Aged care news highlights from the week ending 2 December 2022, aggregated by CompliSpace.
The information in the Weekly Wrap is aggregated from other news sources to provide you with news that is relevant to the aged care sector across Australia and worldwide. Each paragraph is a summary of the subject matter covered in the particular news article. The information does not necessarily reflect the views of CompliSpace.
According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, Minister for Aged Care, the Hon Anika Wells MP and Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly have written to older Australians to provide information and encouragement on:
Read the joint letter to older Australians.
With COVID-19 cases increasing in the current wave, we all have a role to play to protect those most at risk of severe illness. Please provide this letter to the older Australians your care for and strengthen COVID-19 safe behaviours.
According to Hospital and Health Care, research released by Pfizer Australia has shown that despite increasing case numbers, the emergence of variants new to Australia and warnings of a new COVID-19 wave, nearly two-thirds of Australians are complacent about the risks of infection.
According to HRD, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has dismissed a health worker’s claim that she was unfairly dismissed over non-compliance with a workplace vaccination mandate. The worker argued that her employer’s requirement that she provide evidence of vaccination, or proof of vaccine exemption, violated her right to privacy.
According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, subordinate legislation for the following aged care reforms has now been registered, with these changes coming into effect from 1 December 2022:
Provider governance responsibilities
From 1 December, new governance responsibilities will apply to Australian Government-funded aged care providers of residential care, home care, and flexible care. New requirements include:
For further information, resources and guidance, visit the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s website and Department of Health and Aged Care’s website.
Restrictive Practices
From 1 December 2022, the Quality of Care Principles will be amended to include a hierarchy of persons/bodies who can consent to the use of restrictive practices when the care recipient cannot consent themselves and there is no explicit legal avenue under state/territory laws. This will ensure restrictive practices are only used with appropriate consent to protect the health, rights and dignity of older Australians in residential aged care. There are five levels of the hierarchy – these are:
Further information and resources are available on the restrictive practices webpage on the Department’s website.
According to Aged Care Insite, a researcher has raised concerns about the aged care sector's readiness to have mandated 24/7 nurses onsite and provide 200 care minutes per resident per day by the middle of 2023. The UTS report into the care industry revealed last Friday that 4.7 per cent of aged care homes are currently on target to meet next year's staffing and care minute mandates.
According to Australian Ageing Agenda, that’s according to the second edition of Australia’s Aged Care Sector Report, released last week. The report – compiled by researchers from the UTS Ageing Research Collaborative and based on data collected by chartered accountancy firm StewartBrown – covers the full-year results for 2021-22.
According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, Services Australia will be issuing January 2023 advance payments for residential care which will be calculated on 18 December 2022 and paid onwards from 20 December 2022. Please submit your November 2022 claim to Services Australia no later than 12 December 2022 to allow for early processing of the January 2023 advance payment.
According to Australian Ageing Agenda, the long-awaited code of conduct for the aged care industry comes into play from Thursday 1 December.
According to Aged Care Insite, as the Fair Work Commission's aged care pay rise case moves to the second stage, earlier this month, the Fair Work Commission made an interim decision to raise wages by 15 per cent for aged care workers, excluding indirect workers such as cleaners, kitchen staff and administrative workers. While the government, unions and workers have called for a 25 per cent increase, the 'Secure Jobs, Better Pay' bill, which is currently before parliament, may put aged care workers in the position to push for even higher remunerations.
According to Aged Care Insite, a new bill has passed this weekend that will allow workers, including aged care staff, to bargain for higher pay with their employers. The 'Secure Jobs, Better Pay' bill introduces a new multi-employer bargaining system where staff can join forces with unions to negotiate for better pay and working conditions.
According to Inside Ageing, the Aged Care Workforce Industry Council (ACWIC) has called on aged care providers to protect the important role of Enrolled Nurses (ENs) to ensure that older Australians have access to high-quality aged care.
According to Australian Ageing Agenda, the federal government is being called upon to prevent aged care providers replacing enrolled nurses with personal care workers.
According to Aged Care Insite, a controversial decision to move lifestyle and admin staff into carer roles has been defended by one of Australia's major aged care providers. Southern Cross Care Tasmania announced in mid-November its plans to train lifestyle, kitchen and leisure staff to provide direct care to residents.
According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, more than 900 residential aged care providers attended the Star Ratings webinar on 18 November. A recording of the webinar is now available for providers who were unable to attend. A video explaining Star Ratings and how to access them on My Aged Care is also available for you to share with your networks.
According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, the latest Food and Nutrition Report has now been published. The report captures expenditure outcomes from the Basic Daily Fee Supplement data reporting across the 2021-22 financial year. The report shows that expenditure on food in residential aged care facilities is increasing, with services spending an average of $12.54 per resident per day on food and ingredients only, across 2021-22.
According to Australian Ageing Agenda, expenditure on food in residential aged care facilities has increased, a new government report has shown.
According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, the 2021-22 Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997 is scheduled to be tabled today and made available on the GEN Aged Care Data website. Each year this report provides an important overview of Australia’s aged care system and details its operation over the previous financial year. If you have any questions, please email agedcarereporting@health.gov.au
According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, the department invites approved aged care providers to prepare for the quarter 2 Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) by attending the upcoming QFR webinar. The webinar will take place from 2pm–3:30pm AEDT on Thursday 8 December. Particular attention will be paid to the care costs and labour hours segment of the report. Providers can also submit questions in advance of the webinar through the registration link, or by emailing them to ffbconsultation@health.gov.au.
Register and learn more about the webinar.
According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, aged care providers can apply for the Aged Care Registered Nurses’ Payment on behalf of eligible staff. The grant round closes on Wednesday 14 December 2022. Find out more on the GrantConnect website.
According to Australian Ageing Agenda, residential aged care providers who create a culture of dependency should receive financial penalties, according to director of the Global Centre for Modern Ageing Dr Mike Rungie.
According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, From 1 December 2022, the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) will extend to home care and flexible care delivered in home and community settings. For information about accessing or using the portal, including assigning access for the SIRS dashboard tile, see the Service and Support Portal resources available on the Department of Health and Aged Care website. Resources for providers, including guidance materials for SIRS, are available on the Commission’s website.
According to Community Care Review, the Department of Health and Aged Care has announced the level at which it will cap home care administration fees. Following the passing of the federal government’s second aged care reform bill in October, the government has capped care management fees at 20 per cent and package management fees at 15 per cent.
The Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Act 2022 amends the Aged Care Act 1997 (Aged Care Act) to implement a series of urgent measures that will give older Australians the dignity and respect they deserve. These amendments are intended to enable meaningful, practical improvements to the delivery of aged care services and to provide greater oversight and understanding of what funds are being used for. These measures put the quality of care and safety of older Australians first.
An Act to amend the law relating to aged care, health and aged care pricing, and information sharing in relation to veterans and military rehabilitation and compensation, and for related purposes. The Act seeks to amend various acts in order to implement several time critical aged care measures, many of which respond to recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Royal Commission) Final Report: Care, Dignity and Respect (Final Report).
This instrument amends the Accountability Principles 2014 and Records Principles 2014 to introduce new governance and reporting requirements for approved providers of Commonwealth-funded aged care.
This instrument amends the Quality of Care Principles 2014 to deem reportable incidents that involve unlawful sexual contact or inappropriate sexual conduct as Priority 1 incidents. This instrument also amends the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Rules 2018.
This instrument amends the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Rules 2018, Quality of Care Principles 2014 and Subsidy Principles 2014 to allow the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner to conduct quality reviews of transition care provided in home care settings and to monitor the quality of transition care services provided in residential care and home care settings. This instrument also amends the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Rules 2018.
This instrument amends the Quality of Care Principles 2014 to authorise certain individuals or bodies to provide informed consent to the use of a restrictive practice in relation to a care recipient.