EXPLANATORY NOTE

  Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986

  Section 88A

Veterans' Entitlements Treatment (Veterans' Home Care)                             Determination 13/2000

What does the attached Determination do?

It enables certain members of the veteran community to receive treatment (Veterans' Home Care) that they would not otherwise be eligible to receive.

Under the repatriation treatment regime, veterans and their dependants ("entitled persons") who are eligible for treatment fall into two categories:

• entitled persons with any conditions, including war-caused conditions.
• entitled persons with war-caused conditions;

Generally speaking, people in the first category may receive treatment for all of their conditions, war-caused or not, whereas people in the second category may only receive treatment for a war-caused condition.

However, in relation to the second category of person, the Repatriation Commission is empowered by section 88A of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 to make a determination that extends treatment to the non-war caused conditions of that person and the Commission has exercised that power in the present case and determined that Veterans' Home Care treatment is available for the non-war caused conditions of the relevant entitled persons.

The effect, therefore, of the attached Determination, as far as the availability of Veterans' Home Care treatment is concerned, is to put all entitled persons on the same footing, regardless of the cause of their injuries, diseases or conditions.

What is the aim of Veterans' Home Care?

The Veterans' Home Care Program is a preventive measure aimed at maintaining the independence of eligible members of the veteran community, assisting them to remain in their homes and reducing avoidable illness and injury.  The new program will be part of the Government's efforts to implement arrangements which meet the full health and support needs of the veteran community, including through health promotion initiatives and support to enable veterans to remain in their own homes, living as independently as possible.

What is Veterans' Home Care?

Two broad categories of services will be available under Veterans' Home Care.  The first will be "Home Care (category A) services" consisting of "Domestic Assistance";"Personal Care";"Home and Garden Maintenance";"Respite Care" and the second will be "Home Care (category B) services" consisting of services like meals-on-wheels and community transport.

Who are entitled persons?

"Entitled persons" are defined in the Treatment Principles made under section 90 of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 ("the Act").  Essentially, an entitled person is someone who has been issued with a white or gold card which identifies the holder as a person eligible for treatment under the Act i.e a veteran of the Australian Defence Force; an Australian Mariner; a war/defence widow(er) of a veteran of the Australian Defence Force; a war/defence widow(er) of an Australian Mariner.

The terms and conditions on which entitled persons will receive Veterans' Home Care will be set out in the Treatment Principles.  The attached Determination merely extends the eligibility of certain entitled persons to that treatment.

The attached Determination may commence before it is gazetted.  However it will not infringe subsection 48(2) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 because it does not disadvantage any person or impose liabilities upon any person.  The Determination is beneficial legislation.