EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Ageing
Aged Care Act 1997
Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy — Amount of Basic Daily Fee Supplement) Determination 2012 (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 residential aged care services (approved providers) can be eligible to receive residential care subsidy payments in respect of the care they provide to approved care recipients.
Residential care subsidy payments to an approved provider may include additional primary supplements as provided for by section 44-16 of the Act. One such supplement is the clean energy – fee reduction supplement, which will be payable to providers with eligible non-pensioner residents as part of the Clean Energy Future Household Assistance Package.
The majority of residents in aged care homes, who receive a pension or a seniors supplement or who hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, will receive the clean energy advance and the clean energy supplement (clean energy payments) under the Social Security Act 1991 or the Veterans’ Entitlements Act 1986. This assistance will be shared between the resident and the aged care provider through an increase in the basic daily fee equivalent to 1% of the basic age pension amount. This will result in the maximum daily amount of resident fees a provider is permitted to charge under the Act being increased from 84% to 85% of the basic age pension amount.
A small number of aged care residents will not qualify for these clean energy payments as they do not receive an eligible pension or seniors supplement or hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card. To ensure these aged care residents are not disadvantaged by the increase in the maximum daily amount of resident fees permitted under the Act, from
1 July 2012 the basic daily fee supplement will be payable to aged care providers with eligible residents who elect to receive the supplement on the residents’ behalf and maintain the residents’ fees at existing levels.
Section 21.25F of the Residential Care Subsidy Principles 1997 and section 23.14A of the User Rights Principles 1997, together with this Determination, provide for the basic daily fee supplement.
Subsection 44-16 (3) of the Act states that the Minister may determine by legislative instrument, in respect of each additional primary supplement, the amount of the supplement, or the way in which the amount of the supplement is to be worked out. This Determination sets out the way in which the amount of the basic daily fee supplement is to be worked out.
Consultation
As the effect of the legislative instruments providing for the basic daily fee supplement was announced as part of the Clean Energy Futures Household Assistance Package, no specific consultation was undertaken in relation to this instrument.
Regulation impact statement
The Office of Best Practice Regulation has advised that no Regulation Impact Statement is required (OBPR ID 12669).
Further details
Details of this Determination are in the Attachment.
The Determination commences on 1 July 2012.
The Determination is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
ATTACHMENT
Details of the Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy — Amount of Basic Daily Fee Supplement) Determination 2012 (No. 1)
1 – Name of Determination
Section 1 states that the title of this Determination is the Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy — Amount of Basic Daily Fee Supplement) Determination 2012 (No. 1).
2 - Commencement
Section 2 states that the Determination commences on 1 July 2012.
3 – Definitions
Section 3 defines the terms basic age pension amount, and eligible care recipient used in this Determination.
4 – Method to work out the amount of basic daily fee supplement
Section 4 states that the way in which the amount of basic daily fee supplement payable for an eligible care recipient is to be worked out is by rounding down to the nearest cent an amount equal to 1% of the basic age pension amount (worked out on a per day basis).
By using this method, the amount of the basic daily fee supplement will equal the amount of the increase in the maximum daily amount of resident fees permitted under the Aged Care Act 1997 for residents who qualify for clean energy payments and the corresponding decrease in the maximum daily amount of resident fees an approved provider in receipt of the basic daily fee supplement may charge residents who do not receive specified pensions or benefits that would qualify them to receive clean energy payments.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy — Amount of Basic Daily Fee Supplement) Determination 2012 (No. 1)
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised
or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Legislative Instrument
The purpose of the Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy — Amount of Basic Daily Fee Supplement) Determination 2012 (No. 1) is to set out the way in which the amount of the basic daily fee supplement is to be worked out.
Human rights implications
This Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
Mark Butler
Minister for Mental Health and Ageing