EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
AGED CARE ACT 1997
SUBSECTION 48-1(3)
Determination of the amount of Community Care Subsidy (ACA Ch. 3 No. 1/2007)
Subsection 48-1(3) of the Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) provides that the amount of community care subsidy that is payable to an approved provider in respect of a day is the amount:
(a) determined by the Minister in writing; or
(b) worked out in accordance with a method determined by the Minister in writing.
In accordance with paragraph 48-1(3)(b) of the Act, the Determination of the amount of Community Care Subsidy under subsection 48-1(3) (ACA Ch. 3 No. 1/2007) (the Determination) specifies the method for working out the amount of community care subsidy payable under section 47-1 of the Act for a day in respect of a community care recipient.
The Determination applies from 1 January 2007 and, from that date, revokes the Determination made under section 48-1 (ACA Ch. 3 No. 9/2006), which was made on 28 June 2006.
This basic daily amount of community care subsidy that is payable in respect of a community care recipient is $33.30 and came into effect on 1 July 2006. This amount is specified in Step 2 of the Determination and has not been altered by the Determination.
Step 1 of the Determination provides for an additional daily amount of community care subsidy to be paid to an approved provider of community care who provides community care to a care recipient who resides in rural and remote locations, provided that location has an Accessibility / Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) score of 3.52 or more.
Under the ARIA, each suburb and town in Australia is allocated an ARIA score based on its accessibility and remoteness. ARIA scores for all Australian locations are contained in the document entitled Viability Funding — ARIA scores for locations as at 30 July 1999, published by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. The Department will verify the location of a care recipient by reference to the postcode of the suburb or town in which the care recipient resides.
The more remote the community care recipient’s residential location, the higher the ARIA score for that location and the higher the amount of additional community care subsidy payable to the approved provider in respect of that care recipient. This approach reflects the higher costs involved in operating community care aged services in rural and remote areas, including the higher costs associated with attracting and retaining staff.
If the ARIA score for a community care recipient’s residential location is less than 3.52 no additional daily amount of community care subsidy is payable in respect of the care recipient and the amount of community care subsidy payable in respect of the care recipient is $33.30 (as specified in Step 2 of the Determination).
However, where the ARIA score for a community care recipient’s residential location is 3.52 or more, the table in Step 1 of the Determination sets out the additional daily amount that is payable in respect of that care recipient. The additional daily amount set out in the table in Step 1 is added to the basic daily amount of community care subsidy, which Step 2 of the Determination specifies is $33.30.
Approved providers who are eligible to receive an additional amount of community care subsidy in respect of a community care recipient will receive the additional amount of subsidy through Medicare Australia’s payment systems.
The amount of community care subsidy is indexed on 1 July each year. As part of this process, the additional amount of community care subsidy will also be indexed.
The Determination is a “legislative instrument” for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. As the Determination simply provides a new and additional amount of community care subsidy to providers of community care in rural and remote areas, it does not adversely affect the rights of, or impose liabilities on, any person. As such, the Determination does not contravene the rule against retrospectivity in subsection 12(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Consultation
In relation to the additional amount of community care subsidy payable to providers in rural and remote areas, an external reference group was established consisting of representatives from five peak body organisations that deliver rural and remote aged care programs. Consultation with this reference group was integral to the development of the eligibility criteria for the payment of the additional amount of community care subsidy and the additional amounts payable.
No other consultation with industry was undertaken in relation to the remainder of the Determination because the remainder of the Determination is substantially the same as determination ACA Ch. 3 No. 9/2006, which is replaced by the Determination.