The federal government's commission of audit will find that the aged care sector has been chronically underfunded for a long time, an industry consultant predicts.
Treasurer Joe Hockey reiterated on Friday that the audit will review the government from the top down and program to program to ensure the services and income support Australians need are provided as efficiently as possible.
But consultants BDO partner Julie Hough says government subsidies to the industry are low and don't reflect the cost of care.
"I would hope the commission of audit would actually make it very, very clear that the sector has been chronically underfunded for a long time," Ms Hough told AAP.
Ms Hough, who advises the aged care sector on tax, accounting, and financial modelling on infrastructure investment, says the nation faces some worrying statistics that should focus the mind on the needs of future senior care.
One thousand Australians are turning 65 every week and by 2040 25 per cent of the population will be of pension age.
The workforce around aged care will have to triple by 2050, and if funding was better, it would encourage training colleges and TAFEs, and boost jobs security in the sector.
Ms Hough says within the next 10 years, 83,000 aged-care places will have to be created, but there is little incentive to invest in a sector that battles 140 pieces of legislation, such as building certifications.
The coalition has promised to scrap $1 billion of red tape across the nation each year.
"The tax paying population is shrinking, so either we have to increase the tax base and even out the burden, or you are going to have a crisis at the end," she said.
She says the coalition's planned white paper on tax should consider an aged care levy that is put into a fund for future needs.
She describes the coalition's decision to delay incremental increases in the compulsory superannuation guarantee for two years as "horrendous", but welcomes this week's decision not to go ahead with a $313 million tax on super accounts earning more than $100,000 per year.
"The consumer in the future is going to have to pay for their care, so let's put them in a position to be able to pay," she said.
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