EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Veterans' Entitlements Treatment (Residential and Respite Care) Determination 4/2001.
The purpose of the attached Determination is to enable veterans to receive in-home or nursing home respite care where the condition necessitating the care is, generally speaking, not war/defence caused.
Veterans who are eligible for treatment fall into three categories
1. veterans with war/defence-caused conditions (white card
holders)
2. veterans with malignant neoplasia, pulmonary tuberculosis, or
post traumatic stress disorder, war/defence-caused or not (white
card holders)
3. veterans with any conditions, war/defence-caused or not
(gold card holders)
The only way that veterans in categories 1 and 2 can receive treatment (in the present case, respite care) for conditions other than war-caused etc conditions is if the Repatriation Commission determines under section 88A of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 (Act) that they should be eligible for treatment of their non-war caused etc conditions.
The Repatriation Commission recognised that in practice it was virtually impossible to confine the application of respite care only to certain conditions. Respite care by its nature is "whole-of-person treatment".
Accordingly the Commission decided that where a veteran was eligible for respite care, whether in-home care under the Veterans' Home Care Program or nursing home care under the provisions of the Treatment Principles, in respect of a war-caused etc condition, then the veteran should also be eligible for respite care in respect of any other condition, war-caused etc or not. The attached Determination implements this decision.
The Determination has different commencement dates. It applies to "nursing home respite care" on and from 30 March 2000 ("nursing home date"), to 28 day nursing home respite care on the day Part 2 of Instrument No.3/2001 varying the Treatment Principles commences (Instrument date) and to "in-home care" on and from 1 January 2001 ("in-home date").
The "nursing home date" was chosen because this was the date on which an identical Determination was made in respect of nursing-home care that was not respite care ie. it was simply nursing home residential care.
In practice, due to the ageing of the veteran population it is virtually impossible to confine the application of respite care to war-caused etc conditions. A combination of conditions can lead to infirmity and frailty and the resultant need for care. The situation is now regularised by the attached Determination.
The "Instrument date" was chosen because this was the date that the Treatment Principles were varied to provide a new treatment of residential care (28 day respite) under the Veterans' Home Care Program and because that treatment is, by virtue of the attached Determination, able to be applied to non-war caused etc conditions, it is appropriate the attached Determination as it relates to residential care (28 day respite), commences at the same time as the treatment of residential care (28 day respite) becomes available.
The "in-home date" was chosen because this was the date on which the Veterans' Home Care Program commenced ("VHC").
It was always the intention underlying the VHC that its treatment-services would apply to any condition of a veteran, war-caused etc or not.
There are 4 (category A) treatment services provided under VHC, including Respite Care. Unfortunately the determination made under section 88A of the Act to enable all VHC treatment services to be applied to the non-war caused etc conditions of a veteran inadvertently did not encompass the VHC treatment service of Respite Care. The attached Determination rectifies the omission with effect from 1 January 2001 in the case of VHC Respite Care other than residential care (28 day respite).
The fact that the Determination would take effect before gazettal does not cause the Determination to be ineffective by virtue of subsection 48(2) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 because the rights of a person at gazettal would not be affected so as to disadvantage the person nor will a liability be imposed on any person in respect of anything done or omitted to be done before gazettal. The Determination is beneficial legislation.