Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher System) Amendment Determination 2012 (No. 1)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Commonwealth of Australia

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing

Hearing Services Administration Act 1997

Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher System) Amendment Determination 2012 (No. 1)

Subsection 13(1) of the Hearing Services Administration Act 1997 (the Act) provides that the Minister may, by writing, determine persons in specified classes of eligible persons to be participants in the voucher system of the Australian Government Hearing Services Program (the Program), and the hearing services that may be available to such persons in the event that they are issued with a voucher by the Minister.

On 22 September 1997, the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Family Services, on behalf of the Minister for Health and Family Services, made the Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher System) Determination 1997 (the Determination).  The Determination establishes classes of eligible persons who are participants in the voucher system and the types of hearing services available to a participant who is issued a voucher.

The Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher System) Amendment Determination 2012 (No. 1) (the Amending Determination) updates the Determination to reflect the repeal of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005 (the 2005 Rules) and the making of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2012 (the 2012 Rules). 

The Amending Determination is made under section 13 of the Act and is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

CONSULTATION

The Amending Determination forms part of a package of changes to the voucher system component of the Program.  Changes are also being made to the rules of conduct under section 17 of the Act and service provider contracts under section 20 of the Act.  Draft rules of conduct and contract terms were subject to consultation through face to face consultations in July and August 2011 and through written feedback from stakeholders in February and March 2012 Consultation has occurred with the hearing sector, including contracted service providers, industry professional and peak bodies, and the consumer peak body, through a number of mechanisms: 

• Face to face consultations were held in all mainland state capitals between June and August 2011. Proposed changes to the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2005, along with other documentation, were discussed with attendees. A summary of the outcomes of these consultations, along with a copy of the materials presented, such as power-point presentations, was made available online and service providers and other stakeholders were invited to provide feedback.  Input gathered through this process was used to inform the development of an exposure draft of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2012.
• An exposure draft of the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2012 was made available online on 24 February 2012, inviting comment from service providers and other stakeholders by 30 March. Members of the Hearing Services Consultative Committee, which includes representation from service providers, consumers, professional bodies and research bodies, were also invited to provide comment.  

Written feedback on the draft Rules was received from industry groups, professional groups, individual practitioners and service providers (representing a significant proportion of the voucher market).  Specific changes requested by stakeholders were incorporated into the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2012 unless there was a good reason not to.  In addition, in response to concerns that the regulatory framework for the program was overly prescriptive, the 2012 Rules were further amended to reduce regulation where possible.

The Amending Determination was not made publically available for feedback as the changes made are minor and consequential to the changes made in the rules of conduct.  

NOTES ON SECTIONS

1. Name of Determination

This section provides that the name of the Amending Determination is the Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher System) Amendment Determination 2012 (No. 1).

2. Commencement

This section provides that the Amending Determination commences at the same time as the Hearing Services Rules of Conduct 2012.  Rule 2 of the 2012 Rules states that the 2012 Rules commence on 1 July 2012.

3. Amendment of Hearing Services (Participants in the Voucher System) Determination 1997

This section provides that Schedule 1 of the Amending Determination amends the Determination. 

Schedule 1 – Amendments

Item [1] amends the definition of 'Wishes and Needs Tool' in section 3 of the Determination to more accurately describe how the document issued by the National Acoustic Laboratories can be used.  The amendments clarify that it is not necessary for the participant to complete a hard copy of the relevant document, provided that the questions, answers and scoring system from the document are used and the participant answers the questions in the correct order.  The intention is to permit contracted service providers to integrate the Wishes and Needs Tool into their electronic business systems without affecting the integrity of the assessment.  The Wishes and Needs Tool is available from: www.health.gov.au/hear.

Items [2] to [9] make consequential amendments to the hearing services available to specified participants in the voucher system as a result of changes made in the 2012 Rules.

Table B in section 6 of the Determination sets out the hearing services available to each class of participant.  For classes 1 and 2, items 3, 4, 5 and 6 in Table B set out the hearing devices that may be available.  These items referred to devices approved by the Minister for section 6 on the basis that they have been approved under rule 12 of the 2005 Rules (and are clinically necessary or clinically suitable).  The 2005 Rules will be repealed and there is no equivalent provision in the 2012 Rules.

Item [2] of the Amending Determination amends item 3 for class 1 in Table B to remove the reference to devices being approved under the 2005 Rules.  Item 3, as amended, provides that (subject to the conditions in the Determination) the hearing services that are available under a voucher to a participant who comes within class 1 and who has type 1 hearing loss in at least 1 ear include provision of a hearing device which:

(a) meets the specifications approved by the Minister; and

(b) is approved by the Minister in writing for fitting at no cost to participants; and

(c) is clinically necessary and appropriate to the participant’s hearing loss, capacity to benefit from its use and life circumstances.

Item [3] of the Amending Determination makes similar amendments to item 4 for class 1.  The difference is that, for this item, the device must be:

(a) approved by the Minister in writing as a device for which participants can be asked to make a payment to the provider; and

(b) clinically suitable to the participant's hearing loss. 

Items [4] and [5] make similar amendments to items 5 and 6 for class 1.  The difference is that these items apply for participants with type 2 hearing loss.

Items [6] to [9] make equivalent amendments for class 2 in Table B.

Item [10] amends cross references to the 2005 Rules in paragraphs 7(3)(b) and 8(2)(b) of the Determination to refer to the equivalent provision in the 2012 Rules. 

Under paragraphs 7(3)(b) and 8(2)(b), maintenance and repairs will only be provided to a participant if he or she pays a yearly charge which does not exceed the maximum charge under paragraph 28(5)(b) of the 2012 Rules.

Item [11] inserts a limited delegation provision expressly permitting the Minister to delegate to the Secretary or another officer of the Department the Minister's function of approving hearing devices for the purposes of the amendments made by items [2] to [9] of the Amending Determination.  Inclusion of the delegation provision will clarify that device approval can be undertaken by a Departmental officer with clinical expertise.

The device approval process under the Determination is intended to align with the process for adding devices to deed of standing offer arrangements between the Department and device suppliers which allow contracted service providers to purchase devices for voucher-holders.  The process is as follows:

(a) a device supplier proposes a device to the Department as a free to client device (ie for fitting at no cost to participants) or a top-up device (ie for which participants can be asked to make a payment);

(b) an officer in the Department assesses the device against the approved specifications; and

(c) an officer in the Department approves the device for addition to the deed of standing offer schedules as a free to client device or a top-up device.