Australia Aging in Place Statistics: Home Care, Living Alone & Falls (2026 Data)
Older Australians overwhelmingly choose to stay in their own homes. More than 272,000 people aged 65+ were using home care at 30 June 2024, and the home-care use rate has more than tripled from 18.3 to 58.5 per 1,000 since 2017 (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024).
Last updated: June 2026
Overview: how many older Australians are aging in place?
Aging in place — staying in your own home and community as you grow older, rather than moving into residential aged care — is the clear preference of most older Australians, and the data shows it is increasingly the reality too. At 30 June 2024, more than 272,000 Australians aged 65 and over were using home care (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024). The shift is not gradual: the home-care use rate more than tripled, climbing from 18.3 to 58.5 per 1,000 older people between 2017 and 2024 (AIHW, 2024). To back this demand, the Australian Government launched the new Support at Home program — a A$4.3 billion reform — on 1 November 2025, consolidating home-care services for people who want to stay put (AIHW, 2024). Aging in place is a normal, independent choice worth protecting. What it changes is not whether someone is capable of living at home, but who would notice quickly if something went wrong on a day when no carer happens to visit.
Key statistics
These verified figures come from two Australian primary sources: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), including its GEN Aged Care Data collection, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Together they describe a population that is choosing to stay home in rapidly rising numbers, a sizeable share of whom live alone, and a falls risk that is concentrated in the home itself.
Home care is surging: the use rate more than tripled
The single clearest signal that older Australians are aging in place is the explosive growth in home-care use. Between 2017 and 2024, the rate of home-care use among people aged 65 and over more than tripled, rising from 18.3 to 58.5 per 1,000 — an increase of 40.2 per 1,000, or roughly 220% (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024; derived from the two published rates). In absolute terms, more than 272,000 people aged 65+ were receiving home care at 30 June 2024 (AIHW, 2024). This is policy and preference moving in the same direction: the Support at Home program, a A$4.3 billion reform launched on 1 November 2025, is designed to expand and simplify exactly this kind of in-home support so older Australians can stay in their own homes for longer (AIHW, 2024).
Australian home care growth, 2017 to 2024
| Metric | 2017 | 2024 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home-care use rate (per 1,000 people 65+) | 18.3 | 58.5 | AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024 |
| People 65+ using home care | — | 272,000+ | AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024 |
| Support at Home program | — | A$4.3bn (launched 1 Nov 2025) | AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024 |
The home-care use rate more than tripled (a +40.2 per 1,000 increase, roughly 220%) between 2017 and 2024. The absolute count of people 65+ in home care for 2017 is not in the verified set, so that cell is left as a dash rather than estimated.
Many older Australians who age in place live alone
Aging in place does not always mean aging alongside someone. About 25% of Australians aged 65 and over live alone, and that share rises to roughly 35% among those aged 85 and over (ABS / AIHW, 2016/2022). The pattern is strongly skewed by sex: older women are far more likely to live alone than older men. The 2016 Census recorded 31% of older women living alone versus 18% of older men, and the 2022 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) put the figures at 35.1% of older women versus 19.0% of older men (ABS, 2016/2022). Living alone is a normal and independent arrangement, and many older Australians live alone with full, connected lives. What it removes is the built-in, in-home person who would immediately notice a fall, a sudden illness, or a missed morning — and that discovery gap widens precisely in the oldest age bands, where solo living is most common.
Older Australians living alone, by age and sex
| Group | % living alone | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| All adults 65+ | ~25% | 2016/2022 | ABS / AIHW |
| Adults 85+ | ~35% | 2016/2022 | ABS / AIHW |
| Older women (Census) | 31% | 2016 | ABS Census |
| Older men (Census) | 18% | 2016 | ABS Census |
| Older women (SDAC) | 35.1% | 2022 | ABS SDAC |
| Older men (SDAC) | 19.0% | 2022 | ABS SDAC |
Living-alone shares rise with age and are consistently higher for women than men. The Census (2016) and SDAC (2022) measure closely related but not identical things, so the two women/men pairs are independent confirmations of the same female-skewed pattern.
Most falls that send older Australians to hospital happen at home
Falls are the dominant injury risk in later life, and for people aging in place, the location of that risk matters. Among older Australians, falls account for 77% of injury hospitalisations and 71% of injury deaths (AIHW, 2019-20). Crucially for anyone living at home, 53% of hospitalised falls among people aged 65+ occurred at home, compared with 21% in residential aged care (AIHW, 2019-20). In other words, the place where older Australians most want to be — and increasingly are — is also where the majority of serious falls happen. This is not an argument against aging in place; the home is where people live, so it is where falls will naturally occur. It is an argument for making sure that if a fall does happen at home, someone notices quickly, because the danger of a fall when you live alone is often less the fall itself than the hours that can pass before anyone knows.
Where serious falls happen, older Australians (65+)
| Measure | Value | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitalised falls (65+) that occurred at home | 53% | 2019-20 | AIHW |
| Hospitalised falls (65+) in residential aged care | 21% | 2019-20 | AIHW |
| Falls as a share of injury hospitalisations (older Australians) | 77% | 2019-20 | AIHW |
| Falls as a share of injury deaths (older Australians) | 71% | 2019-20 | AIHW |
The home is the single most common location for serious falls among people 65+. The remaining share of hospitalised falls (beyond home and residential aged care) occurred in other locations not detailed in the verified set.
Aging in place vs residential care: the balance has shifted
The combination of these figures tells a coherent story. As home-care use more than tripled to 58.5 per 1,000 by 2024 (AIHW), more older Australians are spending their later years in their own homes rather than in residential facilities. The falls data reflects this shift: 53% of serious falls among people 65+ now happen at home versus 21% in residential aged care (AIHW, 2019-20), a distribution consistent with a population that is increasingly home-based. The Support at Home program, with A$4.3 billion in funding from 1 November 2025, formalises this direction at a national level (AIHW, 2024). The trade-off of aging in place is independence and familiarity on one side, and a thinner safety net of routine human contact on the other — especially for the roughly one in four older Australians who live alone (ABS / AIHW).
Who is most exposed: the oldest, living alone, aging in place
The three datasets converge on one group most clearly: people who are over 85, living alone, and aging in place. Solo living rises from about 25% of all those 65+ to roughly 35% of those 85+ (ABS / AIHW), and this oldest band is both the most likely to live alone and the most likely to experience a serious fall at home. Older women are over-represented here, living alone at 35.1% versus 19.0% for older men (ABS SDAC, 2022), largely because they live longer on average. For this group, home care provides scheduled support, but home-care visits are intermittent by design — the hours and days between visits are exactly the windows in which a fall or sudden illness can go unnoticed by anyone. The modifiable variable is not whether someone ages in place, but how quickly a problem is detected when no carer is in the home.
The trend is clearly toward home
Every verified indicator points the same way: Australia is shifting decisively toward aging in place. Home-care use among people 65+ more than tripled in just seven years, from 18.3 to 58.5 per 1,000 between 2017 and 2024 (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024), and the new A$4.3 billion Support at Home program launched on 1 November 2025 is built to accelerate that shift further (AIHW, 2024). As Australia's population ages and more people choose to stay home — including the rising share who live alone in the oldest age bands (ABS / AIHW) — the number of older Australians aging in place will keep climbing. The corresponding need is simple and growing: a reliable way for someone to notice quickly if a person living at home is not OK.
Why a daily check-in helps
Aging in place is a normal, independent choice that most older Australians prefer, and for the vast majority it is exactly the right one — the surge in home-care use shows the country backing that choice (AIHW, 2024). The one thing aging in place at home removes is a person who would immediately notice if something went wrong between carer visits, and with 53% of serious falls among people 65+ happening at home (AIHW, 2019-20) and about a quarter of older Australians living alone (ABS / AIHW), that discovery gap is real. A free daily check-in closes it without any loss of independence: one tap confirms you are OK, and if a check-in is missed, a chosen family member or friend is quietly alerted. There is no hardware, no tracking, and no medical claims — it simply works alongside Support at Home and home care to make sure that if something goes wrong at home, someone notices the same day rather than days later.
Sources
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) — Older Australians: Aged Care (GEN Aged Care Data, 2024)
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) — Older Australians: Housing and Living Arrangements (ABS/AIHW, 2016/2022)
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) — Falls in Older Australians 2019-20: Summary
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) — Falls in Older Australians 2019-20: Where Did Falls Occur
Frequently Asked Questions
How many older Australians are using home care?
More than 272,000 Australians aged 65 and over were using home care at 30 June 2024 (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024), reflecting a strong and growing preference to age in place at home.
How much has home-care use grown in Australia?
The home-care use rate among people aged 65+ more than tripled, rising from 18.3 to 58.5 per 1,000 between 2017 and 2024 (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024) — an increase of about 220%.
What is the Support at Home program in Australia?
Support at Home is a new A$4.3 billion Australian Government aged-care reform that launched on 1 November 2025 to consolidate and expand in-home support, helping older Australians stay in their own homes (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024).
What percentage of older Australians live alone?
About 25% of Australians aged 65 and over live alone, rising to roughly 35% of those aged 85 and over (ABS / AIHW, 2016/2022). Solo living becomes more common in the oldest age bands.
Do more older Australian women or men live alone?
Older women, by a wide margin. The 2022 SDAC recorded 35.1% of older women living alone versus 19.0% of older men, and the 2016 Census recorded 31% versus 18% (ABS, 2016/2022), largely because women live longer on average.
Where do most serious falls among older Australians happen?
At home. 53% of hospitalised falls among people aged 65+ occurred at home, compared with 21% in residential aged care (AIHW, 2019-20) — which matters because the home is where most older Australians choose to age.
How common are falls among older Australians?
Falls are the dominant injury risk in later life, accounting for 77% of injury hospitalisations and 71% of injury deaths among older Australians (AIHW, 2019-20).
Is aging in place safe in Australia?
Aging in place is a normal, independent choice that most older Australians prefer, and the surge in home-care use shows it working at scale (AIHW, 2024). The main safety consideration is that 53% of serious falls happen at home (AIHW, 2019-20) and about a quarter of older Australians live alone (ABS / AIHW), so the key question is who would notice quickly if something went wrong.
Why is aging in place increasing in Australia?
Older Australians prefer to stay in their own homes, and policy now backs that choice — home-care use more than tripled from 18.3 to 58.5 per 1,000 between 2017 and 2024, and the A$4.3 billion Support at Home program launched on 1 November 2025 (AIHW / GEN Aged Care Data, 2024).
How many older Australians live alone and at home?
About 25% of those 65+ and roughly 35% of those 85+ live alone (ABS / AIHW), and at the same time more than 272,000 people 65+ were using home care at June 2024 (AIHW, 2024) — so a substantial group is both aging in place and living alone.
Does living alone make aging in place riskier?
Living alone is a normal arrangement and not inherently risky, and many older Australians live alone with full lives. What it removes is the built-in person who would immediately notice a fall or illness, which matters more given that 53% of serious falls among people 65+ happen at home (AIHW, 2019-20).
Is home care the same as residential aged care in Australia?
No. Home care supports people in their own homes so they can age in place, while residential aged care is a facility. The shift toward home is clear: home-care use more than tripled to 58.5 per 1,000 by 2024 (AIHW, 2024), and most serious falls now occur at home (53%) rather than in residential aged care (21%) (AIHW, 2019-20).
What is the safety gap when an older Australian ages in place?
Home-care visits are intermittent by design, so the windows between visits are when a fall or sudden illness can go unnoticed — especially for the roughly one in four older Australians who live alone (ABS / AIHW). The modifiable factor is how quickly a problem is detected when no carer is in the home.
How can families make sure someone notices if an older parent at home is not OK?
The single thing that helps is someone reliably noticing if something is wrong. A free daily check-in lets a person confirm they are OK with one tap, and quietly alerts a chosen contact if the check-in is missed — turning a potential days-long discovery gap into same-day notice, with no hardware and working alongside Support at Home and home care.
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