Many Australians, at some time in their life, will need to access aged care services – if not for themselves, for their spouse, parents, children, relatives or friends.
Through Commonwealth, State and Local government departments and a large number of community organisations, there is a wide range of services and support available – you just need to know what is available and how you can access it.
This book explains all you need to know about community and residential aged care services and includes an extensive collection of contact details for support and community organisations.
Available at selected newsagents and bookshops, or buy it online, RRP A$24.95.
Aged Care in Australia
As Australia’s population grows older, the number of people in Australia aged 65 and over is predicted to increase from 12.3 per cent of the population or 2.3 million people in 1999 to around 18 per cent or 4.2 million people in 2021 and increasing to 26 per cent of our population or 6.6 million people in 2051.
The number of people aged 85 and over has also increased significantly since 1991. Although people aged 85 years and over currently only represent about 1.3 per cent of the population, numbers in this age group are increasing rapidly and are projected to reach almost 500,000 by 2021 and 1.3 million by 2051.
Of this group, it is estimated that fewer than one in 10 will need to move into a hostel or nursing home but many more may require some level of assistance to help them remain in their home.
Aged care services – what assistance is available?
Aged care services in Australia are provided in a wide variety of forms but can generally be divided into two main groups:
Residential based services where the person moves into a hostel or nursing home
Community based services where the person continues to live at home
Residential care
The Commonwealth government currently provides funding for nearly 143,500 residential care places in approximately 3000 facilities across Australia. Residential places are provided for those requiring both low levels of care (in hostels) and high levels of care (in nursing homes). Some retirement villages now offer limited assistance or “assisted living”. Retirement villages will be discussed further in Chapter 15.
Community care
For those not requiring residential care, a range of community care options is available including:
Community Aged Care Packages (CACP)
The EACH program (Extended Aged Care at Home)
Home and Community Care (HACC) services
There are also additional services available for family or others providing care for older people to further assist them to remain in their own homes.
How aged care services are funded
Aged care services in Australia are primarily funded and regulated by the Commonwealth government through the Department of Health and Ageing. Some programs (such as Home and Community Care) are jointly funded through agreements between the Commonwealth and the State or Territory governments. The total funding from the Commonwealth government for aged care services for the 2001-2002 financial year was approximately $5.4 billion of which just over $4 billion was spent providing residential aged care services.
Who provides aged care?
Aged care services are provided by three distinct groups of organisations.
Charitable and religious groups.
Private companies
The Government (both State and Local levels)
The charitable and religious sector represents the largest group of providers, owning over 63 per cent of all residential places. This sector is the main provider of residential aged care services in rural and remote areas across Australia.
The private sector now represents just over 27 per cent, a figure that has been slowly increasing since the early 1990s.
The government sector, which includes State and local government bodies, represents the remaining 9.5 per cent of places.
Rules governing aged care – government legislation
If you are involved with providing care for the elderly at any level you need to be aware that all facets of providing residential and community based care are regulated by law. Residential and community aged care is administered under two pieces of Commonwealth legislation:
The Aged Care Act 1997; and
The Home and Community Care Act 1985.
The Aged Care Act 1997 covers all aspects of how residential care, flexible care and community aged care packages are planned, funded, provided and regulated. This Act came into force on 1 October 1997 and represented a significant change to the way aged care services are governed.
The Home and Community Care Act 1985 is an essential guide for those involved with providing Home and Community Care (HACC) services. The Act outlines the agreement between the Commonwealth and State/Territory governments for the regulation and funding of these services.
Providers of residential aged care services in some states are also required to meet conditions laid down in state-based legislation such as the Nursing Homes Act 1988 and Nursing Homes Regulation 1996 (NSW). These additional pieces of legislation are generally more prescriptive than the Commonwealth Aged Care Act 1997 but apply only to certain types of facilities in the specific state. For example, the Nursing Homes Act 1988 only applies to nursing homes in New South Wales and does not cover other residential facilities in New South Wales such as hostels. It is also not applicable to nursing homes in any other state of Australia.
