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Advice on the Interim Operating Framework

The Interim Operating Framework sets out the responsibilities of the Aged Care Financing Authority.

PDF printable version of the Advice on the Interim Operating Framework (PDF 138 KB)

Introduction

The Minister for Mental Health and Ageing has requested that the Aged Care Financing Authority (the Authority) provide him with recommendations on the appropriateness of the Authority’s Interim Operating Framework.

Background

Following consultation with the aged care sector, the Government released the Interim Operating Framework (the Framework) for the Aged Care Financing Authority on 3 August 2012. The Framework sets out the responsibilities and initial workplan of the Aged Care Financing Authority.

As part of this, the Authority is required to provide recommendations to the Minister on any suggested changes to the Framework. This advice is required to be provided by 30 September 2012 and the Authority is required to publish its recommendations, analysis and assumptions on the Department of Health and Ageing website within 28 days of it being submitted to the Minister.

Consultation Process

In order to inform itself of the views of the sector and to assist in its deliberations the Authority wrote to the individual members of the National Aged Care Alliance and financiers with ongoing involvement in aged care on 23 August 2012, seeking their feedback on The Interim Operating Framework (Attachment A).

There were 8 unique responses received to the request for feedback, which are summarised in the document ‘Report of feedback received on The Interim Operating Framework (Attachment B). The majority of this feedback related to specific issues already being considered by the Authority, such as the definition of significant refurbishment or the setting of parameters around accommodation payments, and the deadlines for providing the Government with this advice.

Considerations

The Authority considered all feedback on the Framework, and in undertaking its deliberations it considered a number of key factors including that:

• the Framework had already been the subject of consultation with the sector;
• the deadlines in the Framework were set to allow the Government to provide the aged care industry with clarity and certainty;
• the Framework’s deadlines feed into other processes such as the aged care approvals round and the 2013 legislation process;
• the Authority’s role is to offer advice to the Government on the implementation of policy, not alter announced Government policy;
• the Authority’s annual May advice to the Minister on pricing policy provides adequate scope to address the broad range of views on financing issues within the sector.

Taking the feedback from consultation into account, and considering the above factors, the Authority consider that only minor changes to address internal inconsistencies within the Framework are required at this stage.
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Recommendation

The Authority recommends the following changes to the Interim Operating Framework:

• adding an emphasis on quality care in sections 1 and 5;
• adding a dot point under section 6 to enable the government to refer additional matters to the Authority for consideration;
• changing the status of the Government Members to Government Representatives (Section 12, Page 3), thus making it clear that they are not voting members independent of their organisation, but rather are there to represent the views of the Government and offer advice as needed;
• updating the due date for Significant Refurbishment to 21 September (pages 3, 5 and 7) as previously agreed between yourself and the Authority;
• changing the dates in footnotes 3 and 4 (page 5) from 1 November 2012 to 1 December 2012, to align them with Section B (6) on page 7. These dates relate to the Minister’s response to the Authority’s recommendations on accommodation payments which are due on 31 October 2012, so the 1 November date appears to be a drafting error;
• defining the term CALD in footnote 1 on page 2; and
• removing the words ‘…through the aged care complaints scheme’ from the second dot point in Section 11.

These suggested changes have been shown in the track changes version of the Framework at Attachment C.

Attachments

Attachment A: Letters to aged care peak organisations and financial services organisations seeking feedback on The Interim Operating Framework.
Attachment B: Report of feedback received on The Interim Operating Framework.
Attachment C: Recommended changes to the Interim Operating Framework in track changes.
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