The concept of Shared Care is to take a small portion of a large number of village residents’ Community and Home Support packages and apply those funds to the full village, which would deliver economies of scale and investments in wellness supports for all residents.
Ryman Healthcare CEO Cameron Holland, in his capacity as chair of the Retirement Living Council's Care and Support Services sub-committee, said he has held "several constructive meetings with the Department of Health and Aged Care to flesh out how this policy could work in practice."
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"The department has also engaged with the Retirement Living Council and other stakeholders to discuss how a Shared Care approach could be rolled out at scale across the sector,” he said.
"The department is assessing how this type of model, or one similar, could work within the upcoming Support at Home changes, so the idea is still very much under consideration."
The Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells revealed in November 2023 that the Home Care Package Program and the Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC) Programme will be rolled together into Support at Home from 1 July 2025, with the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) to transition “no earlier than 1 July 2027”.
The Retirement Living Council is seeking Block Funding to underwrite ageing support services and provides three models for retirement village operators to deliver community-based care services under the Support at Home program within the village setting, either independently or through a delivery partner.
"The first step would be to run a pilot program to assess whether shared care works across retirement living operators of different sizes and service models,” Cameron said.
"Many retirement village operators, including Ryman, have expressed interest in participating in the pilot, and we’re looking forward to supporting the policy’s development.
"It’s important to get it right, and we’ve been incredibly impressed by the collaborative, constructive approach the department has taken with the retirement sector to create something that’ll support retirement communities to play a crucial role in tackling Australia’s aged care crisis."
As DCM Group CEO Chris Baynes wrote last month, "Shared Care is closer than we may think for retirement villages" and added there will be casualities.
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