Submission: Australian Senate Community Affairs References Committee's Inquiry into Support at Home

AHPA has made a submission to the Australian Senate Community Affairs References Committee's Inquiry into Support at Home, focusing on how the program treats allied health care in practice.

Our submission argues that despite positive elements such as the Restorative Care Pathway and the Assistive Technology–Home Modifications scheme, allied health services continue to be rationed through wait lists, individualised budgets and an inconsistent service list, and that there is still no nationally consistent way of assessing older people's allied health needs.

AHPA's submission makes 10 recommendations, including embedding reablement and multidisciplinary team care in all allied health funding, introducing consistent national needs assessment, and improving data collection so the impact of Support at Home can be properly measured. Getting allied health right under Support at Home is central to helping older Australians live well and safely at home for as long as possible.