Australia’s aged care sector will cost the country $5 billion (US$3.36 billion) more in 2022-2023 and is expected to put more pressure on the government budget in the coming years.
The 2023 federal budget to be released on May 9 will feature aged care services as the fifth-largest area of government spending.
Specifically, the total cost of providing aged care services for Australians will jump from $24.8 billion to about $29.6 billion this financial year.
Furthermore, the figure is expected to reach $35.8 billion by 2025-2026 and will continue to rise as the population ages.
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, there were 4.2 million Australians aged 65 and above as of June 30, 2020, accounting for 16 percent of the population….