Your Aged Care Update # 14/24
Notable dates
Consultation: Improving aged care for First Nations people
Closes 14 June
News about the reforms
Explore the latest 'Changes to aged care in Australia' booklet
We have updated our booklet on the changes to aged care in Australia, which you can order or download from our website.
This booklet is for older people, their families and carers. It will help people using aged care services to understand the changes happening to aged care. It explains how these changes will improve aged care in Australia.
Visit aged care reforms and reviews resources for a full list of our resources – including our booklets for aged care providers and workers.
Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission's National Conference
Have you registered to attend the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s National Aged Care Provider Conference on 23 - 24 April?
Although places for in-person attendance are now full, virtual registration is still open.
The free conference is for residential and home care providers to find out more about the aged care reforms and what they will mean in practice. Topics include the new Aged Care Act, regulatory model and strengthened Quality Standards.
The department’s Michael Lye, Deputy Secretary, Ageing and Aged Care Group, will be delivering a keynote speech and we’ll also be taking part in a few panels.
You’ll find us at these live discussions:
Provider registration unpacked – getting registered and re-registered
Strengthened Standards – what to expect and how to be ready
Bringing it all together.
Check out the conference program.
Sector news
COVID-19 Leave Payment Grants now closed
We are no longer accepting applications for the aged care worker COVID-19 Leave Payment Grant. The grant is now closed, and we are unable to accept any late application requests.
The grants supported aged care workers to stay home when they tested positive for COVID-19. This helped reduce the spread of the virus among older people and people working in aged care.
We continue to support providers to manage the impact of COVID-19 outbreaks. This support includes the Aged Care Outbreak Management Supplement and the surge workforce program.
Read more about COVID-19 support for providers and workers.
Webinar: Aged care cost data collection
The Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) is hosting a webinar on the collection of cost data from providers.
When: Wednesday 24 April 2024, 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm (AEST)
IHACPA collects cost data from the aged care sector, consults with stakeholders and gathers evidence to provide pricing advice for:
residential aged care
residential respite care
Support at Home services.
Cost collection is necessary to ensure that the pricing advice IHACPA provides to government is directly informed by the actual costs of delivering care.
The webinar will discuss how aged care cost collection works, how it benefits the sector, and why it's important for providers to participate.
Register now.
Residential care
Care minutes dashboard now available for October-December 2023
A dashboard is now available to view the amount of care minutes that have been delivered to residents in aged care in October to December 2023. This is the first quarter since care minutes became mandatory.
The dashboard shows that aged care homes delivered an average of 201.93 care minutes per resident per day, above the sector target of 201.70.
Read more in a media release from the Hon Anika Wells MP, Minister for Aged Care.
From 1 October 2024, the mandatory care minutes responsibility will increase to a sector average of 215 total care minutes, including 44 minutes from a registered nurse.
See Care minutes in residential aged care for more information.
Reminder: Quality Indicator reporting is due soon
Residential aged care providers are reminded that Quarter 3 Quality Indicator reporting is due by 11:59 pm, Sunday 21 April.
Please note: The GPMS Portal will be in a planned outage from 4:00 pm Saturday 20 April to 8:00 am Sunday 21 April AEST. Submission of Quality Indicator data will be unavailable during this time. Please ensure that Quality Indicator data is submitted outside of this outage window.
If using the bulk submission template, when pasting data into the template use the Paste Values function to make sure the formatting is maintained.
Refer to our guidance materials for help:
GPMS and QI Program resources pages.
If you need assistance, please contact the My Aged Care Service Provider and Assessor Helpline on 1800 836 799.
Expressions of interest now open: Free menu and mealtime reviews
We’re inviting residential aged care providers to participate in a new free program.
The Menu and Mealtime Review Program gives services an independent, on-site assessment of the dining environment, menu and mealtime experience. Completed by an Accredited Practising Dietitian, the assessment will help improve your food and dining service.
Approved providers can apply for one or more residential aged care services to participate. The program will prioritise:
services in medium and small rural towns, remote and very remote communities
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Providers
small services (60 or less residents)
services with lower scores on the Residents Experience Survey question ‘Do you like the food here?’
In-home care
Home Care Packages Program Data Report now available
We have released the Home Care Packages (HCP) Program Data Report for the period October to December 2023.
Key findings:
279,026 people had access to a Home Care Package as at 31 December 2023, an increase of 9% from the previous 12 months.
Of this group, 269,573 people are receiving care in a HCP, an increase of 14% since 31 December 2022.
At 31 December 2023, there were 51,044 people in the National Priority System waiting for a package at their approved level.
99% of these people (50,447) are in a HCP while they wait for a package at their approved level and/or are approved for CHSP services.
Access the Home Care Packages (HCP) Program Data Report for the period 1 October – 31 December 2023.
Workforce
Resources to help care for someone at the end of life
Caring for someone who is dying can be difficult. CarerHelp has free online resources to support people who are caring for someone at the end of life.
Topics include:
managing common symptoms
emotional care
financial advice
how to care for a dying person
managing grief.
Hard copy postcards and posters can be ordered by emailing: carerhelp@flinders.edu.au.
Read, download and share the CarerHelp free online resources.
Free online training on culturally inclusive service delivery
The Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra (Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care NSW/ACT) is hosting a free online training course for people working in aged care.
The short and informative course will help you support older people in your care from diverse backgrounds.
Making sure your services are culturally inclusive is a requirement of the Aged Care Quality Standards.
Enrol now.
The course can be done anytime and is part of the CALDWays webinar series. You can also watch recordings of previous CALDWays webinars for free, anytime.
Be culturally connected: Multicultural Calendar 2024
Multicultural Aged Care (Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care South Australia) has created a calendar that includes days of significance from around the world.
It includes days people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds may want to celebrate or acknowledge.
Download the multicultural calendar 2024.
You can also go to the Multicultural Aged Care website for training, education and information.