My Aged Care assessment is taking forever, what to do
An Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) appointment is the door into Support at Home funding. National wait times have improved since the program launched in November 2025 but can still run two to six weeks. If your parent's needs are escalating faster than the assessment timeline, here is how to push for a quicker review.
- Standard wait time is two to six weeks. Urgent referrals are faster
- GPs can mark a referral as urgent. This is the most reliable accelerator
- OPAN (1800 700 600) provides free advocacy when delays cause harm
- Carer Gateway (1800 422 737) offers emergency respite while you wait
Step 1: confirm the referral is in the system
Call My Aged Care on 1800 200 422 and ask for the referral number. You will need the participant's full name, date of birth, and Medicare number. Without a referral number you have nothing to chase. If the referral has not been received, ask the original referrer (often the GP) to lodge it again.
Step 2: ask your GP to flag urgency
GPs can mark a referral as urgent when the participant has had a recent fall, a hospital admission, sudden cognitive change, or family carer breakdown. Take notes from the last GP visit to support the urgency request. An urgent referral usually triggers an assessment within two weeks.
Step 3: escalate if the wait is causing harm
If the assessment delay is putting the participant at risk, call OPAN on 1800 700 600. OPAN is the Older Persons Advocacy Network, an independent and free service. They can contact the assessment team directly and request a faster review.
What to have ready for the assessment
- The participant's Medicare number and date of birth
- A short list of recent changes: falls, hospital visits, memory concerns
- The GP's contact details in case the assessor wants to confirm
- A quiet room and, if possible, a family member present on the day
How the assessment sets your funding
The assessor uses a structured tool, the Independent Assessment Tool, to recommend a classification from Level 1 to Level 8. That level sets the size of the quarterly budget and the mix of services the participant can access across the Clinical Care, Independence, and Everyday Living streams. If the recommended level looks too low for the participant's real needs, you can request a reassessment once needs have genuinely changed.