Residential Care Subsidy Amendment Principles 2001 (No. 1)

Administered by Department of Health, Disability and Ageing

Legislation au F2001B00185 Not in force Legislative Instrument

Select Document

I, BRONWYN KATHLEEN BISHOP, Minister for Aged Care, make these Principles under subsection 96-1 (1) of the Aged Care Act 1997.

Dated 24 May 2001

BRONWYN BISHOP

Minister for Aged Care

1 Name of Principles

These Principles are the Residential Care Subsidy Amendment Principles 2001 (No. 1).

2 Commencement

These Principles are taken to have commenced on 1 January 2001.

3 Amendment of Residential Care Subsidy Principles 1997

Schedule 1 amends the Residential Care Subsidy Principles 1997.

Schedule 1 Amendment

(section 3)

[1] Section 21.34

substitute

21.34 Determination — general

(1) Subject to section 21.34A, the Secretary may make a determination for a residential care service if the service scores 40 or more points under the scoring system set out in the following table:

Item	Criterion	Points
1	Location:
	(a) very remote location	60
	(b) remote location	50
	(c) moderately accessible location	40
	(d) accessible location	30
	(e) highly accessible location	0
2	Places:
	(a) less than 20	30
	(b) more than 19 but less than 30	20
	(c) more than 29 but less than 45	10
3	More than 50% of care recipients are people with special needs (other than people who are people with special needs only because they live in rural or remote areas or they are financially or socially disadvantaged)	10

(2) For this section:

(a) ARIA score, in relation to a location, means the score given to that location under the document titled ‘Viability Funding — ARIA scores for locations as at 30 July 1999’, published by the Department of Health and Aged Care;

(b) ARIA means the ‘Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA)’, Occasional Papers Series No. 6, prepared by the Department of Health and Aged Care and the National Centre for Social Applications of Geographic Information Systems, University of Adelaide, and published in March 1999 by the Department of Health and Aged Care;

(d) remote location means a location that has an ARIA score of more than 5.8, but not more than 9.08;

(e) moderately accessible location means a location that has an ARIA score of more than 3.51, but not more than 5.8;

(f) accessible location means a location that has an ARIA score of more than 1.84, but not more than 3.51;

(g) highly accessible location means a location that has an ARIA score of not more than 1.84.

21.34A Determination — particular residential care services

(1) This section applies to a residential care service if:

(a) immediately before the day on which the Residential Care Subsidy Amendment Principles 2001 (No. 1) are notified in the Gazette:

(i) the service was the subject of a determination in force under subsection 44-29 (2) of the Act on the basis of meeting the requirements of the 60-point viability scheme; or

(ii) an application had been made to the Secretary for a determination under subsection 44-29 (2) of the Act in respect of the service on the basis of the service meeting the requirements of the 60-point viability scheme, but no decision had been made in relation to the application; and

(b) on or after 1 January 2001:

(i) the service is not able to meet the requirements of the 40‑point viability scheme; or

(ii) the service is able to meet the requirements of the 40‑point viability scheme, but the amount of viability supplement that would be payable under that scheme to the approved provider for the care recipients for whom the approved provider provided residential care through the service during a payment period after that date would be less than the amount of viability supplement that was, or would have been, payable to the approved provider under the 60-point viability scheme.

(2) For subsection (1):

40-point viability scheme, in relation to a residential care service, means the scheme under section 21.34 of these Principles under which the service is required to score 40 or more points under the scoring system set out in that section in order for the Secretary to be able to make a determination for the service under subsection 44‑29 (2) of the Act.

60-point viability scheme, in relation to a residential care service, means the scheme under section 21.34 of these Principles, as in force immediately before 1 January 2001, under which the service was required to score 60 or more points under the scoring system set out in that section in order for the Secretary to be able to make a determination for the service under subsection 44-29 (2) of the Act.

(3) The Secretary may make a determination for the residential care service if the service scores 60 or more points under the scoring system set out in the following table:

Item	Criterion	Points
1	Location:
	(a) remote zone	40
	(b) other rural area	30
	(c) small rural centre	20
	(d) large rural centre	10
2	Beds:
	(a) less than 30	20
	(b) less than 16	30
3	Service not co-located with another service and unable to co-locate	20
4	Concessional or assisted residents:
	(a) over 70%	20
	(b) 50% to 70%	10
5	Caters largely for special groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups	10

(4) For subsection (3):

(a) a location of a particular kind is a statistical local area of that kind defined in ‘Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area Classification’, 1991 Census Edition, published by the Australian Government Publishing Service, November 1994;

(b) a service is taken to be unable to co-locate with another service if it is:

(i) not on the same site as, or on an adjoining site to, another residential care or multi-purpose service; or

(ii) on the same site as, or an adjoining site to another residential care or multi-purpose service, but the total of the residential places and non-acute beds on the same or adjacent sites is less than 45; or

(iii) more than 25 kilometres from the nearest residential care service; or

(iv) not more than 25 kilometres from the nearest residential care service, but the total number of places in both services is:

(A) for a service in a remote zone — less than 30 beds; or

(B) for a service not in a remote zone — less than 16 beds;

(d) points may be scored under only 1 paragraph in an item that has paragraphs.

Overview

The Residential Care Subsidy Amendment Principles 2001 (No. 1) were enacted to address the need for adjustments in the criteria for determining eligibility for residential care subsidies under the Aged Care Act 1997. The Minister for Aged Care, Bronwyn Kathleen Bishop, issued these Principles under subsection 96-1(1) of the Aged Care Act 1997 to refine the scoring system and criteria for residential care services to ensure the continued viability and accessibility of care in remote and rural areas. These Principles came into effect on 1 January 2001, and they amended the Residential Care Subsidy Principles 1997 to update the point system, allowing for a more nuanced assessment of the accessibility and special needs criteria of residential care services, thereby enhancing the policy objective of providing equitable support to aged care facilities across diverse locations.

Scope and Application

The Residential Care Subsidy Amendment Principles 2001 (No. 1) amends the Residential Care Subsidy Principles 1997 and applies to residential care services that are eligible for a viability supplement under the Aged Care Act 1997. These Principles are designed to adjust the criteria under which residential care services may receive a subsidy based on their accessibility and the number of places they offer, as well as the proportion of care recipients with special needs. The amendment modifies the scoring system to include a 40-point viability scheme, which replaces the previous 60-point scheme, and adjusts the criteria for scoring. This legislative instrument applies to all residential care services across Australia and came into effect on 1 January 2001. The amendment applies to both existing services that were previously operating under the 60-point scheme and new services applying for a determination post-amendment. The Principles do not specify any exclusions or exemptions beyond the defined scoring criteria. The application of these principles may be further detailed or extended through subordinate instruments, although the primary document does not provide specific details on such extensions.

Key Provisions

The Residential Care Subsidy Amendment Principles 2001 (No. 1) amend the existing Residential Care Subsidy Principles 1997, as referenced in section 3 of Schedule 1. These principles introduce a new scoring system that determines eligibility for a determination under the Aged Care Act 1997. Specifically, a residential care service can be eligible for a determination if it scores 40 or more points under the new scoring system, as outlined in section 21.34 of the amended principles. The scoring system considers factors such as the location of the service, the number of places available, and whether the service caters largely to special groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups. Additionally, a new section, 21.34A, applies to specific residential care services that previously met the requirements of the 60-point viability scheme and allows for a determination if the service scores 60 or more points under an alternative scoring system. The Residential Care Subsidy Amendment Principles 2001 (No. 1) impose obligations on residential care services to accurately report their location, the number of places available, and the proportion of concessional or assisted residents. Services must also disclose whether they cater largely to special groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups. These obligations are designed to ensure that the Secretary can make an informed determination about the eligibility of a service for a viability supplement. Accurate reporting is essential for services to maintain or qualify for a determination under the Act. Failure to comply with the provisions of the Residential Care Subsidy Amendment Principles 2001 (No. 1) may result in penalties. While the specific penalties are not outlined in the text, breaches of the Aged Care Act 1997 or its subsidiary legislation generally attract penalties under the relevant sections of the Act. Penalties for non-compliance can include fines, which may be substantial depending on the severity and frequency of the breach. In some cases, persistent non-compliance may lead to more severe consequences, such as the suspension or revocation of approval for the residential care service.

Area of Law: Elder Law
Instrument: Legislative Instrument
Concepts: Commencement Provisions; Repeal & Amendment; Reporting & Disclosure Obligations; Regulatory Standards

Interactions

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.

Legislation content

Overview

Scope and Application

Key Provisions

Legal classification tags

Interactions

Authorises

All Versions