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 Transitional Supplement)
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 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.
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.
The purpose of the Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy – Amount of Transitional Supplement) Determination 2011 (No. 1) (the Determination) is to set the amount of the transitional supplement with effect from 20 March 2011. This Determination also revokes Aged Care (Residential Care Subsidy – Amount of Transitional Supplement) Determination 2010 (No. 2).
The difference between the Determinations is that the amount of transitional 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.
The Determination is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
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 electronic media to approved providers.