Dementia assistance teams to be on call

New mobile care teams will be available on call to aged care workers in a bid to keep dementia sufferers out of high-security facilities.

The severe behaviour response teams will respond to calls for help within four hours, aiming to keep dementia sufferers in environments that are familiar to them and assist aged care workers who may be dealing with violent patients.

But Labor has accused Aged Care Minister Sussan Ley of deliberately announcing the federal government's $55 million program on Thursday, to avoid the scrutiny of a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.

It also accused the government of having abandoned older Australians for 16 months.

The government had "fumbled" to replace a Labor program it axed in June 2014 that gave extra financial assistance to aged care providers for care of dementia sufferers, the opposition said.

The new program kicks off in November.