Chris Noack doesn't know where his mum will live when she gets out of hospital.
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The 79-year-old was coping on her own in a Junee rented house for five years after the death of her husband.
But heart trouble sent Ann Noack to nearby Wagga Base Hospital in early March and, from there, she was transferred to St Vincent's in Sydney to be assessed for an operation.
She's been on a waiting list to get into the 19-bed Cypress View Lodge at Coleambally in the NSW Riverina, where her son lives, for more than a year.
"Her health has been gradually declining," Mr Noack said.
"We're in a situation where we don't know what to do and trying to get care [and] everywhere we go, we're told we've got to wait."
Mr Noack, who works long hours in farming, said his mother wasn't well enough anymore to live on her own, waiting lists for aged residential care were long, and his home wasn't equipped to accommodate her needs.
"I don't know where to start, don't know who to talk to - and now I'm gonna have to navigate my way through it," Mr Noack said.
"I know a lot of people in the same situation and they're all frustrated as hell."
He hasn't yet looked into home care packages, a form of commonwealth assistance designed to help people aged 65 and over to stay at home longer by providing assistance with household tasks, personal care and some medical care, such as that provided by nurses.
Nearly 83,000 on home care wait list
But the waiting list for approved home care packages had blown out to nearly 82,960 nationally by the end of December 2024, according to the federal health department.
Of those, nearly 18,000 were classified as "level 4", meaning they needed high-level care, such as help with going to the toilet or having wound dressings changed.
"High priority" cases already assigned a package level between one and four could expect to receive help within a month, the department said on its website.
Those considered "medium priority" could be waiting up to 10 months.
The waiting list times for home care packages is beyond ridiculous.
- Karen Hodgson, Cypress View Lodge manager, Coleambally
'They can die'
"They can die before the package is allocated," Cypress View Lodge manager Karen Hodgson said.
The problem is compounded in rural and regional areas where qualified care providers are few and far between.
"It's very difficult to deliver a home care package at a level four when you're in a small community because the services just aren't there," Ms Hodgson said.
"So a level four person in the past would be ... in an aged care facility. They need nursing care; they need full care.
"The push for them to stay in the home would be brilliant if the services were out there, but they're just not there."
And the wait lists grow
The facility Ms Hodgson oversees is rare - and it's running at a loss.
In a small town an hour's drive from larger centres like Griffith, Leeton or Narrandera, it's highly sought after.
Cypress View has 12 people on the waiting list to get a place in the home and five of those are classified as "urgent".
A quick glance around retirement and nursing homes around the region reveals:
- Burrowa House, 20 beds, has 35 people on its waiting list, five of whom are "urgent"
- Adina Care Cootamundra, 62 beds, has five people on its waiting list
- Navorina Nursing Home (Deniliquin), 60 beds, has 15-18 people on its waiting list
- Uralba Hostel (Gundagai), 19 beds, has 25 people on its waiting list
- Lachlan Lodge (Hilston), 18 beds, "several" people on its waiting list
- Haydays (Hay), 24 beds, didn't specify the number on its waiting list
- Edward River Gardens (Moulamein), 17 beds, didn't specify the number on its waiting list
- Cypress View Lodge (Coleambally), 19 beds, 12 people on its waiting list, five of whom are "urgent".
Local and 'tremendous'
Beverley Rose-Wiseman is one of the lucky ones.
The 87-year-old is getting a mobility scooter so she can get from her Cypress View in Coleambally to her grandchildren's netball and football games nearby.
"Because of my spine problem I have a problem walking, so this is the best place for me to be," she said.
"I need 24/7 care and I'm getting it here."
She put her own money into the establishment of Cypress View Lodge and is determined to see it succeed, partly out of fear she'd otherwise be in a town far away from her family.
Mrs Rose-Wiseman said even if she didn't know all her fellow residents, as a former local teacher, she at least knew their families.
"Even if they haven't quite got their marbles, well, I know all their kids because I taught them," she said.
"People are proud of this place and they have supported it all of these years.
"It is absolutely tremendous."
On July 1 home care packages will switch to a $5.6 billion "support at home" system, promising to be "the greatest improvement to aged care in 30 years" designed to slash waiting lists.
The Labor government said the new scheme would bring down average wait times and open up new places.
"We know that a growing number of older Australians want to remain in their home and the community they love for as long as possible," a spokesman for aged care minister Anika Wells said.
"We're also increasing the maximum level of support available from $61,000 to $78,000."
Support levels would also be expanded from four to eight, he said.
By mid-2020 about 4.2 million people, or 16 per cent of Australia's total population, were aged 65 and over.
Life expectancy at birth in the early 2020s was about 81.1 years for males and 85.1 years for females.
