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Living Longer. Living Better. Aged Care Reform Update No 7 - 18 April 2013

Welcome to the seventh edition of the Update on the Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package.

PDF printable version of Living Longer. Living Better. Aged Care Reform Update No 7 - 18 April 2013 (PDF 49 KB)

Accommodation payments

On 21 December 2012 the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, the Hon Mark Butler MP, announced the framework that will apply to accommodation payments in residential aged care from 1 July 2014. He also announced that guidelines would be developed to provide further detail on the arrangements, and proposed guidelines on accommodation pricing were circulated for public comment on 9 April 2013. A copy is available on the Living Longer Living Better website. Note that comments are required by 1 May 2013.

Workforce Supplement

On 5 March 2013, the Hon Mark Butler MP, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, announced the requirements for the Aged Care Workforce Compact and Supplement (the Supplement). Funding to strengthen the aged care workforce will be available to aged care providers who meet the Terms and Conditions of the Supplement from 1 July 2013.

For more information on how the Workforce Supplement can benefit both aged care workers and providers go to the Workforce Supplement page of the Living Longer Living Better website. Resources available include FAQs for employees and employers, factsheets, and a video of Minister Butler’s announcement. Guidelines on how employers can access the funding will be available shortly.

Legislative amendments

The Department thanks the many stakeholders for their valuable comments on the proposed amendments to the Aged Care Act 1997. These comments have informed the drafting of the legislation and, where approval has been given, are published on the Living Longer Living Better website. Ongoing consultation will be held over the next two years on the legislative amendments required to give effect to the reforms. The Department is committed to continuing this discussion with consumers, providers and peak bodies. The Bills were introduced to Parliament on 13 March 2013 and can be viewed at Bills before Parliament by searching with keyword “aged care.”

Industry briefings on legislative amendments

The Department has conducted industry information briefings on proposed changes to the Aged Care Act 1997. Invitations for these events were sent via faxstream email, and further information can be found on the Briefings on Proposed Changes page of our website. A briefing via videoconference is currently being arranged for Darwin and Alice Springs.

Update on the Aged Care Gateway

The first stage of the Aged Care Gateway will commence from 1 July 2013 and see the roll-out of a national contact centre and the My Aged Care website.

The Government is working with Healthdirect Australia (formerly the National Health Call Centre Network) to deliver these services. Information about the services currently provided by Healthdirect Australia can be found on their website at Healthdirect.

Update on the Commonwealth Home Support Program

As part of the Living Longer Living Better reforms, the Commonwealth Home Support Program will be introduced from 1 July 2015. The new program will combine under the one program services currently providing basic home support, including the Commonwealth HACC program, the National Respite for Carers program, the Day Therapy Centres program and the Assistance with Care and Housing for the Aged program.

While for these programs there will be no substantial changes to service delivery mechanisms or eligibility in the short term, reviews will be conducted on services such as respite, transport, meals, home modification and maintenance to inform the Commonwealth Home Support Program. Service providers and consumers will have input to these reviews.

An Advisory Group has been established to provide advice on development of the Commonwealth Home Support Program. The Group will operate under the auspice of the National Aged Care Alliance (NACA) to provide independent advice to the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing and to the Department, but with additional representation from HACC provider groups who are not represented on the NACA. Further information on the Advisory Group can be accessed on the NACA website.

Work is currently underway to prepare for the reviews and updates, and information will be made available at: Living Longer living Better.

Aged Care Reform Implementation Council (ACRIC)

ACRIC held its fourth meeting in Sydney on Friday 15 February 2013. At this meeting, the Ageing Expert Advisory Group attended for the first hour and provided a report and verbal update to the Council on implementation progress and issues from the aged care sector’s perspective.

The Council discussed emerging key issues and overall progress of the aged care reforms. The new Home Care Packages and the Commonwealth Home Support Program (including Consumer Directed Care and the interface issues between these programs) were also discussed. Also considered were the new means testing arrangements which will be introduced on 1 July 2014 to improve fairness and sustainability of aged care financing. The Council also considered their first bi-annual report to the Minister of Mental Health and Ageing on the progress of the reforms. The report is expected to be presented to the Minister shortly. The next ACRIC meeting is scheduled in early May 2013.

Living Longer Living Better website

Visit our Living Longer Living Better website regularly to keep up to date with progress on the aged care reforms, including new fact sheets, publications, media releases, frequently asked questions, and a discussion forum.

As the Living Longer Living Better website is now fully operational, this will be the final Aged Care Reform update. To stay informed, please regularly visit Living Longer Living Better website and subscribe to receive up to date information on the reforms.
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