in WA hospitals while medically ready to leave.

“A shortage of aged care beds becomes a shortage of hospital beds. A shortage of hospital beds becomes ambulance ramping.”

“This is not a forecast. This is happening in our hospitals now, every week.”

Mr Eatts said the scale of the gap was clear from the Government’s own numbers.

“The report points to a shortfall measured in thousands of beds. Since 2020, the State has added around only 400 and, in 2025, the number of beds fell for the first time in over a decade. The need is moving in one direction, and supply is moving in the other.

“Western Australians are entitled to ask why, five years after the Royal Commission exposed serious failures in aged care, we are still talking about bed shortages, workforce shortages and growing pressure on hospitals.”

Mr Eatts said the State Government had many options available, including developing a dedicated aged care workforce strategy, supporting workforce housing in regional communities, expanding training pathways and scholarships, identifying areas where market failure was preventing investment, and coordinating aged care planning with hospital demand and workforce needs.

“None of these measures require another inquiry. None require another round of finger-pointing. They require leadership.”

“The Cook Government cannot keep saying aged care is somebody else’s responsibility when WA hospitals, WA ambulance crews and WA families are carrying the burden.”

Mr Eatts said pressure was greatest in regional communities, where workforce shortages had already taken some beds out of service, forcing older residents to travel long distances for care while local hospitals faced ageing infrastructure and rising demand.

“The warning is on the record. The evidence is the Government’s own. There is still time to act, and regional communities are not asking for another inquiry. They are asking for a workforce strategy and a building plan that matches the report the Government already has.

“Regional Western Australians generate much of the wealth that drives this State. They deserve a government prepared to tackle these challenges, not shift responsibility elsewhere.”

Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Bevan Eatts MLA, has highlighted new Department of Health data confirming Western Australia’s aged care system is now facing an immediate capacity crisis, with regional communities such as Warren–Blackwood among the hardest hit.

The Department’s 2026 WA Residential Aged Care Supply and Demand Analysis reveals demand has increased by around 24 per cent over the past decade, while the State has recorded its first decline in residential aged care bed numbers in more than ten years.

Mr Eatts said the findings validate long-standing concerns he has raised about the growing strain on the system.

“This report makes it clear: what was once considered a future risk is now a present-day crisis,” Mr Eatts said.

“The failure to deliver enough appropriate aged care beds is already being felt in our communities and hospitals, where too many older Western Australians are left in limbo.”

He said elderly residents deserved better care and greater dignity.

“Older Western Australians should be treated with compassion and supported in appropriate aged care settings — not left waiting in hospital beds due to system failures,” Mr Eatts said.

The report estimates WA will require up to 2,700 additional aged care beds by 2030, while around 700 existing beds are effectively out of service due to workforce shortages and operational constraints.

Mr Eatts warned the situation was particularly acute in regional areas, pointing to Manjimup as an example, where occupancy is already sitting at approximately 96 per cent across just 137 beds.

“In regional communities, there is virtually no buffer in the system,” he said.

“A single staffing shortage or temporary closure can quickly leave families with nowhere nearby to care for their loved ones. That is simply unacceptable.”

Mr Eatts said the data should serve as a wake-up call for both State and Federal Governments to act decisively.

“It’s time to stop shifting blame and start delivering a coordinated, long-term plan to increase aged care capacity and rebuild the regional workforce.

“This is not political rhetoric — this is the WA Department of Health’s own analysis warning the system is under growing strain,” he said.