The central role played by carers in maintaining people at home has been so well documented, that it has been assumed that those admitted to nursing homes or hostels are less likely than others to have informal carers. Policy analysts, however, only occasionally turn their attention to the mainstay of aged care in Australia, that system of informal care provided by family and friends, which looks after the majority of frail and disabled older people. This article questions the somewhat taken - for - granted relationship between the availability of informal care and admission to residential care. The intent is not to disprove the existence of such a relationship, but rather to provide a quantitative account of that relationship. The author takes into account the current policy context wherein access to residential care has been progressively decreased in favour of an expanded access to home based care.