Residential Care Grant Principles 1997

Residential Care Grant Principles 1997

as amended

made under subsection 96‑1(1) of the

Aged Care Act 1997

Compilation start date:  1 August 2013

Includes amendments up to: Residential Care Grant Amendment (Various Measures) Principle 2013

About this compilation

The compiled instrument

This is a compilation of the Residential Care Grant Principles 1997 as in force on 1 August 2013. It includes any commenced amendment affecting the compilation to that date.

This compilation was prepared on 20 August 2013.

The notes at the end of this compilation (the endnotes) include information about amending Acts and instruments and the amendment history of each amended provision.

Uncommenced provisions and amendments

If a provision of the compiled instrument is affected by an uncommenced amendment, the text of the uncommenced amendment is set out in the endnotes.

Application, saving and transitional provisions for amendments

If the operation of an amendment is affected by an application, saving or transitional provision, the provision is identified in the endnotes.

Modifications

If a provision of the compiled instrument is affected by a textual modification that is in force, the text of the modifying provision is set out in the endnotes.

Provisions ceasing to have effect

If a provision of the compiled instrument has expired or otherwise ceased to have effect in accordance with a provision of the instrument, details of the provision are set out in the endnotes.

Contents

Part 1—Preliminary

20.1 Citation

20.2 Commencement

20.3 Definitions

Part 2—Criteria for allocations

20.4 Purpose of Part (Act, ss 72‑1(2))

20.5 Application

20.6 General criteria

20.7 Criteria for determining priority between applications

Part 3—Amount of a residential care grant

20.8 Purpose of Part (Act, s 74‑1)

20.9 Amount of residential care grant

Part 4—Transitional provisions

20.10 Applications for residential care grants made before 1 August 2013

Endnotes

Endnote 1—Legislation history

Endnote 2—Amendment history

Endnote 3—Uncommenced amendments [none]

Endnote 4—Misdescribed amendments [none]

Part 1—Preliminary

20.1  Citation

  These Principles may be cited as the Residential Care Grant Principles 1997.

20.2  Commencement

  These Principles commence on 1 October 1997.

20.3  Definitions

  In these Principles:

Act means the Aged Care Act 1997.

major city means one of the major cities of Australia within the meaning of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 5—Remoteness Structure, July 2011, produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

State includes a Territory.

Note: A number of expressions used in these Principles are defined in the Act.

Part 2—Criteria for allocations

20.5  Application

  This Part applies to an allocation of a residential care grant made on or after 1 August 2013 if the application for the allocation was made on or after that date.

20.6  General criteria

 (1) A majority of the care recipients who receive, or who will receive, the care to which the grant relates must be one or more of the following:

 (a) supported residents, concessional residents or assisted residents;

 (b) people with special needs;

 (c) people who live in a location where there is a demonstrated need for additional residential care services;

 (d) people who do not live in a major city.

 (2) The Secretary must be satisfied that the applicant for the grant:

 (a) has demonstrated its ongoing financial and organisational viability; and

 (b) has demonstrated that it does not have the capacity to fund all or part of the project to which the grant relates without a residential care grant; and

 (c) is not a State or Territory or an authority of a State or Territory; and

 (d) if the applicant is, or has been, a provider of aged care for which any payment was or is payable under a law of the Commonwealth—the applicant has a very good record of, or a demonstrated commitment to improvement, in respect of:

 (i) its conduct as such a provider; and

 (ii) compliance with its responsibilities as such a provider; and

 (iii) meeting its obligations arising from the receipt of any payment from the Commonwealth for providing aged care.

 (3) No contracts for the construction of premises to be used to provide the residential care to which the project relates have been entered into, and no work has started on the construction of such premises.

20.7  Criteria for determining priority between applications

 (1) The Secretary must consider the following matters in determining the priority to be given to an application for the allocation of a residential care grant in respect of a project:

 (a) the proportion of care recipients to whom the grant relates who are, or will be:

 (i) supported residents, concessional residents or assisted residents; or

 (ii) people with special needs;

 (b) the location of the residential care service to which the grant relates (the relevant residential care service), in particular whether it is not in a major city;

 (c) the availability of other aged care services in the area in which the relevant residential care service is, or will be, located;

 (d) the need for the grant to assist in establishing or upgrading the relevant residential care service;

 (e) whether there is an urgent need for the grant due to unforeseen circumstances;

 (f) the extent to which the project will meet the needs of care recipients living with dementia;

 (g) whether the project will provide high quality accommodation for care recipients;

 (h) whether the project will provide significantly improved operational efficiency;

 (i) the adequacy of any arrangements proposed for the care of care recipients and other residents while the project is being completed.

 (2) The Secretary must give priority to an application for the allocation of a residential care grant in respect of the following:

 (a) projects that meet an urgent need for building, rebuilding, renovation or restoration work in order to improve or maintain access to residential care, including meeting changing care needs arising from the increased frailty of care recipients or the increased prevalence of dementia;

 (b) projects that offer the Commonwealth best value for money compared with other projects for which applications for the allocation of residential care grants have been made.

Part 3—Amount of a residential care grant

20.9  Amount of residential care grant

 (1) The amount of a residential care grant is the amount worked out using the formula:

where:

 A is the capital works costs of the project for which the grant is payable, decided by the Secretary taking into account matters mentioned in subsection (2).

 B is the total of the amount (if any) spent, and the amount presently available for expenditure by the approved provider towards the capital works costs of the project, decided by the Secretary taking into account matters mentioned in subsection (2).

 (2) For subsection (1), the following matters may be taken into account:

 (a) the purpose for which the grant is required;

 (b) the cost of the project, including any cost of acquiring and developing land;

 (c) the capacity of the approved provider to borrow money for the project (including the capacity to borrow money on short notice for urgent building, rebuilding, renovation or restoration work to be carried out to meet Commonwealth, State or local government fire, safety, health or occupational health and safety standards or because of fire, flood, earthquake or other unforeseen circumstance);

 (d) the capacity of the approved provider, or the proposed care recipients of the residential care when the project is completed, to contribute to funding the project;

 (e) the value of any non‑monetary contribution by the approved provider to the project;

 (f) the kind of people who are to be care recipients of the residential care;

 (g) limits on the amounts of residential care grants.

 (3) For this section, capital works costs of a project for which a residential care grant is payable do not include any of the following:

 (a) costs of routine administration of the residential care service to which the grant relates, whether or not the costs are related to the project;

 (b) the cost of acquiring and operating vehicles;

 (c) the cost of rent, insurance and State and local government statutory charges (for example, rates);

 (d) normal overhead and operating costs;

 (e) any tax payable by the residential care service to which the grant relates, including any tax payable as a result of receiving the grant;

 (f) costs associated with obtaining finance for the project;

 (g) the cost of interest related to any finance obtained for the project.

Note: Capital works costs include the cost of acquiring land and furniture, fittings or equipment (see subsection 70‑3(1) of the Act), but do not include costs referred to in subsection 70‑3(2) of the Act.

Part 4—Transitional provisions

20.10  Applications for residential care grants made before 1 August 2013

 (1) This section applies to an allocation of a residential care grant on or after 1 August 2013 if the application for the allocation was made before that date.

 (2) For subsection 72‑1(2) of the Act, the criteria for the allocation are the criteria and requirements that would have applied to the allocation:

 (a) under subsection 72‑1(2) and sections 72‑2 and 72‑3 of the Aged Care Act 1997, as in force immediately before 1 August 2013; and

 (b) under sections 20.5, 20.7, 20.7B and 20.7F of the Residential Care Grant Principles 1997, as in force immediately before 1 August 2013;

if the allocation had been made on 31 July 2013.

Endnotes

Endnote 1—Legislation history

This endnote sets out details of the legislation history of the Residential Care Grant Principles 1997.

Endnote 2—Amendment history

This endnote sets out the amendment history of the Residential Care Grant Principles 1997.

Endnote 3—Uncommenced amendments [none]

There are no uncommenced amendments.

Endnote 4—Misdescribed amendments [none]

There are no misdescribed amendments.