THE Federal Budget's big spend on aged care includes funding for 635 extra beds in Tasmanian nursing homes over the next three years, it will be announced today.

POLITICAL fear prevented the Howard Government from introducing accommodation bonds in high-care nursing homes, according to Warren Hogan, who wrote the blueprint for aged care reform.

As the Federal Government prepares to announce a $2 billion increase over four years for aged care in today's budget, fresh evidence has been published of the growing burden of dementia on nursing home costs.

FEDERAL Labor today responded cautiously to a Budget leak revealing government plans to increase nursing home fees by 17 per cent to deliver more than $500 million to the aged care sector.

The Government is considering increasing its aged-care package in next week's budget to as much as $2 billion over four years.

FIFTY-ONE minutes a day is a paltry amount of assistance for an 80-year-old who lives alone and has difficulty dressing, showering, eating and performing the small tasks younger people take for granted.

AGED care homes in rural and remote areas urgently need a funding boost or they face going to the wall, a new report released today warns.

The Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA) report found that many aged care facilities in country areas were struggling to stay afloat.

The Fleurieu Peninsula has one of the highest proportions of aged populations in Australia. It also has a high number of fiercely independent older people who are taking steps so they can live in their own homes for as long as possible.

The Howard Government will announce a $1.6 billion lift for the struggling aged-care industry next week, with most of the money going to higher subsidies for nursing home beds.