Aged care sector providers have welcomed the decision to delay the start date for the Aged Care Act, to allow more time to ensure reforms are implemented with minimal disruption and maximum benefit for older Australians.
The decision to delay the start of the Aged Care Act and Support at Home to 1 November was announced by an open letter by Sam Rae, the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors.
In his letter, the Minister suggested this delay, “will allow more time for aged care providers to prepare their clients, support their workers and get their systems ready for the changes. It will also give us more time to finalise key operational and digital processes, and for Parliament to consider supporting legislation that will enable the new Act to operate effectively.”
There were similar sentiments from Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler: “We want to make sure that all operational, digital and legislative pieces are in place before the rollout starts. This brief deferral allows providers to train their staff and have conversations with their clients, get their IT systems ready and prepare operations for an orderly transition.”
That emphasis on systems is telling.
As much as aged care providers sought to keep things running smoothly on the surface with little detectable change for their customers, underneath, there was furious scrambling to bed down the technology platforms that underpin the change.
Most aged care service providers will see this delay as a welcome reprieve.
This reform is the most significant in decades, aiming to address longstanding issues highlighted by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
The purpose of Support at Home program was better supporting older Australians to access care in their own homes before moving into residential aged care.
Support at Home will replace the Home Care Packages Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care Program, which was set to begin on July 1 as the new Aged Care Act came into force.
It was welcome news when launched in November last year, given the number of Australians waiting for a home care package was reported to be nearly 82,000 at the start of the year.
The new program proposes to facilitate access to higher levels of care by increasing the maximum annual amount of funding available for in-home aged care from $61,440 to $78,000, among other benefits.
In practice, when in-home support isn’t available, many older Australians find themselves in residential aged care – if they can get in. With capacity already stretched thin, this often leads to hospital stays that place unnecessary pressure on the healthcare system.
A major change for participants under Support at Home was the introduction of means-tested contribution rates. While clinical services such as nursing and physiotherapy will remain fully government-funded, participants with greater financial means will contribute more for other services.
These include a moderate contribution for personal care and assistive technologies, and a higher percentage for everyday living services such as housekeeping and gardening. Contributions will be based on age-pension status, Commonwealth Seniors Health Card eligibility, and individual means.
While there will be no contribution for clinical services such as nursing and physio, participants would have to chip in more for other services – a moderate contribution for services such as personal care and assistive technology, and a higher percentage for everyday living services such as domestic assistance and gardening.
Anyone who’s been through digital transformation knows the risks of launching without adequate time for bedding down systems, staff training or stakeholder communication.
The window from Support at Home’s launch to implementation was about six months, but that also included a Christmas break and a Federal election that pushed departments into caretaker mode.
Support at Home program, designed to help older Australians access care in their own homes, represents a significant step forward. There was little disagreement about the need for aged care reform – the trick was in the timing.
By slowing down now, the Government is giving providers – and the older Australians they support – the best chance of long-term success.
