Security of tenure
Once a care recipient enters into a Home Care Agreement with you, you must continue to deliver the agreed care and services for as long as the care recipient needs them.
Cancelling a Home Care Agreement should only ever be used as a last resort.
Before you do, you must:
- demonstrate you have grounds to stop delivering care and services
- help your care recipients find a new provider that suits their needs and preferences.
For more information on security of tenure, see:
- the Home Care Packages Program Operational Manual
- section 17 of the User Rights Principles 2014.
When you can cancel services
You may exit a care recipient from your service if:
- you cannot care for them in their home with the resources available
- they refuse to pay Home Care Package fees specified in their Home Care Agreement (for example, income tested care fee) and have not negotiated an alternative means for payment
- they have intentionally caused serious injury to your staff member or infringed their right to work in a safe environment.
If you cannot contact a care recipient
If you cannot contact the care recipient and/or their authorised representative and you are not providing services to them, you must place the care recipient on social leave until you can reach them.
If your attempts to contact the care recipient remain unsuccessful, you may send notice to the care recipient to terminate the Home Care Agreement.
You should:
- allow the care recipient a reasonable period of time to respond to the request (for example, 4 weeks) before date of cessation
- notify the care recipient that once the Home Care Agreement is terminated, they have 70 days to enter into a new Home Care Agreement or they will lose their unspent funds
- consider the vulnerability of the care recipient – for example, if the care recipient is homeless, it may be a better outcome to leave them on indefinite social leave until they can take up their package again.
How to cancel
When a care recipient exits your service, you have a responsibility to:
- return unspent funds
- tell Services Australia through the Aged Care Provider Portal
- follow the required steps if they are changing to a new provider.