People leaving aged care

Overview of people leaving aged care in 2022–23

People leave aged care services for a number of reasons, including moving to another service for the same or a different care type. When a person leaves an aged care service it is referred to here as an ‘exit’ (excluding short periods of leave, such as for family visits or hospital stays). A person may exit aged care services more than once over a 12-month period.

The time that a person spends using an aged care service in a single episode is described as ‘length of stay’, regardless of whether they used community or residential care. Here we describe length of stay using the median value – the number found in the middle of a distribution of values (around half of people have a length of stay longer than the median, and around half of people have a length of stay shorter than the median). 

For exits that took place in 2022–23:

• The median length of stay for permanent residential care was around 5 months longer than for home care (20.5 and 15.3 months, respectively).
• Transition care, short-term restorative care and respite residential care, which provide temporary aged care, had short median lengths of stay – 7 months, 1.8 months and 0.7 months (22 days), respectively.
• Over 74,300 exits were from permanent residential care, more than 79,700 from home care, nearly 14,400 from transition care and almost 8,000 exits from short-term restorative care.
• The largest proportion of exits were from respite residential care (over 93,700 exits), reflecting that this care type is provided as a transient service and can be used multiple times by the one individual.

Reasons for leaving aged care

People leave aged care services for a number of reasons. Death is a common reason for leaving aged care, particularly permanent residential care. Other reasons include moving to another service, moving to another care type or returning to living in the community.

For exits that took place in 2022–23:

• People leaving home care had similar median length of stay whether they exited due to death or due to entering permanent residential care (15.6 months and 16.6 months, respectively). For people leaving permanent residential care, the longest median length of stay was for those who died in care (22.8 months).
• Most exits from permanent residential care were due to death (84% of exits), while most common reason for exit from home care was to enter residential care (39%).
• The most common reason for exit from respite residential care (47% of exits), transition care (64%) and short-term restorative care (64%) was to return home or to community-based living.

People leaving aged care over time

There have been changes in the number of exits and typical length of stay for different care types over time.

Compared with 2021–22, in 2022–23:

• The median length of stay decreased by almost 2 months for people leaving permanent residential care and for people leaving home care.
• The number of exits from home care per 1,000 aged 65 and over increased from 7 exits per 1,000 in 2021–22 to 17.4 exits per 1,000 in 2022–23). This may be explained, in part, by increasing numbers of people being admitted into and using home care services over this period (see Admissions into aged care and People using aged care).
• Per capita exits increased slightly forrespite residential care, remained steady for permanent residential care and decreased for transition care.

Trends over the 10 years from 2013–14 to 2022–23 indicate that:

• The median length of stay increased by 4 months for home care and by 3.7 months for permanent residential care, but remained stable for respite residential care.
• The number of exits per 1,000 population aged 65 and over increased for home care and respite residential care, with the largest increase for home care (from 7.2 exits per 1,000 in 2013–14 to 14 exits per 1,000 in 2022–23). Over the same period, per capita exits decreased for permanent residential care and transition care.

People leaving aged care by age

Although the majority of exits for aged care services are for people aged 65 and over, younger people also access and exit these services.

For exits that took place in 2022–23:

• The longest median length of stay for people leaving permanent residential care was for those aged 0–49 at exit (56.4 months; over 4 and a half years). For more information on younger people in residential aged care, see the Younger people in residential aged care dashboard.
• The longest median length of stay for people home care was for those aged 100 and over (23.3 months; nearly 2 years).
• The median age at exit was 88 for permanent residential care, 86 for respite residential care, 85 for home care, 82 for transition care and 80 for short-term restorative care.
• Older age groups represented a greater proportion of exits from permanent residential care compared with other types of care. Around two-thirds (67%) of exits from permanent residential care were for people aged 85 and over, compared with 56% for respite residential care, 52% for home care, 40% for transition care and 30% for short-term restorative care.

People leaving aged care by sex

There are more exits from aged care for women than men across all program types. This is because more women than men use aged care services in general (see People using aged care).

For exits that took place in 2022–23:

• Almost 3 in 5 (59%) exits from aged care services were for women.
• The median length of stay for women was longer than for men for permanent residential care (nearly 9 and a half months longer) and home care (2 and a half months longer). Length of stay in respite residential care was similar for men and women (approximately 21 to 24 days, respectively).

People leaving aged care by age and sex

Women tend to leave residential aged care services at a later age than men.

For exits that took place in 2022–23:

• For both men and women, the median length of stay in permanent residential care generally increased with age from age 75 onwards (length of stay for people aged 75–79 at exit was 5 months for men and 16.7 months for women, compared with people aged 100 and over at exit whose length of stay was 27.5 months for men and 45.3 months for women).
• In permanent residential care, half (50%) of women exiting were aged 90 and over, compared with just over one-third (35%) among men. The age distribution for people leaving respite residential care, home care, transition care, and short-term restorative care were similar for men and women.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians leaving aged care

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people face multiple health and social disadvantages. As a consequence, they are more likely to develop serious medical conditions earlier in life, and have a lower life expectancy than their non-Indigenous counterparts. In recognition of poorer health among First Nations communities, aged care services are offered to First Nations people from age 50.

In practice, First Nations people may face barriers to accessing and using aged care services for complex, inter-related reasons, including remoteness, language barriers, and the effects of racism and continued socioeconomic disadvantage. Delivering culturally appropriate aged care can improve access to, and the quality of, aged care for First Nations people. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care (NATSIFAC) Program provides culturally appropriate care for First Nations people in certain locations, mostly in rural and remote areas, that are close to their communities.

For more information on First Nations people using aged care, view the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people using aged care dashboard, or view the First Nations people topic on the AIHW website.

For exits that took place in 2022–23:

• First Nations people accounted for 1.2% of exits from permanent residential care, 1.1% of exits from respite residential care, 2.6% of exits from home care, 1.9% of exits from transition care, and 2.7% of exits from short-term restorative care.
• First Nations exits from aged care more commonly occurred at younger ages: usually around a decade younger than for non-Indigenous Australians. Respectively for First Nations people and non-Indigenous people, the median age of exit to each care type was: 78 and 88 for permanent residential aged care, 75 and 86 for respite residential aged care, 73 and 85 for home care, 71 and 83 for transition care, and 67 and 80 for short term restorative care.

People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds leaving aged care

Many older Australians were born overseas, speak a variety of languages, may not speak English fluently or have differing religious or cultural practices. These groups of people can be referred to as culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD The situations and needs of CALD Australians vary due to their diverse background. CALD Australians can face barriers in engaging with aged care and the support they require.

This section focuses on country of birth and preferred language as measures of people’s cultural and linguistic diversity.

For exits that took place in 2022–23:

• The median length of stay for people leaving permanent residential care was 2.4 months shorter for people who preferred to speak a language other than English compared withpeople who preferred to speak
• Nearly 1 in 4 (23%) exits from mainstream aged care services (residential care, home care, transition care and short-term restorative care) were for people born in non-English-speaking countries, where country of birth was known.People who preferred to speak a language other than English accounted for 13% of exits from mainstream aged care services, where preferred language was known.

States and territories

Both the number of exits and the typical length of stay for aged care programs vary across Australia’s states and territories. State and territory in this section is based the location of the service (facility) from which care is delivered, which can be different to the state or territory of the care recipient for home care.

For exits that took place in 2022–23:

• The Northern Territory had the longest median length of stay for permanent residential care – over 5 months longer than Western Australia, which had the shortest median length of stay for permanent residential care. The median length of stay for home care was longest in the Australian Capital Territory (17.3 months) and shortest in the Northern Territory (10.6 months).
• Patterns in the number of exits per 1,000 population aged 65 and over by state and territory were often similar to patterns in admissions (see Admissions into aged care). For example, per capita exits from permanent residential care was highest in South Australia and lowest in the Northern Territory, and so were admissions.

Remoteness

The number of exits from aged care services per person in the population aged 65 and over differs between remoteness areas. Remoteness in this section is based the location of the service (facility) from which care is delivered, so people exiting home care can live some distance away from the physical location of the service.

For exits that took place in 2022–23:

• Medium rural towns (MM 4) had the longest median length of stay for exits from permanent residential care (40.4 months). Large rural towns (MM 3) had the longest length of stay for exits from home care (41.2 months).
• Patterns in the number of exits per 1,000 population aged 65 and over by remoteness area were often similar to patterns in admissions (see Admissions into aged care). For example, per capita exits from permanent and respite residential care was highest in remote communities (MM 6) and medium rural towns (MM 4) and lowest in very remote communities (MM 7), and so were admissions to these care types.

Where can I find out more?

Related information can be found on other GEN topic pages:

• Admissions into aged care
• People using aged care

For a confidentialised unit record file (CURF) on this topic, view the GEN data: People leaving aged care.