EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Ageing
Aged Care Act 1997
User Rights Amendment Principles 2009 (No. 2)
The Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) provides for the regulation and Commonwealth funding of aged care services.
Subsection 96-1(1) of the Act allows the Minister to make Principles providing for various matters required or permitted by a Part or section of the Act.
Among the Principles made under subsection 96-1(1) are the User Rights Principles 1997 (the User Rights Principles).
The purpose of the User Rights Amendment Principles 2009 (No.2) (the Amending Principles) is detailed below. The Amending Principles are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
User Rights Amendment Principles 2009 (No. 2)
The purpose of these Amending Principles is to specify for the purposes of paragraphs 56-2(i) and 56-3(j) of the Act the rights and responsibilities of care recipients to whom an approved provider provides, or is to provide, community care, or flexible care in the form of Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) or Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia (EACHD). The rights and responsibilities are set out in a Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for Community Care.
The User Rights Principles currently specify a number of rights of care recipients who are receiving community care. The Amending Principles substitute a more comprehensive outline of the rights of recipients of community care and of flexible care in the form of EACH and EACHD, together with corresponding responsibilities.
The object of the amendments is to encourage diverse, flexible and responsive aged care services delivered in the community that:
- are appropriate to meet the needs of the recipients of those services and the carers of those recipients; and
- facilitate the independence of, and choice available to, those recipients and carers.
Consultation
The policies reflected in the Amending Principles were the subject of consultation with the aged care sector through the Ageing Consultative Committee, which comprises peak industry, professional and consumer bodies. Additional organisations consulted include the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and the National Aged Care Advocacy Program.
Details of the Amending Principles are set out in Attachment A.
ATTACHMENT A
Clause 1 states that the name of the amending Principles is the User Rights Amendment Principles 2009 (No. 2).
Clause 2 states that the Principles commence on 1 October 2009.
Clause 3 states that Schedule 1 amends the User Rights Principles.
Schedule 1 Amendments
Item 1 amends section 23.24 of the User Rights Principles so as to more comprehensively state the purpose of Part 3 Division 3 of the User Rights Principles.
Item 2 substitutes new subsection 23.25(1) for existing subsections 23.25(1) and (2). New subsection 23.25(1) specifies that the rights and responsibilities of care recipients include the rights and responsibilities under the Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for Community Care set out in Schedule 2.
This item also inserts new subsection 23.25(2) that defines representative for the purposes of the Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for Community Care. The definition of representative includes a carer who provides domestic services and support to a care recipient otherwise than for remuneration (whether from the care recipient or any other person) on a regular basis, but who may be in receipt of a carer allowance or carer payment from the Australian Government.
Item 3 inserts new Part 3A dealing with user rights and responsibilities for flexible care.
New section 23.26A states that Part 3A specifies the rights and responsibilities of care recipients who are receiving flexible care in the form of Extended Aged Care at Home or Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia.
New section 23.26B specifies that the rights and responsibilities of care recipients include the rights and responsibilities under the Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for Community Care set out in Schedule 2.
Item 4 inserts a new Schedule 2 to the User Rights Principles comprising a Charter of Rights and Responsibilities for Community Care.