Information for the Aged Care Sector Issue 2021/11

Aged Care Diversity Framework and Action Plans

Australia is a diverse nation, and the need to provide safe, inclusive and respectful care that meets the needs of all older people is embedded in the Aged Care Quality Standards. The Aged Care Diversity Framework and action plans are available to help aged care providers deliver safe, inclusive and respectful care for people with diverse needs, characteristics and life experiences.

The action plans can help aged care service providers and older people address barriers faced by older:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds
• lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, and intersex (LGBTI) people.

There is also a shared action plan for providers to support all older people from diverse backgrounds.

Additionally, consumer action plans are available to help consumers from the above three groups understand how to express their needs when speaking to aged care providers.

You can order free printed copies of the diversity framework and action plans in a variety of languages through National Mailing & Marketing. Quote the relevant product codes and quantities by:

• emailing  or
• calling (02) 6269 1025.

For more information email 

Palliative Care Conference scholarships now open

A range of scholarships are now open for aged care workers to attend the Oceanic Palliative Care Conference being held on 7-10 September 2021.

Applications close on 5 July 2021.

Check your eligibility and apply on the Oceanic Palliative Care Conference 2021 website.

QI Program resources now available

New resources for the National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program (QI Program) are now available on the department’s website:

• A suite of information sheets is published, providing practical information and action items for clinical care teams, allied health professionals, consumers and their families, and board directors and senior executives.
• Data recording templates can be used by services to collect quality indicator data and calculate totals, allowing quick and easy reporting through the My Aged Care Provider Portal.

Improved payment arrangements (IPA) for home care providers are coming - get ready now

From 1 September 2021, home care funding will be based on services delivered to care recipients. The change means the government will hold the care recipients’ unspent Commonwealth funds. This will impact claiming arrangements for providers offering home care services.

What can providers do to get ready?

• Get your claims up to date. Make sure you include the months you haven’t provided care to any care recipients. Please submit $0 claims for those months so your service is up to date. Only one claim can be finalised per day.
• Reconcile the Commonwealth unspent amount for departed care recipients, and continue to report this to Services Australia.
• If your software uses information from the Services Australia claiming system, contact the developer to understand what changes might be needed and the update process.

For more information about IPA, visit the department’s website.

CHSP service finder de-duplication

The department will shortly update the My Aged Care website to prevent duplicate Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) services from appearing in search results in the ‘Find a Provider’ tool.

A duplicate CHSP service is one that is being delivered to the same service delivery area as another active service item, with the same Outlet ID and Service Type or Service Sub-Type.

The update will ensure that all CHSP providers with duplicate services will only have one of these services appear in any given search result. This change will happen automatically, but all providers are encouraged to review their information in the ‘Find a Provider’ tool to make sure it is accurate.

You can find guidance material about identifying and updating your service information on the department’s website.

For technical assistance call the My Aged Care service provider helpline on 1800 836 799 and select Option 2 (8am-8pm week days, 10am-2pm Saturdays).

Report released: CHSP Data Study

The department engaged Deloitte Access Economics to conduct a data study of the CHSP to better understand the drivers of variation in the CHSP across states and territories, markets and consumer groups. This report presents the highlights and key patterns that emerged from the analysis. The analysis will be used by the department to inform current and future policy development.

The report is structured in the following way:

• client profile: investigates the key characteristics of CHSP clients and how these align with the target population in terms of access to the CHSP
• demand profile: analyses demand for entry-level care in the home in Australia, including which services are recommended and how clients use the CHSP
• supplier landscape: investigates the key characteristics of CHSP service providers and the clients they serve; and examines markets where clients experience greater challenges in accessing the CHSP
• service provider survey results: outlines the results and how these were used to support findings observed through the analysis of the administrative datasets
• funding, expenditure and unit prices: investigates the key characteristics of funding, expenditure and unit pricing in the CHSP.

Most of the analysis in the report focuses on 2018-19, which represents the most recent complete year of data available at the time of preparing this report.

The report is available on the department’s website.