The purpose of the aged care reforms is to meet the increasing need for quality residential aged care from an aging Australian population.
Over the next 30 years, the number of Australians over 65 years of age will rise from less than two million to over five million. At the same time, the proportion of taxpayers will be smaller in comparison to the aged population.
The reforms are part of the Government strategy to ensure the sustainability of the aged care system without placing undue burden on a smaller taxpayer base.
The reforms also address long standing concerns raised by both consumers and providers. These concerns include the need to improve the quality of buildings (particularly in nursing homes) and care standards, and over time to have more flexible care options for residents.
A key aspect of the reforms is that those who can afford to may be asked to pay an accommodation payment and ongoing income tested fees.
Accommodation payments include accommodation bonds paid by residents in low level (hostel) care and accommodation charges payable by those in high level (nursing home) care. These payments will be used by aged care providers to improve the standard of their facilities.
Income tested fees will be charged towards the cost of the care provided to residents.
Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACATs) will continue to determine access to aged care places as they do under the present system.
A person's access to aged care will be determined purely on the basis of their need for care, not their income or assets.
Persons requiring care will be assessed by an ACAT to determine the category of care they require.
There are 8 different categories of care. Categories 1 - 4 represent the higher levels of care currently provided in nursing homes. Categories 5 - 8 represent the lower levels of care currently provided in hostels.
Different levels of Commonwealth Government funding are paid for each category of care and this is an important factor in determining the daily fees the person may be required to pay. More [6]
DVA's role in implementing the reforms is limited to:
Links
[1] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/32571%23comment-form
[2] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/32542%23comment-form
[3] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/32524%23comment-form
[4] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/32592%23comment-form
[5] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/32555%23comment-form
[6] https://clik.dva.gov.au/csrefpopref2-28
[7] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/32689%23comment-form