Fair and Generous Support for Aged Care Residents and Aged Care Providers in the Transition to a Clean Energy Future
Aged care residents and aged care providers will receive fair and generous financial assistance to ease the transition to a clean energy future under the Australian Government’s plan to cut carbon pollution.
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11 July 2011
Aged care residents and aged care providers will receive fair and generous financial assistance to ease the transition to a clean energy future under the Gillard Labor Government's plan to cut carbon pollution.
“Our plan to cut carbon pollution will build the clean energy future Australians deserve and will do so in the traditional Labor way. We are putting in place assistance measures to ensure that all Australians are better off as the country moves towards a cleaner future,” Minister for Mental Health and Ageing Mark Butler said today.
“We are putting a price on carbon pollution that only the country’s biggest polluters will pay and we will provide fair and generous financial assistance to pensioners and low and middle income households to help ease the transition to a clean energy future."
Under the Government’s Household Assistance Package, the vast majority of Australians living in aged care facilities will receive financial support to assist with the costs resulting from the introduction of a carbon price either through a new Clean Energy Supplement or tax cuts.
Over 2,700 Aged Care providers across Australia will also receive financial support to assist with the impact of a carbon price through changes to the basic daily fee arrangements. This will enable providers to charge residents a slightly higher percentage of the maximum base rate of the pension.
The fee that providers can charge residents will be increased by around 1 per cent of the maximum rate of the pension (roughly from 84 to 85 per cent), from 1 July 2012.
“These arrangements will ensure that assistance is shared fairly between aged care residents and the aged care home,” Mr Butler said.
“These arrangements also recognise that the cost impact of a carbon price will be borne largely by aged care facilities through operating costs and that aged care facilities have far greater capacity than residents to adapt energy consumption habits.
“In effect, around 50 per cent of assistance paid through the pension will flow to the provider and the remaining amount will go to the resident to help with their other costs.
“Residents who don’t receive assistance through their pension, seniors health card or tax cuts will also be protected from fee increases. The Government will provide an additional supplement to aged care providers in respect of these residents."
Under the new assistance measures aged care facilities will receive an additional $126.8 million over five years to assist with the impact of the introduction of a carbon price.
The new basic daily fee arrangements and the supplement will start from 1 July 2012 in line with the commencement of the Household Assistance Package.
“The Government’s generous assistance package demonstrates that it’s big polluters, not people, who will pay and that the assistance we provide will be targeted at those who need it the most,” Mr Butler said.
For more information, please contact the Minister's Office on (02) 6277 7280
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