Rethinking how we prepare for the future of care at home

The 2026 Intergenerational Report projects that the number of Australians aged 85 and over will triple over the next 40 years. It also shows that our population will age faster than anticipated in 2023.

Australians are living longer but they are also remaining at home for longer. By 2044, an estimated 1.82 million Australians are projected to need home care, while the aged-care sector may need at least 400,000 additional workers by 2050 to meet future demand and quality expectations.

Meeting this demand is not just about growing our workforce, but preparing people and organisations for a different way of delivering care.

A different experience of care

Imagine a home that could adapt as someone aged and allowed them to maintain independence for longer.

Advances in housing design, assistive technology and digital services are making this possible. A kitchen bench can be adjusted to make preparing meals easier. Lighting and temperature can be controlled without having to move around the house. Discreet sensors can identify changes in daily routines that might indicate someone needs additional support.

They also have implications for how care is delivered. Digital tools can reduce administrative work, give workers better access to information and allow more time for direct care. For people receiving support, technology can offer greater choice and control over their daily lives.

These developments are not intended to replace human care and the relationships between an individual and carer. Instead, they allow workers to make more informed choices and respond to the individual’s needs. 

Closing the gap between innovation and workforce skills

Our environmental scan shows the challenge is not a lack of innovation. It is making sure new technologies and models of care are translated into the skills workers need in everyday practice.

Consider a sensor that flags a change in someone’s usual routine. A worker needs to understand what that information might mean, consider it alongside their own observations and conversations with the person, and know when to seek clinical advice. 

As these tools become more commonplace, care workers will increasingly need to combine strong human and interpersonal skills with digital capability, data interpretation, and confidence working across home and virtual care environments.

For people entering the sector, this means preparing for jobs that will evolve throughout their careers. Those already in the sector will need opportunities to develop new skills as technologies and approaches to care change.

Achieving this will depend on system-wide change. For example, care providers need to be able to assess new technologies, adapt service models, redesign roles and support staff through change. Leaders need to understand what an innovation requires of their organisation and whether it is improving care.

Education and training systems also need to keep pace, ensuring workers have opportunities to develop new skills through appropriate courses, credentials and hands-on experience throughout their careers.

A dedicated home to prepare for what comes next 

This is the role Holmesglen’s Home and Community Care Centre of Excellence is being established to play. Bringing people together to test new approaches, learn from experience, translate evidence into workforce capability and innovation into everyday practice.

The planned Smart Home Living Lab and Virtual Smart Home will provide realistic environments to explore how home design, technology and care can work together. They will create opportunities to test emerging technologies, develop new approaches to training and build the practical skills needed across the care workforce

Collaboration will be critical to turning innovation into better care. Education providers, industry, researchers, technology developers, care workers and consumers all have a role to play in identifying challenges, testing new approaches and developing practical solutions.

Together, we can turn ideas into practical solutions that make a real difference for people ageing at home.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Centre and how you can be involved, contact us at HomeCommunityCareCoE@holmesglen.edu.au