EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Ageing
Aged Care Act 1997
Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy – Amount of Pensioner Supplement)
Determination 2010 (No. 2)
The Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) provides for the 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.
All care recipients who meet the requirements of subsection 44-28(2) of the Act, and who are not excluded under subsections 44-28(3), (5) or (6) of the Act, are eligible for a pensioner supplement. This includes pre-2008 reform residents who receive an income support payment (but who have not agreed to pay a large accommodation bond), or have a dependent child. Residents are also not eligible for a pensioner supplement while they fail to, or elect not to, provide information for the purpose of determining their total assessable income.
Subsection 44-28(7) of the Act provides that the Minister may determine, by legislative instrument, the amount of the pensioner supplement.
The purpose of the Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy – Amount of Pensioner Supplement) Determination 2010 (No. 2) (the Determination) is to set the amount of pensioner supplement with effect from 20 September 2010. This Determination also revokes Aged Care (Residential care subsidy – amount of pensioner supplement) Determination 2010 (No. 1).
The difference between the Determinations is that the amount of pensioner supplement for a day has been increased in accordance with increases in the consumer price index (CPI) as a measure of movements in the non-labour costs of providers.
Consultation
The Department of Health and Ageing undertook extensive consultation on the policy, which included policy on increases in the rates of supplements, that was implemented through the Aged Care Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Act 2008 and related instruments.
Further consultation was undertaken as part of the Review of the Conditional Adjustment Payment and is ongoing in relation to funding arrangements.
Indexation of the supplement uses a well established formula based on the CPI as a measure of the movements in the non-labour 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 instrument.
Information about the increase in the amount of the supplement will be disseminated via print and electronic media to approved providers.
The Determination is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.