As the release of the Final Report of the Aged Care Taskforce nears, today’s announcement of the exposure draft of the Bill for the new Aged Care Act spelt out its importance. 

“Means testing is a way we access an older person’s income and what services they can use. The new Act will make changes to the structure and terms we use in means testing. This may change with advice from the Aged Care Taskforce report. We will publish this report in December 2023,” the Department of Health and Aged Care states. 

“The new Act includes a clear subsidy framework, including: 

• the current home care subsidy 

• two new types of subsidies. 

These two new subsidies will be based on the type of costs needed to deliver aged care services: 

• person-centred – for funding directly linked to the costs of delivering services to a specific person 

• provider-based – to fund the fixed cost of delivering aged care services. These relate to a provider, such as their location, capacity or specialisation. 

The recommendations from the Aged Care Taskforce also will influence the fees and payments.  

“The new Act will make changes to the structure and terms we use in fees and payments. This may change with advice from the Aged Care Taskforce report,” it states. 

The new Aged Care Act was the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s first recommendation, with the stipulation it would come into force on 1 July 2023. It is clear the Government needs to hear from providers as it plans to change the fee structure of entering and living in aged care.    

“We are now at the threshold of a once-in-a-generation change. The new Aged Care Act is core to putting the rights of older people at the centre of aged care. We must get it right,” Minister for Aged Care and Sport, Anika Wells (pictured in the cover story of SATURDAY in October) said in a statement. 

“We want Australians to tell us what they think of the draft law. Does it clearly define the rights of older people? Will it empower older people to make decisions about their own care? 

“We want to know if aged care providers understand their responsibilities in the draft law.” 

The latest consultation period is from now until 16 February 2024 with the intention then to introduce the new Aged Care Act as a Bill into Parliament. People can get involved by: 

• attending a workshop in person or online, 

• completing a survey, and 

• sending a submission to the Department of Health and Aged Care.