Star Ratings webinar recording now available
More than 900 residential aged care providers attended the Star Ratings webinar on 18 November.
A recording of the webinar is now available for providers who were unable to attend.
A video explaining Star Ratings and how to access them on My Aged Care is also available for you to share with your networks.
Second Food and Nutrition Report released
The latest Food and Nutrition Report has now been published.
The report captures expenditure outcomes from the Basic Daily Fee Supplement data reporting across the 2021-22 financial year.
The report shows that expenditure on food in residential aged care facilities is increasing, with services spending an average of $12.54 per resident per day on food and ingredients only, across 2021-22.
The report shared the innovative and creative ways aged care providers are improving food by implementing ideas like seasonal kitchen gardens, taste testing events and resident food committees.
All residential aged care providers are now receiving additional funding for food and nutrition. As part of this funding, providers are now required to complete food and nutrition reporting through the Quarterly Financial Report (QFR). The next QFR reporting is due on 15 February 2023.
Have your say: National Dementia Action Plan
The 10-year National Dementia Action Plan is a joint initiative between the Australian Government, and state and territory governments. It will mean better coordinated approaches to dementia risk reduction, early diagnosis and improvements in services.
The Action Plan’s vision is for Australians to better understand dementia and people living with dementia and their carers to have the best quality of life possible.
We want to ensure voices of people with lived experience of dementia and those involved in their care are heard, including people who work in aged care.
Feedback will shape the final Action Plan due to be released in 2023.
Visit the Aged Care Engagement Hub
Email feedback to dementiaplan@health.gov.au or call 1800 565 789 for more information.
Public consultation will close on 31 January 2023.
2021-22 Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997
The 2021-22 Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997 is scheduled to be tabled today and made available on the GEN Aged Care Data website.
Each year this report provides an important overview of Australia’s aged care system and details its operation over the previous financial year.
If you have any questions, please email agedcarereporting@health.gov.au
Webinar: Quarterly Financial Report
The department invites approved aged care providers to prepare for the quarter 2 Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) by attending the upcoming QFR webinar. The webinar will take place from 2pm–3:30pm AEDT on Thursday 8 December. During the webinar, presenters will:
- Provide an update on the quarter 2 report
- Go over key QFR areas, including learnings identified in quarter 1
- Provide an opportunity for providers to ask questions.
Particular attention will be paid to the care costs and labour hours segment of the report.
Providers can also submit questions in advance of the webinar through the registration link, or by emailing them to ffbconsultation@health.gov.au.
Register and learn more about the webinar.
Registered nurses' payment grant round closing soon
Aged care providers can apply for the Aged Care Registered Nurses’ Payment on behalf of eligible staff.
The payment rewards clinical skills and leadership for registered nurses working for the same provider over the eligibility periods of either:
- 1 November 2021 to 31 October 2022
- 1 May 2022 to 31 October 2022.
Up to $6,000 is available for full-time registered nurses. Payments are also available for eligible part-time and casual workers on a pro-rata basis. Employers must pass the full payment to staff as soon as possible.
The grant round closes on Wednesday 14 December 2022. Find out more on the GrantConnect website.
Residential aged care payment statements - PDF function now available
Services Australia advises that the payment statement PDF function is now available on the Aged Care Provider Portal.
The PDF button is on the bottom of each payment statement screen next to the CSV and XML buttons.
This option will allow you to download and print the entire payment statement, including the service payment summary, care recipient’s itemised payments, care recipient details, subsidy classification, and respite care and incentive summary.
The PDF functionality for web services will be included as part of the next patch release currently scheduled for January 2023.
Specialist Dementia Care Program: Grant Opportunity for two Queensland PHNs closing soon
Applications for the Specialist Dementia Care Program (SDCP) Grant Opportunity (GO5304) for two Queensland Primary Health Networks (PHNs) close at 2pm AEDT, Tuesday 6 December.
The SDCP provides care for people exhibiting very severe behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia who are unable to be appropriately cared for by mainstream aged care services. Thirty-five SDCP units will be established nationally, with a unit in each of the 31 PHN regions.
We invite residential aged care providers located within these two Queensland PHN regions to apply:
- Darling Downs and West Moreton
- Gold Coast
Find information about the SDCP Grant Opportunity, including how to apply, a webinar recording and frequently asked questions, by searching “GO5304” on the GrantConnect website.
Further grant rounds for remaining PHN regions will be held over the next two years.
Webinar: Digital Transformation Tech Talk
The department’s Digital Transformation agenda is working to create a better-connected aged care network that is consolidated, sustainable, automated, and modern.
Join us for our final Digital Transformation Tech Talk webinar of the year, at 2pm AEDT on Tuesday 6 December.
This webinar will preview the Aged Care Transformation Program’s upcoming policy roadmap, demo the new Star Ratings solution, and provide an update from our partners in the Australia Digital Health Agency (ADHA).
You will also have a chance to ask questions.
Register for the Digital Transformation Tech Talk webinar.
Webinar: Intergenerational programs in aged care
Join Swinburne’s Wellbeing Clinic for Older Adults for their upcoming webinar on ageing at 4.45pm 6pm AEDT on Friday 9 December.
This webinar is for people employed in aged care, as well as psychologists, social workers, counsellors and volunteers who work with older adults.
Social worker Mark Silver outlines the benefits of intergenerational programs for older and younger people. He will discuss a storytelling intergenerational program called Positive Ageing Digital Storytelling Intergenerational Program.
This program has been running for more than 15 years and brings together high school students with aged care residents. Together the participants produce a 3-minute digital story, learning together and forming a bond in the process.