Home and Community Care (HACC) Reforms - Information for HACC service providers

Home and Community Care (HACC) Reforms - Information for service providers (PDF 162 KB)

About the HACC reforms

Under the National Health Reform Agreement the Commonwealth will take full funding, policy, management and delivery responsibility for a consistent and unified aged care system covering basic home care through to residential care.

The Commonwealth, state and territory governments are working together to implement these new arrangements, including changes to the administration and funding of the Home and Community Care (HACC) program.

These changes will enable the creation of a national aged care system and national disability service system.

The changes do not apply to Victoria and Western Australia. In these states, basic community care services will continue to be delivered under HACC as a joint Commonwealth-State funded program.

Timeline and scope of the reforms

The first step of the HACC reforms is to transition services for older people, that is people aged 65 years and over (50 and over for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people).

The HACC reforms, in all states except Victoria and Western Australia, are being implemented in two stages.

From 1 July 2011, the Commonwealth is funding basic community aged care services, through an agreement with state and territory governments. The state and territory governments will continue to administer the program as they do now. Service providers will continue to receive their funding through the state or territory government.

From 1 July 2012, the Commonwealth will fund and administer basic community aged care services for older people. This will involve direct funding agreements between the Commonwealth and service providers who deliver services to older people.

State and territory governments will still operate and fund basic community care and disability services for people aged less than 65 years (less than 50 years of age for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people).

Services

The transition of HACC aged care services should not impact on services to consumers. These changes are about how we administer the program and which level of government funds services, not who can access them.

In line with the current arrangements, those eligible to receive HACC funding in the future will include local government, community organisations, religious or charitable bodies, state and territory government agencies, and private (for profit) organisations.

The Commonwealth will fund the same range of services the HACC program does now.

Funding

The Commonwealth will offer funding equal to what is spent on services for older people now. The Commonwealth is also committed to continue to fund growth for HACC basic community aged care services.

From 1 July 2012, the Commonwealth will offer existing HACC service providers funding for service they provide now. This will be a direct allocation process and will not involve competitive funding. There will be one funding agreement between the Commonwealth and each service provider for basic community aged care services to older people. To enter into a funding agreement with the Commonwealth, service providers will need to:

• have an ABN
• be incorporated
• have appropriate insurances

Service providers do not need to be Approved Providers under the Aged Care Act 1997.

State and territory governments will continue to fund services for younger people. Service providers will need a separate funding agreement with their state or territory government for these services.

Reporting

Service providers will still need to report through the HACC Minimum Data Set (MDS) for both younger and older people as they do now.

The Commonwealth is assessing what IT infrastructure and support service providers will need to deal with the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth will establish a service provider portal for service providers to submit financial and other reports as will be required by their funding agreements. The portal will also allow providers to find information about funding arrangements, program requirements and update their organisational details.

This will be implemented in stages and there will be support to ensure all service providers understand how the portal works.

There will also be a process for paper reporting for those who need it.

What you need to do

Service providers need to continue to meet the same governance and reporting requirements they do under the HACC program now.

Service providers also need a general understanding of their current funding arrangements and outputs and what they believe to be their funding in line with the age split.

For more information

The website www.yourhealth.gov.au provides information on the changes to the HACC program, including frequently asked questions for service providers.

If you would like to send feedback on the HACC reforms you can do so by emailing HACC.Reform@health.gov.au.