PDF printable version of $2.45 Million Demonstration Site Shows Easier Community Care Access (PDF 32 KB)
20 June 2008
Joint Release
The Hon Justine Elliot MP
Minister for Ageing
The Hon Lisa Neville MLA
Minister for Senior Victorians
Federal Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, and Minister for Senior Victorians, Lisa Neville, today launched a ‘one stop shop’ for community care – delivering services for older people and their carers.
Mrs Elliot said the Eastern Metropolitan Region demonstration site in Knox, in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne is one of 14 to be set up across Australia. The second Victorian site will be in Ballarat and will service the Grampians region.
“The Access Point demonstration sites will draw together information about all the different types of community care services, provided by all levels of government, into one convenient location,” Mrs Elliot said.
“The demonstration site will be known as Direct2Care and will help around 150,000 people aged over 65 years living in the Eastern Metro region. It will also assist GPs, carers and family members.”
Ms Neville said the Access Point would service almost a million people living in Victoria’s eastern metropolitan region, supplying them with information about community care services available in the area.
“People unsure of what local services exist, what they are eligible for or how to access them, can phone the hotline number, 1300 121 121, and talk to experienced support workers,” she said.
“They then contact local aged care services, who will in turn contact you. Services that can be accessed include home help, respite, delivered meals, physiotherapy, eye care and property maintenance.”
The Victorian demonstration sites are being set up with $1.2 million in funding from the Australian Government and $1.25 million from the Brumby Government.
Direct2Care will be operated by Uniting Care Community Options, one of the largest community care providers in Australia.
“This program reflects the Australian, State and Territory Governments’ commitment to working together to improve the lives of older people and their carers,” Mrs Elliot said.
“Staff will talk with you one-to-one and help work out what local services are right for you.
“This streamlined approach will give people greater choice, access and control over the services they receive.
“Access Points will be an easily recognisable and accessible ‘one-stop-shop’ for community care.”
Mrs Elliot and Ms Neville said that The Australian Government and the Brumby Government were committed to co-operating to develop a simpler and fairer community care system that works closely with older and their carers.
“Vulnerable people and their carers shouldn’t have to deal with an onerous, complex system to determine if they are eligible for community care services,” Mrs Elliott said.
“We want to remove the complexities that frail and older Australians and their carers have been dealing with, and to provide them with better access to the most appropriate care for their needs.”
Mrs Elliot said that through evaluation, the Access Points would be refined and improved to help determine the best model for a nationally-consistent approach to community care.
Community Care – the facts
Community care provides older Australians with the services they need to help them remain as independent as possible in their own homes, such as nursing and health care, meals on wheels, help with household chores and home modifications.
The Australian Government will provide $2.2 billion to 2008-09 to community care. This is an increase in funding of $260 million compared with 2007-08. It is the most significant investment in aged and community care ever made by an Australian government.
About 600,000 older Australians and their carers now receive community aged care services through a mix of programs funded by the Australian Government and the state, territory and local governments.
The largest of these is the Home and Community Care program, which will receive more than $1.7 billion in funding from the governments in 2008-09. The Australian Government provides 60 per cent – totalling $1.090 billion of total program funding.
In Victoria in 2008/09 the Commonwealth is expected to contribute $264 million to the HACC program, the Victorian Government expects to contribute $236 million of which approximately $59 million is above the matching requirements of the Commonwealth/State agreement.
The demand for community care – and aged care generally – is growing rapidly due to Australia’s unprecedented ageing population shift. People aged 65 years and over will represent more than a quarter of our population by 2051, up from around 13 per cent today.
While the growth of the community care sector has meant that it is able to meet the needs of more people, it has also resulted in a system that can sometimes be complex and confusing.
For some people who require community care services, this complexity makes it difficult to find the services they need when they need them.
For more information, contact Mrs Elliot's office on (02) 6277 7280
Photo of Mike Symon, Lisa Neville, and the Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot (PDF 69 KB)
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