EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Ageing
Aged Care Act 1997
Aged Care (Residential care subsidy – amount of transitional supplement)
Determination 2009 (No. 1)
(ACA Ch. 3 No. 6/2009)
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.
Subsection 44-16(1) of the Act provides that the Residential Care Subsidy Principles 1997 (the Principles) may provide for additional primary supplements. Section 21.25C of the Principles provides for the transitional supplement.
An aged care service is eligible for the payment of transitional supplement for each day in the payment period when residential care (other than respite care) is provided to:
- a care recipient who, after 30 September 1997, entered a residential care service that was not certified on the day the care recipient entered the service; or
- a person who:
- on 30 September 1997 occupied a hostel place or a nursing home bed; and
- after that date continued to receive residential care from the service; and
- has been classified under Part 2.4 of the Act.
Subsection 44-16(3) of the Act provides that the Minister may determine, by legislative instrument, the amount of each additional primary supplements or the way in which the amount of the supplement is to be worked out.
This Determination sets the amount of the transitional supplement with effect from 20 March 2009.
The Determination revokes the previously made Determination.
This Determination differs from the previously made Determination in that the amount of the transitional supplement for a day has been increased in accordance with increases in the consumer price index published by the Australian Statistician.
This determination is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Consultation
The Department of Health and Ageing (the Department) 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 amendments to the Principles and other instruments made under the Act.
Further consultation was undertaken by the Department on aged care funding arrangements as part of the Review of the Conditional Adjustment Payment and there is ongoing consultation with the aged care industry on funding arrangements.
As the indexation of the supplement uses a well established formula based on the consumer price index, and 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 sent to all approved providers by facsimile and will be available to the public on the Department’s website.