EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing
Aged Care Act 1997
Aged Care (Amount of Flexible Care Subsidy – Innovative Care Services) Determination 2011 (No. 1)
The Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) provides for the regulation and funding of aged care services. Persons who are approved under the Act to provide flexible aged care services can be eligible to receive flexible care subsidy payments in respect of the care they provide to approved care recipients.
Subsection 52-1(1) of the Act provides that the amount of flexible care subsidy that is payable in respect of a day is the amount determined by the Minister by legislative instrument or worked out in accordance with a method determined by the Minister by legislative instrument. Subsection 52‑1(2) of the Act provides that the Minister may determine rates of flexible care subsidy based on any matters determined by the Minister by legislative instrument.
The purpose of the Aged Care (Amount of Flexible Care Subsidy – Innovative Care Services) Determination 2011 (No. 1) is to specify the amount of flexible care subsidy payable in respect of different types of innovative care, including consumer directed care.
This Determination sets the flexible care subsidy rate, from 1 July 2011, for the provision of disability ageing in place services provided by nine approved providers who originally received allocations of places through the Aged Care Innovative Pool in 2003 and 2004. This subsidy enables those care recipients to continue receiving the additional care and services for as long as they are living in state or territory government funded disability supported accommodation.
This Determination also sets the flexible care subsidy rate, from 1 July 2011, for Consumer Directed Care places.
This Determination also revokes the Aged Care (Amount of Flexible Care Subsidy – Innovative Care Services) Determination 2010 (No. 1). The difference between the Determinations is that the amount of flexible care subsidy payable in respect of different types of innovative care has been indexed in accordance with standard indexation arrangements.
Further details of this Determination are attached.
Consultation
Indexation of the subsidy uses well established formula based on the Consumer Price Index as a measure of the movements in the non-labour costs of providers and the decisions of Fair Work Australia as a measure of non-productivity based movements in the wage costs of providers. As this is in accordance with policy upon which extensive consultation was undertaken, no specific consultation was undertaken with respect to this indexation.
Information about the increase in the amount of the subsidy will be disseminated via electronic media to approved providers.
This Determination commences on 1 July 2011.
The Determination is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
ATTACHMENT
Details of the Aged Care (Amount of Flexible Care Subsidy – Innovative Care Services) Determination 2011 (No. 1)
Part 1 – Preliminary
1 Name of Determination
Section 1 states the title of this Determination is the Aged Care (Amount of Flexible Care Subsidy – Innovative Care Services) Determination 2011 (No. 1).
2 Commencement
Section 2 states this Determination commences on 1 July 2011.
3 Revocation of previous determination
Section 3 revokes the previous determination Aged Care (Amount of Flexible Care Subsidy – Innovative Care Services) Determination 2010 (No. 1).
Part 2 – Care recipients receiving innovative care (other than consumer directed care)
4 Application of Part
Section 4 provides that Part 2 applies only to care recipients receiving innovative care services of a kind specified in section 15.24 of the Flexible Care Subsidy Principles 1997 (other than those specified in paragraph 15.24 (1) (ea)) provided by an approved provider listed in Column 1 (or related service listed in Column 2) of the table in Schedule 1.
5 Amount of flexible care subsidy (other than for consumer directed care)
Section 5 provides that the flexible care subsidy for a day for a care recipient is the amount mentioned in Column 3 of the table in Schedule 1.
Part 3 – Care recipients receiving flexible care in the form of consumer directed care
6 Application of Part
Section 6 provides that Part 3 applies to a care recipient receiving innovative care services of a kind specified in paragraph 15.24 (1) (ea) of the Flexible Care Subsidy Principles 1997. The services described in paragraph 15.24 (1) (ea) of the Principles are consumer directed care services.
7 Amount of flexible care subsidy for consumer directed care
Section 7 provides that the flexible care subsidy for a day for a care recipient receiving consumer directed care aligns with subsidy amounts payable under the following Determinations:
(a) for consumer directed low care – the amount of community care subsidy that would be payable in respect of a day if the care recipient received community care, worked out in accordance with Aged Care (Community Care Subsidy Amount) Determination 2011 (No. 1);
(b) for consumer directed high care – the amount of flexible care subsidy that would be payable in respect of a day if the care recipient received flexible care in the form of extended aged care at home, worked out in accordance with Aged Care (Amount of Flexible Care Subsidy – Extended Aged Care at Home) Determination 2011 (No. 1); and
(c) for consumer directed high care dementia – the amount of flexible care subsidy that would be payable in respect of a day if the care recipient received flexible care in the form of extended aged care at home - dementia, worked out in accordance with Aged Care (Amount of Flexible Care Subsidy – Extended Aged Care at Home - Dementia) Determination 2011 (No. 1).
Schedule 1 Amounts of flexible care subsidy
This schedule sets the amounts of flexible care subsidy payable to nine approved providers for the provision of disability ageing in place services.