Outcome 4: Aged Care and Population Ageing > Part 2 Performance Information

The Department is on track to meet this target, to be achieved by the end of 2007.

The Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency conducted 1,014 accreditation site audits, 94 review audits and 5,221 support contacts - an increase of 26.7% in the total number of audits and support contacts compared with 2005-06.

At the completion of Accreditation Round 3 (31 December 2006), 91.8% of homes were assessed as meeting all 44 expected outcomes of the Accreditation Standards at their most recent site audit. This compares with 87.9% in the previous Accreditation Round (Round 2).

By 30 June 2007, only 2.9% of homes had some remaining non-compliance.

At 30 June 2007, 96.3% of residential aged care services met the 1999 Certification Instrument, an increase from 88.0% at 30 June 2006. The 3.7% that did not meet the target are being closely managed by the Department. 94.6% of services meet 2008 privacy and space targets at 30 June 2007.

In 2006-07, an estimated 225,000 instances of respite were provided (which is higher than 2004-05 when there were an estimated 205,000 instances of respite).

Note: in the 2006-07 Health and Ageing Portfolio Budget Statements it was incorrectly reported that there were an estimated 145,930 instances of respite in 2004-05. There were an estimated 205,000 instances of respite in 2004-05 and the reported figure related to service events (which are made up of a number of instances of respite).

All 3 Dementia Collaborative Research Centres and 4 Dementia Training Study Centres were established.

Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Services were operational on or before 1 July 2007 in 6 states and territories. Existing Psychogeriatric Care Units arrangements remained in place in Victoria. 10 Dementia and Memory Community Centres were established - with coverage over all states and territories.

More than 60,000 people received information about dementia through websites, the National Helplines and information products.

There were 18,154 calls to the National Continence Helpline, more than 684,000 visitors to the National Public Toilet Map, accessible at www.toiletmap.gov.au and/or www.bladderbowel.gov.au websites, and 8,716 orders provided for information products.

550 new Extended Aged Care at Home and 667 new Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia packages were allocated in the 2006 Aged Care Approvals Round. There were 3,302 Extended Aged Care at Home and 1,267 Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia packages operational at 30 June 2007.

The Department has met its target of allocating 2,000 transition care places, and the number of operational transition care places has grown from 595 at 30 June 2006 to 1,594 at 30 June 2007.

New places were allocated to the Multipurpose Services Program in 2006-07. The number of operational Multipurpose Services places increased from 2,259 at 30 June 2006 to 2,492 at 30 June 2007.

The number of unique visits to the Seniors Portal in 2006-07 averaged 18,000 per month.

Tracking of visitor numbers at lower than anticipated levels highlighted the need for a Seniors Portal review. Activities are being planned.

Information about the aged care requirements of people from the special needs groups is taken into account by Aged Care Planning Advisory Committees in each state and territory. Using all of the information available to them, the committees may specifically identify a special needs group as having a particular focus in an aged care planning region. The committees provide advice to the Department on the distribution of aged care places among planning regions as part of the annual Aged Care Approvals Round. In the 2006 Round, 4,595 places were allocated that will have a focus on one or more of the special needs groups.

The Department also allocated 108 new flexible aged care places in 2006-07. These flexible places provide culturally appropriate care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A further 25 places were upgraded to a higher level of care.

Organisations providing support for older people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds received funding in 2006-07. Funding was allocated to 35 projects nationally under the Community Partners Program and 8 projects, 1 in each state and territory, continued to be supported under the Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care Program.

The Multipurpose Services Program also increased the availability of aged care in rural and remote communities in 2006-07, with a further 7 services becoming operational, taking the total to 101 Multipurpose Services nationally.

The number of visits to the aged care consumer website averaged 12,300 unique visits per month. Unique visits as an indicator does not include other measurements such as the number of individual searches using the home finder function which was over 47,000 in the one month of January 2007.

Site user feedback via the online form, email and at public fora indicates high satisfaction levels. Promotional activities to increase the number of visits are being planned.

Over 13,000 vocational education and training places, and 3,200 medication management training places were made available by 30 June 2007.

The Department is on track to meet its June 2008 target.

The Department announced 6 Ageing Well, Ageing Productively Research Grants and 8 dementia research grants in 2006-07.

All research grants approved met required criteria with respect to policy relevance, timeliness and practical application. Research findings will inform future policy.

• the Aged Care Advisory Committee which includes representatives of peak stakeholders and provided high level expert advice to the Minister for Ageing and the Department;
• negotiations with the states and territories on a new Home and Community Care Agreement;
• consultations on the National Review of Aged Care Assessment Teams;
• the 2006 Survey of Aged Care Homes;
• advisory and management committees for dementia, incontinence and other initiatives; and
• consultations with the Australian Local Government Association, Planning Institute of Australia, National Heart Foundation and Vision 2020 Australia on planning for an ageing population, the built environment, and health and wellbeing.