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PDF printable version of $12 Million Boost for Older South Australians (PDF 29 KB)

Joint Release

The Hon Justine Elliot
Australian Government
Minister For Ageing

The Hon Jennifer Rankine
South Australia
Minister for Ageing
Minister for Disability

21 December 2009

Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot and South Australian Minister for Ageing and Disability Jennifer Rankine will today announce an 8 per cent increase in Home and Community Care (HACC) funding in South Australia.

Under the new arrangements, the Rudd Government will contribute an additional $7.7 million and the South Australian Government $4.8 million in funding to take the total annual investment in HACC services in South Australia from $150 million to $162 million.

HACC is the joint Australian Government and South Australian Government initiative that delivers affordable and accessible care to help meet the individual needs of older people, people with a disability and their carers.

It includes help with household chores, home maintenance and modification, transport, meals, personal care and allied health and nursing care.

Ms Rankine will make the announcement this morning at the Royal District Nursing Service 24 hour health call centre at Glenside – one of the key recipients of the program.

RDNS will receive $350,000 in new recurrent funding to expand the Virtual Hospital or Telehealth service – which provides home nursing services utilising videophone technology as part of their $16m in annual funding.

The expanded Telehealth service - which will now assist another 90 South Australians – is in addition to the home visits by RDNS nursing staff and enables face to face delivery of nursing services multiple times per day, 24 hours a day if required.
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The Telehealth Service is just one of more than 105 new or extended HACC projects across South Australia including:

• $600,000 for Anglicare SA for intensive case management of vulnerable older residents of Supported Residential Facilities;
• $300,000 for Uniting Care Wesley in Adelaide to help frail older people from smaller ethnic communities including from the Filipino, Hungarian and Baltic Communities;
• $278,850 for Helping Hand Aged Care to set up a new respite service for carers of older people, including those with dementia;
• $200,000 for the Australian Red Cross Society’s tele-cross service. This is in addition to the $100,000 that the Red Cross will receive to help provide emergency contact and information for older people during heat waves and other extreme events.

Minister Elliot said the funding will help many people stay at home rather than move prematurely into residential care, allowing them to remain in their communities, close to friends and family.

“These services provide the practical assistance that makes a real difference in the lives of many older Australians who need some assistance with everyday tasks,” Minister Elliot said.

Ms Rankine said more than 93,000 people in South Australia benefited from home and community care services last financial year.

“The funding will be spent on new HACC services and for the continuation and expansion of existing services such as transport, home modifications and maintenance and meals delivery,” she said.

“We know how important it is to help people stay in their own home and services like Telehealth are great examples of how we are providing real results for families.”

In 2009-10 the HACC program will receive $1.9 billion in funding nationally, with almost $1.2 billion of this contributed by the Rudd Government.

Media contacts:
Minister Elliot: Kathryn Conroy - 0448 249 447
Minister Rankine: Matt Clemow - 0417 887 824