EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing
Aged Care Act 1997
Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy – Amount of Pensioner 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.
The pensioner supplement is an additional daily amount that is paid to residential care services for 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. 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 2012 (No. 1) ‘the Determination’ is to set the amount of the pensioner supplement with effect from 20 March 2012. This Determination also revokes Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy – Amount of Pensioner Supplement) Determination 2011 (No. 2).
The difference between the Determinations is that the amount of pensioner supplement for a day has been indexed, using a well established formula based on the Consumer Price Index as a measure of the movements in the non-labour costs of providers.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
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 and does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
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. As the same basis is used currently for indexation, no further consultation has been undertaken with respect to this instrument.
Information about the increase in the amount of the supplement will be disseminated via electronic media to approved providers.
This Determination commences on 20 March 2012.
The Determination is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.