Relatives and friends could be paid by the Government to take care of the elderly in their own home under a radical option being considered by the Government.

Personal care assistants would be paid under a national voucher scheme designed to give older people greater choice about how they are cared for. 
Aged Care Minister Julie Bishop predicted yesterday babyboomers would drive a consumer-led revolution as they demanded greater aged-care options over the next decade. 

"We should explore the option of consumer-directed care. For example, a spouse, relative or friend could be employed as a personal care assistant," she said. 

As the first of the babyboomer generation prepares to turn 60 next year, she said the "new old" would demand alternatives and governments should debate measures to deliver them. 

"We are likely to see an increasing demand for customised care, with a broad array of options for people to choose how, when, where and, notably, by whom they receive care," she said. 

"While there has already been an increase in demand for home-based aged care services, with the advent of the babyboomers, that demand is likely to escalate." 

The measures echo a proposal recently raised by Family and Community Services Minister Kay Patterson to assist families raise children by expanding the daycare scheme. 

She suggested expanding the system which allows a registered family daycare worker in the home to workplaces. 

In the latest edition of The Partyroom, a Liberal Party ideas journal published by MP Andrew Robb and Senator Mitch Fifield, Ms Bishop said in some overseas countries the elderly were allocated a personal budget to spend at public or private providers. 

Underlining the growing demand for at-home care, she said aged care providers were beginning to experience vacancies after years of long waiting lists. 

"For the first time, I am now hearing that aged-care providers have got vacancies," she told The Australian yesterday. 

"That's a good thing because it means people are taking up at-home care options. 

"The advice that we receive is that for people with dementia ... to move them into residential care can be highly traumatic. What we would like to do is provide an alternative for people and see if we are able to care for them at home." 

A proposal to introduce a voucher scheme under which government funding would follow an individual regardless of their living arrangements was recently raised in a report on aged care funding by economist Warren Hogan.
 
Professor Hogan recommended the voucher systems so older people could buy the type of care they require. He also recommended an auction system for government-licensed aged care beds as a means of subsidising regional services. 

But Ms Bishop warned that safeguards would be needed to ensure the elderly were not exploited. "Such options would need to include adequate safeguards," she said. 

"Also, in situations where older people or their families will not or cannot take greater control over the exercise of choice, there could be a role for intermediaries or case managers," Ms Bishop said. 

Aged care provider Primelife's general manager of operations, Jennifer Clancy, said people now entering these facilities were looking for continuing care so they did not have to move again later. Baby boomers in particular wanted a large range of lifestyle choices, she said.