WITH dementia rates set to soar, it is imperative more Australians plan for when they can no longer manage their health care, end-of-life care, or financial affairs, a new report says.

Only about 55 per cent of Australians have a will, and an even smaller proportion have recorded their wishes in legally binding directives about nursing, guardianship, or power of attorney arrangements.

Alzheimer's Australia is calling on the federal government to implement a national awareness campaign calling on all Australians to have a health care plan set in place for when they can no longer manage it themselves.

The report, by Alzheimer's Australia, calls on the federal government to implement a national awareness campaign about planning.

It also wants general practitioners to take a bigger role in providing patients, especially those in the early stage of dementia, with information about the importance of ''putting things in order'' while they have the capacity to express their wishes.