Thousands of extra older Australians will be given money to pay for care at home, as part of a $550 million aged care funding boost.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said respect for older Australians is at the heart of the announcement, which will ensure more people who want to age in their homes can do so.
But Labor says the funding goes nowhere near demand, which is rising faster than the government has funded it.
That sentiment has been echoed by aged care advocates, who have welcomed the step but urged the government to do more.
The government is funding 10,000 new home care packages for people with high-level care needs, at a cost of $287 million by mid-2022.
Half of the new packages will involve payments of up to $33,000 per individual each year, while the other half - for older people with the greatest care needs - will involve payments of up to $50,250.
The extra packages, which will be available from early 2019, come after the government offered 20,000 more packages in the past year.
The latest Department of Health annual report put the total number of home care packages delivered in 2017/18 at about 100,000.
Labor aged care spokeswoman Julie Collins said the latest government investment was just a "drop in the ocean".
"As we go into the Christmas period there are still 127,000 Australians waiting for a home care package sitting on the national priority wait list," she told reporters.
Ms Collins said the waiting list had grown by 18,000 people in just six months.
"So today's announcement of 10,000 won't go anywhere near enough even dealing with that increase from the last six months," she said.
Council of the Ageing chief executive Ian Yates welcomed the funding but said when people need a high level of care, they can't afford to wait.
"The risk to them and the burden on family is unacceptable, as is forcing people into residential care prematurely," he said.
Leading Aged Care Services - which represents providers - said the new packages were a step in the right direction but not enough to meet the changing needs of Australians in all care settings.
"Providing levels of funding that reflect the increasing costs and growing demand for age services is the only way we can guarantee a sustainable age services industry," chief executive Sean Rooney said.
Senior Australians living at home with lower-level care needs will also have their costs reduced as part of the government's $552.9 million funding windfall, saving up to $400 each year, depending on their care level.
Residential aged care centres in remote and rural Australia, and centres that support people who have been homeless, will get extra funding, with a supplement they receive boosted by 30 per cent.
Another $98 million will be spent on extra payments for doctors who attend residential aged care homes to treat residents.
