Digital Transformation Tech Talk Webinar – 03 September 2025 – Video recording

[Opening visual of slide with text saying ‘Tech Talk’, ‘Digital Transformation for the Aged Care sector – Webinar Series’, ‘Digital Services within Corporate Operations Group’, ‘Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’, ‘Australian Government with Crest (logo)’, ‘Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’, ‘www.health.gov.au’, ‘Webinar #26’, ‘3 September 2025’] 

[The visuals during this webinar are of each speaker presenting in turn via video, with reference to the content of a PowerPoint presentation being played on screen] 

Emily Simlat: 

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s Tech Talk. Thanks for joining us today for the latest digital transformation developments for the aged care sector. My name’s Emily Simlat and I’m the Director of the Sector Engagement Team for the Department’s Digital Transformation Program. Our regular attendees will notice that our usual host Janine Bennett isn’t with us today so I’m taking the reigns on her behalf. I’ll be your moderator for today’s webinar. And once again thanks for coming along today. 

Today I’m joining you from Darwin on the lands of the Larrakeyah people. I want to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and pay my respect to Elders past, present and emerging. I would also like to extend that respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people joining us online today.  

A few quick housekeeping notes. If you have connection issues during the session there’s dial in details on your screen and also in your meeting invite. And today’s webinar is recorded. We’ll upload the recording to the website so you can watch it again or share with anyone who can’t join today. All previous Tech Talk sessions are also available on the Health website for you to revisit. For easy access the links from today’s webinar have already been posted in the chat space. Feel free to take a copy of any that interest you especially if you’d rather not use the QR codes on screen. The chat function is now turned off so we can run all of your questions through the Q&A function. 

We do have the last 30 minutes of today’s webinar set aside for your questions. You don’t have to wait until later in the webinar to get those questions in. You can type them into the Q&A tab at any time. You can find that tab at the top of your Teams window if you’re not sure where that is. And remember to upvote any people’s questions that interest you from the Q&A tab because we try and work through them from most popular question to make sure we get through them all. We always get more questions than we can answer so if you don’t get a response in session please know that you’re not being ignored. We’ll answer as many questions as we can in the room but sometimes it’s not always feasible for us to provide a direct one on one answer to every enquiry. 

And for any highly specific or detailed questions related to your individual circumstance please make sure you include your name so that the team can get in contact and work with you to get an answer. For more general questions we will analyse them all, send them directly to the relevant business areas and they’ll use that to update their existing resources like the Support at Home Program Manual or other new materials like frequently asked questions. Where we can we like to ensure that the really popular questions get answered at our future events and we’ll be going through some of those with you today. We also use your questions to inform agenda items for future Tech Talks as well. Keep in mind that our focus here at Tech Talk is our technology and delivery work. We’ll do our best to answer any and all questions but generally our focus will be on those areas.  

And before we get into the agenda I’d like to welcome any media representatives joining us today. We appreciate your continued interest in the important transformation work happening in aged care however if you do have any media related enquiries please direct those through to our media and events team at news@health.gov.au. That’s the best place for them to be able to help you. 

So now for today’s agenda. Firstly we have Fay Flevaras who will take us through our digital transformation update. Then we welcome Josh Maldon who will give us an update on all things aged care reform. I’ll be back to provide some frequently asked questions with Fay and then to round out the agenda we have Emma Cook who returns with the latest on the Government Provider Management System. And as always we will conclude with our half hour Q&A. 

As usual we have a lot to get through so I’ll hand across to Fay. For those of you that are new to the forum Fay is the CDIO at the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and responsible for driving the Department’s digital transformation agenda in aged care and beyond. Over to you Fay. 

Fay Flevaras: 

[Visual of slide with text saying ‘Digital transformation update’, ‘Fay Flevaras’, ‘Chief Digital Information Officer’, ‘Digital Services within Corporate Operations Group’, ‘Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’, ‘Australian Government with Crest (logo)’, ‘Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’] 

Thanks Emily. And a big thank you for stepping in as our moderator for today’s webinar. Sorry. Bit tongue tied this afternoon folks. But thanks for joining us. We’re well into revising our delivery dates for the revised 1st of November implementation date. You heard at our last Tech Talk how some items we previously planned for October will now be delivered in November in line with some of the changes into legislation dates. These included the Home Care Package digital transition, updates to reporting and worker screening and quality indicators. And our Services Australia colleagues joined us to update us on their delivery plan and hopefully giving you an overall view of what to expect in the coming months. 

But today we have more updates so let’s get into the sharing with you. Before we get into the details on the roadmap which you can think as our delivery technical roadmap, so none of this is commitments from Government. This is the work that we’re doing in preparation. It is caveated with the usual disclaimer that it is important to note that the timeline on the roadmap is there to support the aged care reform agenda but it should not be considered an official commitment from Government. That happens elsewhere through the processes outside of these Tech Talks. As you have probably heard in these sessions before we make a point of sharing this roadmap early and often to be transparent and open with you about what we’re working on and what we’re planning for. When changes occur our intent is to call it out as things move around.  

You will notice we have started to forecast our February deliverables. This is in support of our staged digital implementation approach. Although we remain focused on the 1st of November we wanted to be as open and transparent about our path forward beyond the 1st of November and provide you with some early visibility of what’s ahead in our digital transformation journey. We have confirmed a large number of deliverables for our GPMS platform and these updates are focusing on improving transparency, accountability and alignment with the new Aged Care Act, strengthening data accuracy, reporting capabilities and oversight operationally, ensure seamless data flows and system alignment across aged care platforms including My Aged Care and GPMS and other areas, and enhanced user roles and regulatory decision making processes. We are still working to confirm deliverables for the Aged Care Gateway but we will provide that information as well as more detailed information on those come to hand and we’ll give it to you as soon as possible. 

Okay folks. So let’s move onto the latest resources. And you can see on the page here we took some feedback from you around showing what’s in the Services Australia stream versus what’s in our Department streams and where we’re dropping things as we move forward. So hopefully that’s working for you guys. If you want more detail let us know. 

Okay. Moving on. Some recently released Support at Home Service Agreement resources we just want to let you know about. Some of you may already be aware of these but if you haven’t seen them I encourage you to check them out. They include guidance, a checklist, some templates, as well as some key messaging to help you communicate with your clients around all things Service Agreements. And so hopefully they will help.  

We’ve also got the updated Support at Home Program claims and payments business rules guidance. It’s been published. It’s been updated. The guidance includes a number of updates made in response to feedback from you in the sector. So if you’ve had some questions please have a look there. In particular I will draw your attention to sections covering the relaxation of the earlier requirement that we spoke about on evidence for certain Support at Home ongoing services and assistive technology and home modification claims. So have a look at that. We have relaxed some of the evidence requirements and so that will be good news for you. 

A summary of all the changes is included in the version history on page four and that’s another bit of an update you guys asked us, to kind of let you know where the changes are happening in the document so you don’t have to read it from start to end. 

So also a new video on getting started with B2G Developer Portal registration has been released. The video was developed in response to developers’ feedback and was codesigned and tested with sector users. It goes through what requirements including your RAM requirements are needed before registering an account in the B2G Developer Portal. It also outlines what you’ll need to add to your organisation’s ongoing management and access. And there are contact details for assistance. You can book a one on one session if you need more guidance. So that’s really important. I know we’re all heading to the 1st of November but I highly recommend that you talk to your software development community, whether that’s in house or with a third party software provider, and get them to start hooking up to the Developer Portal so that you can start automating some of these processes as soon as you can. And hopefully we’ll be dropping some more APIs in the not too distant future. 

We also have a new frequently asked questions document covering questions about the Commonwealth Home Support Program that’s been published. This is the culmination of a lot of the questions you guys have been asking us over the last few weeks and few months. It covers those popular questions about the upcoming changes to the program including some of those we’ve received in recent Tech Talks and other forums across the Department in webinars so that we’ve brought it all together under one space for you. So I encourage anyone involved in CHSP services to check this one out. 

And the resources don’t stop yet. The latest Aged Care Reform Sector Pulse Survey is out. So we’re keen to hear from you whether you’re a provider, assessor, IT vendor, technology software providers. Anyone working across supporting the sector we’d love to get your insights to help us understand where you’re at on you reform journey as we’re getting to – I don’t know. Someone told me it was 43 days and counting. I know. So we really want to kind of get a pulse of where you are today. The survey closes on the 7th of September. It only takes about 15 minutes so please if you’ve got a spare 15 minutes over a coffee if you could do the survey we would really appreciate it. The link’s been posted in the chat as well. 

Okay. So that’s enough from me. I would now like to introduce Josh Maldon who’s our Acting First Assistant Secretary for the Reform Implementation Division. I think Josh you’ve taken up the reigns from Greg who we’ve had with us in the past. You’re going to give us a bit of an update around all things reform measures. And we appreciate you being here with us today. Over to you. 

Josh Maldon: 

[Visual of slide with text saying ‘Reform Update’, ‘Josh Maldon’, ‘Acting First Assistant Secretary’, ‘Reform Implementation Division’, ‘Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’, ‘Australian Government with Crest (logo)’, ‘Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’] 

Thank you so much Fay. And just a big shoutout to Emily and the team for making everything happen today. So what I wanted to do was just give you a bit of an update on what’s happening in relation to aged care reform. So you guys probably have better things to do but if you want to jump onto the Senate Committee they’re literally debating the aged care legislation I think as we speak. I think they have parked it and it comes back on from 4:00 to 5:00 with some amendments. But a pretty landmark occasion happening up in New Parliament House as we speak which is fabulous. 

So just to do a bit of a quick reorientation for you all of how we came to be here. So you guys will recall that the Royal Commission made 148 recommendations and one of the actual first recommendations there was about having a new Aged Care Act in place to govern the aged care system. That’s been a really massive undertaking to deliver alongside development of all the different regulatory governance and quality policy reforms that have been happening and that we’ve working with the sector with since the actual Royal Commission. 

So the Aged Care Act and associated policy settings, that was informed through again a lot of consultation, engagement, a range of experts and people with lived experience. The Department did try to really codesign those initiatives where it was able to. There were public consultations on the structure, the objects. The purpose was the constitutional foundations of the legislation and there was the proposed Statement of Rights, a really important focal point of the new aged care legislation and how that would be upheld as well as the proposed approach for supporter representative and whistleblower arrangements. 

So you might recall that we had the original Exposure Draft of the Act. It was back in December 2023. And then we moved forward with the Aged Care Rules. The Aged Care Bill was introduced to Parliament on the 12th of September last year and we got Royal Assent on the 2nd of December. And again we had the Aged Care Consequential and Transitional Provisions assented to on the 10th of December to support the transition bits. 

So what’s happening at the moment in relation to the legislation. So there’s two Amendment Bills. So one of them which is the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill which we are affectionately called ACOLA and the Aged Care Accommodation Payment Security piece. So we’ve also got the Levy Amendment Bill. And so those pieces are currently travelling before Parliament as we speak. And there’s a series of different amendments across those and the key intent behind that is for the new Aged Care Legislative Framework to operate effectively and make sure that we’re delivering on the policy intent of the reforms. So really importantly to enable for a smooth transition to that framework as well as also the continued function across a range of other Commonwealth pieces of legislation. 

So we also continue to work with the Minister to make the Rules as soon as possible ahead of the commencement of the Act and so we’re working on the Aged Care Transitional Rules to support that transition piece. 

So if you jump through the slides. Just jump through to the next one if you can. 

I wanted to just do a bit more of a dive if you like on Support at Home and what we’re doing in relation to that. So as Fay said we’ve got a range of different transition activities which are really underway. And again Support at Home is one of the most significant changes that we are introducing through the new Aged Care Act. So at the moment we’ve got Support at Home training modules that are available on the Department’s website for providers and their staff. So just a big shoutout. So those modules have had really positive feedback so far so I’d encourage you to engage with those materials. We’ve also got a training package which includes really comprehensive learning elements. So package one has a program overview which gives you some really good detail as to how that program is going to operate. And then the second package has six modules and that covers topics like assessment, Service Agreements, short term pathways and things like that. 

So in September there’s going to be minor updates to the Support at Home Program Manual and so I would get you guys to stay in touch with that particular piece. Pricing is something where there’s been a lot of interest. No doubt some questions raised also in this group. So what we’ll do there is make sure that we’ve got information which is uploaded and ready for you guys to view. So between certainly the 3rd and 7th of November providers will be required to update their service details in the Service and Support Portal for My Aged Care. And those actions will ensure older people have access to the accurate Support at Home pricing information through that particular system. 

So insofar as engaging with your clients, another key topic of interest, so absolutely subject to the passage of the legislation and those things happening and we kick off from 1 November, we expect you guys to be having conversations with care recipients about the new changes and establishing new Service Agreements. As Fay said before and she certainly had up on that slide deck there’s a fair bit of detail which is available on that. So there’s Service Agreement guidance to support that process. If you just jump through to the next slide. 

So again you’ve got the QR code there to jump in and get some further information. But effectively approximately three quarters of Home Care care recipients are full pensioners and so their contribution percentage rates can be known now and so you should be able to have those conversations with them. And again we encourage you guys to be engaging in those conversations as early as possible. From October we’re hoping that providers are going to be able to identify Home Care Package care recipients who may benefit from assistive technology and home modifications and they’re able to complete an Assistive Technology and Home Modifications Scheme data collection form. So in November you’ve got to be able to submit that final Home Care Package claim and report the balance of provider held Commonwealth unspent funds. And that claim’s got to be approved by Services Australia before claiming for Support at Home services can begin in December. 

So on the Support at Home Service Agreements just wanted to make a couple of important points. So it is a condition of registration that providers have a Service Agreement in place for each individual accessing aged care services. And those Agreements have got to do a range of different key things. So it’s got to outline the rights and responsibilities in line with the legislation, services that are going to be delivered as well as the associated costs and also how older people and their representatives and supported decision makers can be involved in any care decisions. 

So to establish those Service Agreements in preparation for the 1st of November you’ve got to do one or two things. Either establish a new Service Agreement with people that are transitioning in or you also have the option of completing a variation if you do have a gap between the Home Care Agreements and the requirements for the new services under the legislation. 

There’s a lot of guidance and as Fay had up before we’ve got a QR code up here so you can definitely jump on there. And please take the opportunity to seek some further information there. 

I did just want to highlight one further point and that is that participants must be given the time they need to properly review the Service Agreement or variation. And so that may entail them waiting until after they receive their advice about their contribution rate from Services Australia. So just to be really clear if they wish to wait you have to continue delivering their services. Services cannot stop on 1 November but you can continue post that to make sure they’ve got the information they need so they’re comfortable in signing up to those Service Agreements. 

So I did want to provide a little bit more information too on care management. So if we jump through to the next slide. Again this is a pretty topical one. So transition arrangements will be in place for the quarterly budgets and care management funds to enable that commencement from the 1st of November. So as you guys are probably aware Support at Home participants currently receiving ongoing services, they’ve got 10% of their quarterly budget which is allocated to care management and that funding is pooled within each service delivery branch which is previously known, as you guys would also know, as the home care services under HCP. 

So from the 1st of November all home care services will automatically be given those service delivery branches each with a care management account. And there’s going to be special transition arrangements that are in place and what that will do is enable pro rata budgets and care management accounts to be set up to enable commencements. So effectively transitioned Home Care recipients will have their care management funding allocated to their provider’s account from day one. So funding for the initial period from the 1st of November to the 31st of December, that will be on that pro rata amount. And then what will happen is on an ongoing basis care management funding will be credited quarterly, so for example on the first day of January, April, July and October. And Services Australia will calculate and allocate those funds. 

So where we’ve got new people joining post the 1st of November there’s rules around how the pro rata arrangements will work for care management and that’s identified in the Support at Home Program Manual under section 8.10. And in summary what happens for new people joining partway through, care management funding is not allocated mid quarter but instead what will happen is it will be credited on the first day of the next quarter. So a valid start notification must be submitted by the last day of the quarter to make sure that you can receive funding in the next. So there’s a fact sheet which is in development and that’s going to be released shortly just explaining the pro rata care management arrangements and also how that interacts with service delivery branches. 

So if we jump through to the next slide. So again another topical issue that we’ve had conversations about with the sector and I suspect has come up through this one as well is what’s the evidence for claiming. And there has been a policy development in relation to this. So there’s been some relaxations to the requirements around providing evidence as part of claim submissions.  

So when Support at Home Commences evidence is only going to be mandatory for claims for assistive technology and home modifications if the participant has a high assistive technology or home modifications tier which based on the modelling that we’ve seen we do expect those to be reasonably low volumes. And the reason that there does need to be that claim piece is that’s because high tier assistive technology and home modifications requires significant funding. So the allocation starting there from $15,000. So they’re highly individualised, often require specific customisation or prescription. And so for those high tier ones evidence must be submitted at the time of claiming. The reason that that’s important is because that will ensure that we’ve got assurance of the participant need, is able to be validated by Services Australia and that the item complies with the assistive technology and home modifications list and Scheme requirements. And so for assistive technology that includes adherence to the associated Australian adopted Assistive Product Classification and Terminology Standards which is your AS/NZS ISO 9999:2022. So it’s also really important obviously because of that amount of money that the funding is appropriately managed and distributed and that there’s accountability for that particular piece. 

The type of evidence will be dependent on the item being claimed for. So for example could include proof of purchase such as an invoice, a receipt or a prescription if the item is prescribed, or in the event of home modifications a quote from the supplier. So evidence for all other services delivered must be maintained by providers but you don’t have to submit it with the claim but it does have to be available to be able to be verified.  

The Claims and Payment Business Rules Guidance, that’s been updated on the Department’s website given those changes and again that can be accessed by scanning the QR code there that we’ve got up on the screen.  

So if we jump through to the next slide. So just to let you know we’re going to have Erika Barnett who’s going to be coming to the next Tech Talk and I think that’s on the 30th of September. And she’ll be giving you a more fulsome update on the Support at Home Program. So in the meantime if you’ve got any questions we continue to publish a range of products and provide updates to support the sector. You’re able to access those on the Department’s website at www.health.gov.au or again please scan the QR code that’s available to you there.  

And just wanted to let you know that we’ve also launched a dedicated Support at Home sector collaboration space within the existing Home Care Packages Program Community of Practice. And so that’s to support providers in the lead up to implementation from the 1st of November. You’re able to get on board there and register at the website that’s up there, so www.hcpcommunity.com.au. Also a shoutout for software developers. For those of you who are working with Support at Home providers you’re also able to field questions through that channel and they’re able to help answer any Support at Home policy related questions that you might have. 

So if we jump through what I wanted to do was just give you an update on all the other materials that we’ve got more broadly to be able to support the sector at this critical time. The first thing I wanted to do was to highlight to you the sector change plan. So we’ve done a lot of work across our delivery partners as well as engagement with peak bodies and other mechanisms to design this sector change plan. And what it does is it outlines the different communication products, guidance materials and tools and training as well as e-learning to support older people and the sector transition to the new arrangements from November. 

So it’s been recently updated to include the links to recently released resources and again what it does is outlines those products there against the timeframe for delivery. So for example if you’re looking for Standards guidance you’re able to triangulate that looking at the list, or if you’re after information about supported decision making again there’s links available on there that you’re able to click. So those resources are also added to the resource section on the Prepare for the New Aged Care Act web page which is available on our website. 

So if we jump through just to give you some highlights on the recent updates that we’ve got. So from a resource perspective we’ve got a summary of the rights of older people in plain English and easy to read formats. We’ve got the Guide to Aged Care Law which is a really useful tool which puts the Aged Care Law into plain English. And so we’ve got the first two chapters available there on the website. There’s a range of different resources for communication practitioners who are working in aged care. So they can use that to engage with different audiences about the new Aged Care Act. Always a popular topic. The guidance on fees and charges to assist both providers and older people to understand how fees and charges will be calculated. And we’ll continue to publish information on means testing. So throughout September we do expect new materials to be coming up. 

So there’s also a range of new fact sheets, videos and guidance materials across topics such as high everyday living fees, food and nutrition, so how you can demonstrate how you’re meeting the new Aged Care Quality Standards, as well as information which is targeted for our CHSP and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care providers on the new Regulatory Model. From an engagement perspective there’s information on the 30 community libraries that are running across Australia between August and November. So really good opportunity. By the time we’ve implemented that means we’ll have 85 of these. They provide a really good opportunity for people to be able to connect face to face, so for older people, families and carers, for those interested in aged care. And we did have a Support at Home Program webinar a couple of weeks ago for older people and the key changes. 

So just from a training perspective we’ve got the new Aged Care Act eLearning module number 2 aligning to changes and that’s got dedicated learning packages for older people, providers and aged care workers more broadly. Again shoutout for the Support at Home Program eLearning modules, so 5 and 6 on care management and self-management respectively. And they’re available on both the Department’s website as well as the Commission’s ALIS learning management platform. And so providers are able to download those to their own learning management systems. 

Again just as Fay said before a really big shoutout to the Pulse Survey. Really important that we hear what you guys have to say because then we’re able to calibrate, target our information and readiness activities appropriately. I want to say at last look at the survey results it was close to 1,500 which is really promising. I think it’s nearly doubled what we had last time. So please take the time to engage. As Fay said it’s only about 15 minutes and it gives us a really rich data source there. So just to jump through to the next slide. 

So just want to give you the heads up on what’s going to be the latest piece there. So we’re going to be making sure that we’ve got relevant guidance and material for you in the priority action list. That’s a really useful document. So it consolidates all in one place the critical activities that providers need to do and then it maps you across all the different guidance materials. So you can download that one in Word. You can tailor it as a checklist for your own individual circumstances. That has got to be probably one of the most popular products I think that we have got. So again we’re going to have another update later this month and there’s a version history in that document so you can understand the updates. 

So that probably brings me to the end of that particular session. And happy to take on some questions and answers at the end. 

Fay Flevaras: 

[Visual of slide with text saying ‘Q&A playback’, ‘Fay Flevaras’, ‘Chief Digital Information Officer’, ‘Digital Services within Corporate Operations Group’, ‘Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’, ‘Emily Simlat’, ‘Acting Director’, ‘Digital Business and Sector Engagement Branch’, ‘Digital Services within Corporate Operations Group’] 

Thank you very much Josh. Really appreciate the update on all things reform and everything that’s going on. It’s interesting to see how this new Act is going through Parliament. So fingers crossed everyone. And yes. We will get you back a little bit later in the session so we can do some Q&A.  

Up now we thought I’d invite Emily back and I’m going to go through some of the questions that have been popular in the past and that we’ve taken on notice previously in Tech Talks. Because we do try and circle back. So are you ready for this Emily? Because we’re going to tag team it. 

Emily Simlat: 

As ready as I’ll ever be Fay. 

Fay Flevaras: 

All right. So first question.  

Q: What is the definition of a service branch for care management? Is this the same as an outlet on My Aged Care? And does the NAPSID define the outlet or is there a NAPSID per organisation or franchise? How else is the service branch known by Services Australia? 

So very difficult to start connecting the dots right. 

Emily Simlat: 

That’s right. So we’ve got some information here which hopefully will help through that. The service delivery branch while a new term is equivalent to what is called a home care service in the current state and will continue to have the same NAPS service ID associated with it. All existing home care services will keep the same ID following migration to the provider register. Pooling of care management funding will be by NAPS service ID. Existing providers will continue to use their NAPS provider ID for Services Australia integration post 1 November 2025 and existing providers will continue to use their NAPS provider ID for Services Australia claims and payments post 1 November. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Excellent. Okay. All right. Moving onto the claiming process then. 

Q: If the Aged Care Provider Portal is closed or read only from the 1st to the 5th of November over what time period can the HCP claims for October be entered, and from what date can Support at Home claims for November be lodged? 

Emily Simlat: 

So for November providers will retain the current monthly invoice arrangements under the Home Care Package Program. This transitional period is to allow providers to submit and settle all Home Care Package claims for care delivered up to and including 31 October. This will allow for the reconciliation of HCP unspent funds and following the closure of the program on 31 October. Providers must submit their final HCP October claim and Services Australia must approve the claim before Support at Home claiming can commence on 1 December for services delivered from 1 November. And just to note that providers will not be able to submit any HCP claims during the Aged Care Provider Portal closure period from 1 to 5 November. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Great. So sticking with the claiming questions. 

Q: Is it possible to see how much a client must contribute per line item submitted in a claim, in a dollar figure, not a percentage? 

Emily Simlat: 

Yes. It is possible to see how much the client must contribute per line in a submitted claim. The information can be found on the payment statement. The statement will display the client's contribution in a dollar figure, not just a percentage which will assist with reconciliation. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Okay. So moving onto maybe our software vendors and those supporting the claim process. 

Q: Is there a list of all the software vendors that have been certified to integrate with Services Australia around payments?  

Emily Simlat: 

Yeah. So unfortunately Services Australia is unable to provide the name of vendors who are currently certified for Support at Home. However if vendors choose to self-disclose or opt in following implementation details will be provided on the website after 1 November. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Excellent. Okay. Sticking with Support at Home. 

Q: Are AT and HM claims going to be at the individual product level? In other words is the purchase linked to a specific item of the AT-HM list or the function? 

Emily Simlat: 

Yes. So claims will be at the individual product level which means that each purchase will be linked to the specific item on the AT-HM list rather than just the function. This detailed level of claiming ensures that each item is accurately tracked and accounted for. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Excellent. And as Josh was saying earlier these are the ones that you probably need to provide the evidence to if they’re in the high mode. So as you can see guys we’re trying to give you some of this information in a couple of different ways because you ask a different question, you get that answer in a slightly different perspective. So hopefully it’s helping. 

All right. Let’s move onto one that we’ve heard in a few places. 

Q: Are Service Agreements required for Commonwealth Home Support Program clients from the 1st of November 2025? If so are they required for all clients or just new clients? 

Emily Simlat: 

The answer to this one is a bit of a long one so bear with me. From 1 November 2025 under the Act all CHSP providers will be required to have a Service Agreement in place with new clients who are commencing CHSP services. It is expected transitional arrangements will be put in place for existing CHSP clients who are already receiving CHSP services and have similar arrangements in place. This will allow providers up to 12 months to establish a new Service Agreement with their existing clients which will meet the provider obligations under the Act from 1 November. Most of the Service Agreement requirements should already exist in CHSP providers’ current arrangements with their clients as per their CHSP Grant Agreement, the CHSP Manual and in Quality Standard 2, ongoing assessment, as well as through planning with clients. Further guidance including templates and user guides will be available to assist providers in preparing for this change in the lead up to 1 November. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Yeah. Great. And we talked about some of the guidance, checklist and templates. That was one of the resources that I mentioned earlier in the session today. So hopefully that kind of rounds out all the answers to that kind of stream of questions. Josh also explained it in a slightly different way as well. So hopefully you’ve got everything you need there. 

All right. Now to round out with our CHSP related questions. 

Q: How long does it take to get our new DEX outlets approved at present? 

Emily Simlat: 

Nice quick and easy one to finish the session here Fay. The process initially takes up to 15 business days. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Excellent. All right. So that’s the rapid round of Q&A from previous questions that we’ve taken on notice. Bit of a change of pace now. Thanks very much Emily for that. We’re going to move on now with Emma Cook who returns with us on the latest and upcoming changes to the Government Provider Management System. It’s nice to see you back at Tech Talk Emma. So I know our attendees really appreciate your updates and we know you and your team have a huge workload so thank you for taking the time. Over to you. 

Emma Cook: 

[Visual of slide with text saying ‘Government Provider Management System’, ‘Emma Cook’, ‘Assistant Secretary’, ‘Reform Implementation Division’, ‘Digital Reform Branch’, ‘Australian Government with Crest (logo)’, ‘Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’] 

Thanks Fay. And thank you for the opportunity to speak here. It’s always great to attend the Tech Talks to provide updates and receive feedback on areas that we can provide more information. So I am Emma Cook, Assistant Secretary of the Digital Reform Branch and I’m going to be giving an update on GPMS. Across this session I’ll be covering off what is changing and what is staying the same for GPMS following the implementation of the new Act. Some people might have caught a little bit of that before but for anyone who’s missed previous sessions we will recap. Preparing for the new Act, so including the GPMS system outage information. We’ve got a little bit of a GPMS specific timeline that does align with our broader documentation but really gives you a sense of how that portal will be changing and some key activities that you’ll need to manage around those changes. The GPMS Portals from 3 November and what you can expect. And updated and new digital guidance materials as well as a little bit of a recap on frequently asked questions as well, some of which might be closely related to the ones covered and some that are a little different. 

So I’ll jump into it and start going through what we have for you today. All right. So what is changing in GPMS? So the Government Provider Management System as you know provides a streamlined portal for provider interactions with Government. And under the new Act Government funded aged care services will need to be registered providers in order to deliver aged care services. And so from 1 November all registered providers who claim or receive Government funding will have access to our portal. That will include our Support at Home and residential aged care providers, our Multi-Purpose Services Program, Commonwealth Home Support Program, NATSIFAC and Transition Care Program providers. So they’ll all be coming into GPMS. And some of those providers will be used to working in GPMS and for some it will be newer. 

For those providers where it is a little newer if we haven’t already we will be in contact and we will be contacting you via email using the contact information that we have. So it’s always an opportune time to say make sure you keep that up to date with Government. Make sure we have your contemporary email addresses and information so that we can reach out and work directly with you to help you through this change. And we will be doing that to make sure that you have what you need to login to GPMS if it is your first time. 

If we’ve noticed that there will be changes to your organisation and that’s going to mean some differences in the way that you login we’ll also be proactively reaching out to you using the contact information that you’ve given us and making sure that you have everything that you need to support that streamlined transition. 

So from 3 November providers will have access to those two portals and I’ll give a little bit more detail in the coming slides around that. Registered providers who are already using GPMS will automatically gain access to that GPMS registered provider portal. And there will be a little bit of set up and user role administration required for our org admins to make sure that you can continue to work and use GPMS from that date. 

Providers can access regulatory forms. So a key item and change to note is that providers will access those regulatory forms that they’re used to using to report to the Commission and they’ll do that through the Commission’s website. Drafts are already available on that form where you can look at the change in circumstance forms, variations, suspensions, revocations or corrections to understand what those look like and to prepare your organisation. Once you’ve completed and submitted those forms to the Commission and they’ve been processed updated information will be available in GPMS. So you’ll be able to see it in there but you will be working directly with the Commission to complete and submit their forms. 

Just worth a note that really there’s continuity in that we’ll be continuing to use GPMS to support Services Australia payments, being that GPMS holds that central record on registered providers. And we will be continuing to support you through those mandatory reporting requirements which I think we’ll cover off when we jump to the next slide. 

So jumping through preparing for the new Act. Here we have a visual timeline of dates for our preparation and implementation of the new Act on GPMS. These are really important key dates that you will want to mark down and to plan your operations around. It will help to ensure that you meet October reporting requirements and prioritise activities across the key transition period or window to support a smooth transition. We want to make sure that where there’s an opportunity to do things a little sooner or plan those out that it helps to really move the cluster of activities away from those key dates switching over to the new Act. 

So you’ll see on here that a GPMS release outage is planned on the 17th of October until the 19th of October. This is of course a weekend and it’s where the system will be unavailable consistent with all our other releases. And users very used to we know getting emails to say we’re pulling the system down, doing some updates or changes, and we’ll be back on shortly, just like any other system. So we’ll be doing that but it’s really important to know that the GPMS system will be unavailable during that date. It also signals the cut off for a number of changes to provider and workforce information and the ability to make those changes as an approved provider.  

So we do want to make sure that existing approved providers advise of any changes to the organisation’s details, things like your business address or your key personnel, complete those notification forms through the Manage Your Organisation tile in GPMS, make any changes to your GPMS user access and submit those through by the 17th of October. That will help us to make sure that we carry everything across to the registered provider access. So we’re really trying to make sure that again we can get as much in before the 17th as possible and that way we can really help you to have a smooth transition into your new structure and access. 

And as I said both notifications and determinations applications that are currently available through GPMS need to be completed by that 17th of October date so they can then be processed by the Commission. Of course after as the new Act takes place they will as I’ve touched on be superseded by those new forms where the drafts are already available on the Commission’s website. 

So consistent with the earlier item and timeline you’ll see that the September and October upload of a PDF with revised pricing schedules for Support at Home services is needed in that timeframe on the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal. And of course you’ll need to continue to complete your mandatory reporting across things like quality indicators and that submission that will be due from the 1st to the 21st of October, and complete your Quarterly Financial Reporting which is also due and we would ask that you complete that in the month of October to avoid any attempt to submit over that new Act weekend. 

From 1 November you will be able to access the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal, verify and update services that you’re delivering and update pricing and services and ensure that those changes are made to enable you to display your information on My Aged Care. 

As noted – and I wasn’t sure if I should mention this but probably just a reminder as was noted by Emily – that Services Australia Aged Care Provider Portal also has a release outage planned from Friday the 24th of October until Saturday the 1st of November. So that will be a period that that portal is not available. But as I say all marked down here and all in our publicly available information supporting your transition to the new Act. 

If we jump through. I did touch on the portals a moment ago and there you have it. So really what this slide outlines is something that we’ve touched on before which is that you’ll essentially now see two entry points to the GPMS Portal. And what that is is that from commencement of the Aged Care Act you will have the Registered Provider Portal and you will use that Registered Provider Portal to maintain information about your organisation personnel and complete your mandatory reporting. So things like your quality indicators or your QFR that you’ll be submitting in January, you will submit that all into your Registered Provider Portal as a registered provider.  

You’ll still have access to the Approved Provider Portal. So that will remain accessible. You’ll be able to view information as it existed against the organisation under the current Act and the final data submission that you will see in that portal is for that October period that I mentioned, so things like that QFR that you will have closed out during October. That’s really the split and it is because we know that many providers still want to be able to view and access particularly over the transition period that information as it existed against the old approved provider structure. And so that will be held like a historic record in that Approved Provider Portal that you’ll be able to access. But you will interact with the Department through the Registered Provider Portal. 

So if we jump through to the next slide we’re really onto a number of the guides and materials that do step out all the detail and all the work that has gone into making all of this happen and to building out the steps that providers will need to take to transition across and prepare for 1 November. And so you’ll see here we’ve got our Provider Digital Readiness Checklist and Guide to Digital Changes for Providers. Now these have been published for some time but of course we updated those to reflect the new commencement date of the new Act. So the Provider Digital Readiness Checklist covers digital readiness activities for providers, going a little deeper and with a lot of reference materials to support the milestones that I’ve just mentioned. It was codesigned with sector groups so a big thank you to everyone on this forum that’s been involved and supported us in refining and building out those supporting materials. 

If we jump through – and I should say it does link to a lot of the other artefacts. So we’re conscious that sometimes there are lots of things out there and so what we try and do is build these things into a one stop shop so when you’re looking at it if we suggest that you need to do something or make a link to another specific program or portal that we provide you with the link there and then to go off to look at that if you need to. 

Jumping through to the next page. Sorry. You were ahead of me so jumping back. We have further updated GPMS frequently asked questions. Again we answer these questions here. We start to get a feel for things that providers are needing to know and sometimes we need to take things on notice to get those SME responses and we make sure that we capture those and update our frequently asked questions. So that’s what you can find online. You can find online some videos and we’ll be looking at more videos to support you to use the systems and to understand common pitfalls. And we’ve got user guides both across the Manage Your Organisation Guide and the 24/7 Registered Nurse User Guide. 

So jumping through to the next slide for real this time. So we’ve got a few frequently asked questions. We do hear lots of similar kind of queries and questions and so we wanted to take the opportunity to make sure that we’re giving you the information that you’re after. So this first one. 

Q: How will I update associated providers listed in GPMS from November? 

So upon implementation of the new Aged Care Act we are moving all deemed and operational provider information in relation to third party organisations. All move across to the associated providers for the registered provider entity. So as I said make sure that you have your third party organisations up to date now and before the 17th of October in our systems. That helps us to move all the information across automatically for you and you won’t have to worry about [0:52:30]. You will have seen this information displayed in provider previews. So every registered provider received a provider preview that listed out the information that they had and if you update similarly those updates will flow through to your registered provider entity.  

From 1 November onwards you will need to complete the forms that I touched on that are on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s website. So the change in circumstance form allows you to change those associated provider details and once they’ve been received and updated in the systems you’ll be able to view and see those changes in the registered provider portal where it’s applicable. 

So the next question. 

Q: What are the new requirements for reporting on associated providers?  

And as you can see there on the screen once the new Act commences registered providers in categories four, five or six must notify the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission when an arrangement with an associated provider commences or is varied, extended or ceases and in relation to services provided under those categories. So those are the requirements in updating your associated providers after commencement of the new Act. 

All right. If we jump through to the next one. Okay. So service IDs. So this is one that we get quite a lot and I think Emily did a really nice job in covering this off. You can also see it on the screen and you can find this information in the public guides. But all provider IDs and service IDs were preserved. There’s just slightly different formats. So all existing home care service providers will have the same service IDs following transition to the provider register on commencement of the new Act. The service ID will continue to be used by Services Australia for claiming and payments. The pooling of care management funds will occur at this level. And on screen as I said you can see how IDs pre and post the new Act implementation will exist within GPMS. So hopefully that gives a really clear view but there are worked examples and further information if you’re wanting to understand those more. 

All right. Jumping through to the next one. There we go. 

Q: What can registered providers do within the Manage Your Organisation tile? 

So really you can see it there. You can go in. You’ll have an improved experience which I ran through I believe at the last Tech Talk that I presented at. You’ll be able to view details about your organisation, view residential aged care homes, branches and associated provider arrangements, manage personnel contacts, details and user roles in your organisation in that really streamlined way that I showed you when we were previously here. 

All right. And then rapid fire here.  

Q: Who within an organisation can view and make updates to information within the MYO tile? 

So you can see here really that’s two roles. You have within that your organisation administrators are able to assign the two roles which are your provider staff to manage contacts and view organisational information and provider staff for the home or branch to manage contacts and view homes and branches information for assigned services. So there’s further detail up on the screen there. But really these are the access roles and when you login from 3 November you’ll just need to check off to make sure that everyone has the user roles for the new structure of your organisation and in that new GPMS for registered providers so that you can function from 3 November and fulfil all of your obligations. 

All right. Jumping through. 

Where to go for support. I thought we’d gone through quite a few Q&A. Hopefully I’ve left some for the session there. But you can see you’ve got first port of call is always the My Aged Care Service Provider and Assessor Helpline. So absolutely go to that central point. The people on that Contact Centre have the information needed to help providers as well as the other organisations that reach in. And from there they will triage and support your requests to make sure that if the Department needs to respond we will get involved or if we need to take any additional steps that we reach out. So go through that single point of contact where you can. 

If it’s specific to GPMS of course we have the range of resources available on the Department’s website. But we do always offer as the second point of call that GPMS email that goes straight to myself and my team and that’s so that we can help to make sure that you’re getting a timely response and the technical support that you need. 

And finally for Services Australia and payment systems the information is up there in relation to their enquiry line and they are certainly skilled and able to give you all the support you need when it comes to providers’ payments and subsidies. 

That is all from me. So again great to be here. Great to share a bit of an update on all of the work happening in GPMS, our key milestones, guides and support information and covering off a few of those frequently asked questions. Thanks so much Fay. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Thank you Emma. And some really important updates there folks where the rubber’s hitting the road. There’s definitely some upcoming deadlines right Emma. I heard the 17th of October. And I can see you’ve been getting similar questions. We’ve got a whole lot of Q&A happening here. So there’s some common ones across the sector. Hopefully we’re answering everyone. You really need to engage with it all right Emma, and that’s when you start asking a whole lot more questions. 

Okay. So we’re going to move to Q&A, all the questions that have come up. So stay on screen with us Emma. We’re going to invite Josh back as well. Emily is going to be our host on this and I think we’re going to try and do a bit of rapid fire. So I’ll ask the team to take the slides down so you can just see us. And I think Emily that you and the team have been working in the background to kind of prioritise based on people’s voting. All right. So I’m handing over to you but I think Josh, Emma, you guys are popular topics. So over to you Emily. 

Emily Simlat: 

No worries. Thanks Fay. And before we kickstart just want to say a huge thank you to our subject matter experts who are on standby waiting in the background providing all of their expertise both on and off screen today. We’re going to try and get through as many as we can. And the first question is for Emma and the question is: 

Q: We’re getting some conflicting information about updating associated provider information in GPMS. Will they have six months from 1st of November to add them or do they need to be added now before the 1st of November? 

So I think you may have covered some of that in your presentation already. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Thirty seconds. Rapid fire. Go Emma. 

Emma Cook: 

Perfect. So I will have covered a little bit of that in the presentation. I think the important thing to know here is that approved providers already have third party organisations. And where those are in place absolutely keep them up to date in line with the current legislation. Make sure that you do that and use that GPMS system, in the forms in the GPMS system to maintain that information. That will help us to make sure that we bring it across and reflect it as a registered provider with an associated provider connection which is the same construct under the new Act. So absolutely do those things. Where you are a new provider or a new entity from 1 November of course you will then need to work with the Commission using the forms that are available and once you submit those to the Commission as I touched on we will display that information for you in GPMS. 

Fay Flevaras: 

And I think we were told just from some of our SMEs Emma that for providers which are new, so they’re not currently using the system and so they don’t get the benefit of moving all that data across, I think they’ve got a six month period for which to report their associated providers from that date. So that’s the information we got from our SMEs so just adding that little bit as well. All right. What’s up next Emily? 

Emily Simlat: 

Next question. This one here is for Josh. 

Q: Given the instability plaguing the APIs in the Developer Portal how do you expect vendors to become conformant? Are there any contingencies in place should these issues continue with the live APIs after 1 November?  

And I believe that Services Australia have provided some information on that one so over to you Josh. 

Josh Maldon: 

Yeah. So I’ll probably say a few things in relation to that and that’s just to say that Services Australia absolutely will continue to provide a claiming contingency option, so the CSV file that’s already in production and widely used by providers. And so that will be a fully supported pathway for vendors who use APIs by 1 November. And I’d just say in relation to changes and those sorts of things that Services Australia is working really well with providers to make sure that they do codesign these things and so there can be changes in response to feedback. And look there absolutely are vendors who are already successfully becoming conformant so the pathway is progressing well. 

Emily Simlat: 

Perfect. Thanks Josh. And moving across the next one here is for you as well and staying on the Services Australia theme. 

Q: When will providers be getting information from Services Australia regarding the cocontribution percentage participants will pay for Support at Home? 

Josh Maldon: 

Yeah. Sure. So this is one of the features of the new amendments currently before Parliament. So provided Parliament does pass the legislation it will enable a once off point in time early calculation of each participant’s indicative contribution rate. So that’s scheduled to occur on the 1st of October and that will cover participants where Services Australia already hold that relevant income asset information. And again that outcome will be published in the Services Australia portal for providers.  

Fay Flevaras: 

That’s kind of an interim number right Josh? That’s giving them the best – I’m going to say guess. It’s not a guess. It’s calculated based on a point in time information and then participants will get their final and complete answer after 1st of November. Is that correct? 

Josh Maldon: 

I completely agree. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Excellent. So just letting people know. But it is a way of giving participants an indication of what their co-contribution may look like to help inform your Service Agreement discussions that you’re having with them. 

Josh Maldon: 

And just a shoutout that there’s a range of different tools that are available out there at the moment. So we’ve got the online estimator which is available on My Aged Care and can be used to calculate participant contributions. And so there will be a range of supports to support both providers and people through that process. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Fantastic. Emily what’s next? 

Emily Simlat: 

Perfect. Thanks Josh. Another one for you here Josh. Same theme.  

Q: Currently Services Australia have identified variances on a claim. These are processed in the following claiming cycle. With the changes to Support at Home if the October claim presents variances how must providers proceed to ensure variances are reported against HCP and not Support at Home? 

Josh Maldon: 

Yeah. Good question. So my understanding is Services Australia is actively exploring that particular one and so they will communicate out as soon as they’ve been able to resolve and provide that advice. 

Emily Simlat: 

Perfect. Thanks Josh. And then another one for yourself Emma. 

Q: Is there going to be any assistance for providers who may wish to merge their service IDs for effective care management pooling? 

Emma Cook: 

Yeah. So I would say firstly just make sure that you refer to your provider preview and make sure that when you’re looking at how your service is structured and the number of IDs that you have – so I’ve noticed a few comments around this – that it is in relation to that new organisation structure. So we’ve transitioned your existing structure to the future one. For some providers that has merged parts of their organisation and for others it has split it apart and for many it remains the same. So make sure you refer to that first. If you’ve got concerns or issues and you’d like to further change the structure of your organisation then do make sure that you reach out and if you’re uncertain you’re welcome to use the GPMS email that was provided earlier. 

Emily Simlat: 

Perfect. Thank you Emma. Back to you Josh. 

Q: The Department has given mixed information as to whether invoice variations will be allowed for HCP claims. Can this be clarified? 

And I think you may have just covered that one so my apologies. I think we’ve got a duplicate answer.  

Fay Flevaras: 

We’re ticking them off. I think we’re at the point – we might do a follow up with Emma’s which was there was someone that said they’ve got four NAPS IDs and what should we do next. So two of them were for supplement specific. How will the care management be allocated in this instance? So I think that’s one where maybe they should reach out on that email right? 

Emma Cook: 

That’s right. I think start with the provider preview. Make sure that you know who in your organisation got that because that’s where we are seeing a lot of those IDs consolidate. And so start at that point. It will give you a view of how your organisation and your service branch and other details will be structured. If there’s still a problem absolutely reach out and we can help you from there. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Emily are we good with the next one?  

Emily Simlat: 

Yeah. We’re good with the next one. So this one here is for Josh. 

Q: How will post-dated invoices be managed in Support at Home? Wheelchair is a common case. It’s ordered but not immediately delivered. Are we required to enter an invoice when the order is placed and can the invoice be post-dated? 

Josh Maldon: 

Yeah. Okay. So for assistive technology products for including things such as wheelchairs as well as home modifications providers can submit that claim for payment at any time following delivery of the item. So all claims must be finalised 60 days after the assistive technology and home modification funding period has ended. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Great. And do you know do they have to reduce it from the budget when it’s ordered or once it’s paid? Or is that something we need to take away? 

Josh Maldon: 

Probably have to take away that Fay. 

Fay Flevaras: 

I just wonder when you place an order you want to make sure that you don’t go looking at a budget and not know. 

Josh Maldon: 

No. You’d be wanting to keep track of it intuitively. Yeah. 

Fay Flevaras: 

That’s it. But for us when it’s communicating to us at Government it’s after you’ve received the product and you’re making a claim is when it hits the budget with Services Australia. Okay. 

Emily Simlat: 

Perfect. In keeping with the AT-HM theme. 

Q: Why does the AT-HM Scheme Guidelines continue to not be available? Is this where we will find information regarding the revised evidence stipulated today which is to either maintain or provide when claiming? Further when will clear instructions on what and how the evidence is being provided and in what format? 

I think this one’s for you Josh. 

Josh Maldon: 

Yeah. Absolutely. So the Department’s working on that as we speak. So as we said the policy’s been recently changed which is definitely in favour of the providers from an administrative burden perspective. I would hope that we’re looking – we’re working through one of the sub-working groups on this issue as we speak and I’m hoping that we have the guidelines towards the end of September. 

Emily Simlat: 

Perfect. Thank you. And another one there for yourself. 

Q: Will the APIs from Services Australia consider a HCP client a Support at Home client before the October claim is finalised? 

Josh Maldon: 

I might have to take that one on notice I think. 

Emily Simlat: 

No problem. All right. The next one I think we’ve got here for yourself Fay which is: 

Q: How do we update our details on the Service and Support Portal if we can’t access it and no one from the Department can get us help with getting access? 

So Emma’s provided the GPMS Helpdesk for GPMS but this one’s Service and Support Portal. 

Fay Flevaras: 

So I think we’ve said this before. You should absolutely ring the Helpdesk and then if they can’t help you there they will definitely move you to a level three support and we will get in contact. There might be something happening in the systems that you can’t address via the front. And so we will assist there. So please reach out and we will direct you to the third level support. 

Emily Simlat: 

Great. Thank you Fay. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Hopefully that answers. I mean that’s kind of the answer to everything guys. There’s a whole lot of material online. There’s a whole lot of videos and resources and so forth. But if you’re trying to do something either in My Aged Care or in Service and Support Portal or even in GPMS and it doesn’t match what you’re looking at with the instructions that we’ve given in the resources absolutely log a call with us so we can give you some one on one help. Thanks. 

Emily Simlat: 

Great. Thanks Fay. And another one for yourself Josh. The requirement for providers to publish their service prices on the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal which you mentioned earlier – the question is: 

Q: Will this requirement under Support at Home be to provide pricing for the same services dataset as is currently required under HCP? 

Josh Maldon: 

It will be the new service list in line with the new legislation. 

Fay Flevaras: 

That’s it. So again guys we’ve got a current Act that is valid up until the day before the 1st of November. I think Emma’s tried to really highlight that with GPMS the current GPMS that you’re working on, that’s the current Act. Then as you move into the 1st of November for the new Act even though some of our systems – because the 1st of November is a weekend folks, so it will be up and running on the Monday for you all. That’s why in Emma’s presentation she referenced the 3rd of November. So just to give some clarity around that. You’re entering the new Act now. So all the categories, all of the jargon changes a little bit, and that’s why we’re introducing a new version of GPMS and that’s where you’ll start to put everything in that format. That’s where you’ll get your new service and pricing. We’ll collect that from you guys and then that’s what becomes available on My Aged Care so that people can see how you present as a provider in your services in the new Act so they know where they source whatever service they’re looking for. 

We’re all working through a transition together. So there’s a few steps to get there but ultimately we’re all going to be ready to start under the new Act for 3rd of November. Emily what’s up next? 

Emily Simlat: 

The next one is directed towards Josh but maybe something you can jump in with as well Fay. And the question is: 

Q: Do we have dates locked in for online discussions with providers to answer questions that haven’t yet been clarified? 

Josh Maldon: 

So we’ve definitely got – Erika Barnett’s going to be coming to talk to this forum I think on the 30th of September and we can look into what potential other forums may be available. One I’d probably want to do is jump onto that sector change plan and just see whether or not there’s any other events forecast. But I imagine there will be opportunities for further conversations. I think we’ve also got weekly webinars I want to say with Services Australia that providers can join into and so we can possibly provide the details for that as well. 

Fay Flevaras: 

A hundred percent. So Services Australia ones weekly things there around getting connected with their APIs, many areas. I know Emma’s got webinars and Support at Home’s got webinars. But if push comes to shove don’t forget we’ve also got our sector partner community. We meet on a fortnightly basis. We’re happy to get into the real real of questions if you need the team here and more broadly participate there too. Plenty of opportunity for you to kind of reach out. If you can’t get to any of those forums then please drop us an email. If it’s a GPMS one you can contact Emma’s GPMS email. You can use the DT sector partners email address which is a more generic one. There’s no shortage of channels for you to leverage. If you need help please reach out. 

Emily Simlat: 

All right. Another one for Josh. 

Q: What evidence is required for lawnmowing or cleaning when it is provided by a third party? 

Josh Maldon: 

Yeah. Sure. So providers need to be able to retain and provide any records or evidence to support the claims to make sure you’re compliant with the program guidelines. So the evidence requirements around that are around supporting confirmation of service delivery. They’re outlined in section 10.5 of the Support at Home Program Manual. And I want to say with an exception for assistive technology and home modifications we have relaxed those evidence requirements. That’s something that we’re going to be providing further guidance in the next release of the Support at Home Program Manual later this month. 

Fay Flevaras: 

So let’s be honest Josh. That’s no different to you’re running a business and you need to retain your invoices for tax purposes right. So that’s all we’re saying. The only time you need to present this evidence to us now – because that’s under the new changes that we’ve relaxed – is for those assistive technology and home modification categories.  

Josh Maldon: 

That high tier $15,000 and over. That’s right. Spot on.  

Fay Flevaras: 

So really we’re only asking you to show that category. The rest you should be holding invoices for anyway because it’s a service that you received for tax purposes. Okay. 

Emily Simlat: 

Thank you. I’m just getting told in the background just to clarify something that was said a little while ago, the fortnightly webinar with Services Australia is for software vendors only. We can provide the information for that one offline. The sector partner forum is every other week and that is for both providers and software vendors. Now Josh you mentioned a little while ago at the start of your presentation that software providers can join the Support at Home community. We’ve just had someone pop a question in the chat to say that they have requested to join that Support at Home community but they were rejected because they’re not a provider. Is there any chance of relaxing these rules? 

Josh Maldon: 

Yeah. Leave it with me. Let me take that one forward. 

Fay Flevaras: 

But likewise – and I don’t know if you’re a software vendor or something else – you can still get access to the sector partner community in that sense. So you still have an opportunity to ask questions with the providers in the room in that sense. So I want to make sure that people understand that sometimes they stand up like a community specific to a cohort because they’re going to go really deep in there but Josh will take it away and see what he can do.  

Josh Maldon: 

Yeah. And just a shoutout that all the materials that are publicly available too definitely software vendors obviously are able to access that. And I’ll follow up on this community of practice bit. 

Emily Simlat: 

Great. Thanks Josh. Next question is back on Services Australia. 

Q: Can you please make sure the Support at Home sample invoice bulk upload documents are updated to include the latest rules on evidence? 

Josh Maldon: 

Yeah. Absolutely. So Services Australia review our eKit and sample CSV documents to make sure we’ve got that data alignment piece with the new assistive technology and home modifications evidence rules. 

Fay Flevaras: 

They’re probably just still updating right, because like you said Josh even we’re still updating. I think we’re aiming around the end of September. So yes they will eventually get updated. Watch that space I guess because they’re probably not what they say today. And so you’re hearing the latest changes here and then the teams are working on updating the resources to make it consistent. 

Emily Simlat: 

Q: If a provider accepts a Support at Home client midway through the quarter you mentioned earlier Josh that the care management fees will only be credited to the provider at the beginning of the next quarter. Will this include the pro rata amount from the date the client was admitted by the provider? 

Josh Maldon: 

Yeah. So Services Australia will calculate the care management funding for the new participant for the next quarter and they’re allocated as you say to the start of the next quarter. For established providers there will be no pro rata care management funding for participants who transfer partway through a quarter. So what that means is the care management activities for participants must be funded through the pooled management funds which were allocated at the start of the quarter. But having said that providers will retain care management funding for the quarter for any participant who exits partway through the quarter. So if you want to get further information around that particular piece you can check out the Support at Home Program Manual section 8.8.2. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Just to make sure there’s no double dipping and no one misses out either. 

Josh Maldon: 

That’s right. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Great. 

Emily Simlat: 

Sounds good. We’ve got a couple lined up for you now Emma. The first one is: 

Q: Is there any limit on the number of participants that can be aligned to a service delivery branch? 

Emma Cook: 

There are specific requirements around this. I’m not aware that there is a limit to the number of participants but you do need to demonstrate that it’s reasonable to pool the funds there. So I think what we can do is provide a little bit of a firmer response to that out of session so that you have something by the book to run off. But no not that I’m aware. There’s no limitation to the number of people. It’s just around appropriate management of funds. 

Emily Simlat: 

Great. Thank you. And then another one again with the IDs. 

Q: In regards to NAPS IDs previous correspondence we were advised that our ID would need to be our ABI. 

Emma Cook: 

ABR? ABN. Derived from the ABR. I’m going to assume that it’s that. Definitely we do interface with the Australian Business Register and we do record ABNs. The IDs are separate from that as they always have been and continue through in the way that’s been described in this Tech Talk. There’s more information of course in the digital guide and materials that I shared but if there’s further enquiries feel free to reach out and we can work through. 

Fay Flevaras: 

So there’s a couple of things there. Because one I think there’s a spelling mistake so that might be throwing us a little bit. But they did say our ID. And so there are a number of IDs that you might have with Government. Your ABN is definitely your key ID when you’re talking with the ATO. I know that is the ID that we use when we want you to use – and Emma correct me if I’m wrong here – RAM, when we’re connecting a company to GPMS. And so that’s still a valid ID guys. And then there’s the NAPS ID which is actually the Health ID that we use to make sure we connect GPMS and all the claiming process downstream to Services Australia. So just thought I’d add a bit more context there just in case. 

Emma Cook: 

I think that’s a really important point Fay and in particular because I think that does go to probably the confusion that’s been caused here which is that a really important part of the new Act does stipulate that a registered provider is aligned to an ABN. And so people may have received that message of your ABN is your provider number. In some ways it probably is but it’s quite different from those IDs that Fay’s explained there.  

Fay Flevaras: 

Yep. So Just thought I’d close that one out. Yes. Your ABN is your single identifier as a company and for tax purposes and things like that, and then when we link that to your Health ID which is your NAPS ID. Excellent. 

Emily Simlat: 

Great. I think we’ve got time for maybe two more questions so I’ll try and get one through to both Josh and Emma. Last one for yourself Josh. 

Q: The AT-HM claimed at the individual item level per current slide, what about the approval? Will the IAT be the individual item level or just at the funding level or function level? 

Josh Maldon: 

I’d have to check that one unless anyone else is online that knows the answer to that. I’d have to double check. 

Fay Flevaras: 

So we actually did answer this earlier in the session I think. It was one of our questions. This is the assistive technology and home modifications claim and we said it was at the item level if I remember correctly folks. But we can take that away if it’s the same. 

Emily Simlat: 

We’ll double check that one. And that would be last question for yourself Emma. Someone said that they need to remove one of the categories that they’re currently registered in. How do they do that from November? 

Emma Cook: 

Thanks Emily. So really your categories are defined by the services that you’re providing and so not the other way round. So at the moment you’ll be deemed across to a category based on those services that you currently provide. If you have a look in GPMS and need to update that information you’ll be prompted as appropriate and I suspect will be needed in this case to the notification form where you need to make a substantial change. So have a look in GPMS. Look at the information that you’d like to change. If you need to be submitting a formal form to the Commission to notify them of the changes in services that you provide then it will send you towards that form in GPMS. And the important date to remember is before 17 October as I touched on to make sure that then we bring that all across and your categories align.  

Fay Flevaras: 

Okay. Before we close out Emily I’m just going to go back and fix the answer from the previous question, which is – and I’m going to thank Henley Samuel, or Samuel Hanley. I’m not sure exactly your name. But from the community. Because it was a two part question and I was referencing the claiming part of it. But the question was – let me start with the question which was the AT-HM claimed at the individual item level per current slide. What about the approval with the IAT being at the individual item level or just at the funding level or function level? And he’s come back and he says approval will occur in the integrated assessment tool at the classification funding level and the services they are eligible to receive. It will not be at item or function level. And that is correct at the kind of integrated assessment tool stage. When you go to claim you’ll be claiming at the individual item level. So just wanted to close that one out. And thanks for that assist from the community folks because you understood the question better than we did. Thanks. 

Emily Simlat: 

Thanks everyone. So we are almost at time so we might bring the slides back up. And a huge big thank you to both Emma and Josh for coming along and being panellists today. And as Fay said all of our subject matter experts in the wings in the background which make this job a little bit easier. Over to you Fay to close us out. 

Fay Flevaras: 

Thank you. Thanks everyone for coming along today. Really appreciate you all taking the time. We know you’re all working very hard to get ready for the 1st of November and we hope that you’ve got some valuable takeaways from the Tech Talk today. Next webinar is Tuesday the 30th of September from 11:00am ‘til 12:30. You can use the QR code on your screen or from the links in the chat. As always we’d love to hear your thoughts so please take some time out and give us a post-event survey. We’re planning some upcoming segments based on your responses from the last survey so thank you very much for those. And that’s all from us. We’ll see you next time. Thank you very much. Goodbye. 

[Closing visual of slide with text saying ‘Thank you!’, ‘Give us your feedback,’ image of QR code, ‘Register for Tech Talk #27’, image of QR code, ‘Australian Government with Crest (logo)’, ‘Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’, ‘digitalservicessectorengagement@health.gov.au’] 

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