Better health and ageing for all Australians

Aged Care Information

Service Development Assistance Panel Program Glossary

SDAP panel glossary

In this section:

AGED CARE ACT 1997

The Aged Care Act 1997 is the Commonwealth legislation that relates to Australian Government funded aged care.
AGED CARE SERVICEAn undertaking through which aged care is provided in the form of residential, community or flexible care.
AGED CARE PRINCIPLESThe Aged Care Principles 1997 are the subordinate legislation of the Act.
APPROVED PROVIDERFor the purposes of the Service Development Assistance Panel Program Guidelines, approved provider is an Eligible Aged Care Service providing aged care services in remote and very remote areas and those with 20% or more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients anywhere in Australia.
ASSIGNMENT PERIOD This is the period from the time the assignment commences to the time it ends as specified in the Official Order.
COMMUNITY CARE SERVICEThis is an undertaking through which community care is provided.

Community Care is care consisting of a package of personal care services and other personal assistance provided to a person who is not being provided with residential care.
The Community Care Subsidy Principles may specify care that:
constitutes community care for the purposes of this Act; or
does not constitute community care for the purposes of this Act.

The Community Aged Care Package (CACP) Program provides a community alternative for frail older people who have complex care needs wanting to remain at home however requiring support services to do so. They additionally require care planning and case management. CACPs are tailored to meet the needs of the individual.
COMPLAINTS INVESTIGATIONS SCHEME (CIS)The Complaints Investigation Scheme is a free service which seeks to look into complaints that may be made about the health, safety and/or welfare of people receiving aged care. It is able to refer issues that may be more appropriately dealt with by others (e.g. police, nurses and medical registration boards). It is overseen by the Aged Care Commissioner. (Department of Health and Ageing, www.agedcareaustralia.gov)
COMPLEX CARE NEEDSThese are care needs that can only be met by a coordinated package of flexible care services.
DEED OF STANDING OFFERThis is the contract between with the Commonwealth and a Panel member whereby the Panel member may be called upon for the supply of Services.
DEPARTMENTThe Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
EACHExtended Aged Care at Home (EACH) packages are individually planned and coordinated packages of care, tailored to help frail older Australians with high-level care needs to remain at home. They are funded by the Australian Government to provide for the complex care needs of older people. (Department of Health and Ageing, www.agedcareaustralia.gov)
EACH DEMENTIAThe EACH Dementia Program (EACHD) packages are individually planned and coordinated packages of care, tailored to help frail older people with dementia and behaviours of concern associated with their dementia, who require management of behaviours and services, generally including nursing, because of their complex care needs. These people would otherwise be eligible for high-level care. EACHD packages are funded by the Australian Government. (Department of Health and Ageing, www.agedcareaustralia.gov.au)
ELIGIBLE AGED CARE SERVICEApproximately 300 aged care services will be eligible to receive business support through the SDAP. These include:
29 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Services;
33 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Residential Aged Care Services under the Aged Care Act 1997; and
approximately 240 mainstream services providing aged care in remote and very remote areas (note: These services will not be eligible for locum relief assistance. However, they will be offered assistance in all the other key functional categories).
EMERGENCY ASSISTANCEEmergency assistance is assistance whereby an eligible service requires an immediate response to an identified situation.
FUNCTIONAL AREAA Functional Area is one of the five key categories for assistance provided by the Panel. Panel members will be engaged by the department to provide advice, training/guidance or assistance in quality delivery, care management, governance and management, financial management and locum relief, to eligible aged care services which are experiencing difficulty in delivering appropriate and continuing care to residents.
FLEXIBLE CARESection 49-3 of the Aged Care Act 1997 defines flexible care to mean care provided in a residential or community setting through an aged care service that addresses the needs of care recipients in alternative ways to the care provided through residential care services and community care services.
NATIONAL ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER FLEXIBLE AGED CARE SERVICESThese Aged Care organisations undertake to provide flexible residential care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients. In relation to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program, flexible care is the care provided in a residential or community setting through an aged care service that addresses the needs of care recipients in alternative and/or culturally sensitive ways. In the community these include EACH and EACH D packages as well as transition care.
MINISTERThe Federal Minister for Ageing
OFFICIAL ORDERThe individual work contract between the Panel member and the Commonwealth for the engagement of services under the general Deed of Standing Offer.
OLDER PEOPLEFor the purposes of aged care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are classed as older people when they reach 50 years of age. This age is 70 years for other Australians. The Act does not specify an age when a person becomes an aged person. (Aged Care Assessment Program Guidelines 2006).
PANEL MEMBERA member of the Service Development Assistance Panel engaged by the department to provide advice, training/guidance or assistance across the Functional Areas to eligible aged care services which are experiencing difficulty in delivering appropriate and continuing care to residents.
THE PRIVACY ACT 1988 (Cth)On 6 December 2001, the Federal Parliament passed a law that applies a new privacy regime to private sector organisations, which includes private health care providers. (Aged Care Assessment Program Guidelines 2006).
RESIDENTIAL AGED CAREPersonal and/or nursing care that is provided to a person in an aged care service in which the person is also provided with accommodation that includes appropriate staffing, meals, cleaning services, as well as furnishings, furniture and equipment for the provision of that care and accommodation. However, residential care does not include care provided to a person in the person’s private home; care provided in a hospital or in a psychiatric aged care home; care provided in an aged care home that primarily provides care to people who are not frail and aged.
REMOTE AREAThese areas are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ARIA) as areas that are disadvantaged by location, i.e. areas with very restricted accessibility of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.
VERY REMOTE AREAThese areas are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ARIA) as areas that are disadvantaged by location, i.e. areas that have very little accessibility of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.
RESIDENTIAL CARE SERVICEThis is a residential aged care facility governed by the Aged Care Act 1997 in which residents are provided with accommodation that includes:
nursing and personal care needs of the resident;
meals and cleaning services: and
furnishings, furniture and equipment for the provision of that care and accommodation;
WORK PLANA plan developed between the eligible aged care service and the Panel member appointed by the department. The work plan describes the type of assistance to be provided, the duration of the proposed work, a detailed budget, the specified personnel, the assignment aims and anticipated deliverables.