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6 Community aged care providers in a competitive environment: Past, present and future Bob Davidson In Australia, as in many other nations, the ageing of the population, coupled with other social and demographic changes, has underpinned significant growth in aged care in recent years, a development that is projected to continue during the first half of the 21st century.1 At the same time, there has been an increasing recognition by government and aged care service providers that most older people wish to remain within their own home and remain independent as much and for as Davidson, B. 2015, ‘Community aged care providers in a competitive environment: Past, present and future’, in Markets, righ ts and p ower in Australian social p olicy , eds G. Meagher S. Goodwin, Sydney University Press, Sydney. 1 In 1970, 8.3 percent of the Australian population was 65 years and older, while 0.5 percent was 85 years and older. By 2010, this had risen to 13.5 percent and 1.8 percent respectively; by 2030 it is projected to be 19.3 percent and 2.7 percent, and by 2050 to be 22.7 percent and 5.1 percent (Treasury 2010, p. 10). The growth in aged care, however, arises from a range of factors other than simply more people needing care, including greater participation of women in the workforce with its effects on the number of informal (unpaid) carers, and the greater wealth and political activity of older people relative to past generations. In Australia, the growth of the aged care industry may accelerate after the announcement in April 2012 that the number of funded aged care places will be significantly increased over the next decade (Australian Government 2012). 191 Markets, Rights and Power in Australian Social Policy long as possible (ageing-in-place), rather than go into residential care (such as a nursing home).2 This has led in recent years to significant