Aged Care and Home and Community Care Government Funding Available

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Are you eligible for home and community, nursing or aged care courses funding?

cropped-certificate_iii_aged_care_trans.pngIf you’re working in residential aged care or community based care, you’ll be interested to know that the Australian Government is funding courses to encourage workers to gain a qualification.

It’s called the Aged Care Education and Training Incentive (ACETI) program. The Department of Health and Ageing is running the program. Funding started in 2010 and will be continuing over four years.

two mature women mother and daughter-in-lawIn total, $59.9 million has been budgeted over the four year course of the program. It is providing incentive payments to eligible aged care workers for undertaking specified training programs to upgrade their qualifications, further building their careers in the aged care industry.

You need to be working for an eligible aged care service to qualify for payments. More information about payments can be found here on the health.gov.au website.

Questions about payments can be directed to the Department of Human Services and Medicare Program Aged Care Enquiries Line. They can be contacted on 1800 195 206.

The aged care training program is available for eligible aged care courses:

Aged Care, Home Care and Nursing Training Course Payments

Payments are split between the commencement and completion of a program.

For Vocational Training and Education Courses (including Aged Care Course, HACC, Frontline Management etc)

Participants are receiving $500 after commencing theprogram and $500 after successfully completing the course.

Enrolled Nurse Training Programs

Participants are receiving $1000 after commencing study in their program and another $1500 after successfully completing their course and registering as an Enrolled Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

 Registered Nurse Training Programs

Participants are receiving $2000 after commencing the course and a further $3000 after completing the program and registering as a Registered Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

Funding for aged care, nursing and HACC courses

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To be eligible for incentive payments you must have commenced training in your course on or after the 1st July 2010.

Payments are also contingent on the availability of funds for the program. Once funding is exhausted, the Department may defer payments or not continue making payments at it’s own discretion.

For more information on how to access payments visit www.health.gov.au and read their Aged Care Education and Training Incentive Program article and Aged Care Workforce Vocational Education and Training article

 

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Australian population projections – we’re getting old

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Population demographics are known to alter over time, often due to changes in the social and economic conditions of each era. Australia’s population is no exception and current projections can read as interesting yet startling statistics.

As of the time of writing in 2013, Australia’s population has reached nearly 22.9 million people. Based on a fertility rate of 1.8 children per woman (the current is approximately 1.9 after hitting a low of 1.74 in 2001), it’s projected to increase to around 35.5 million by 2056 and 44.7 million by 2101.

Using the series B data from Australia Bureau of Statistics releases 3222.0 – Population Projections, Australia, 2006 to 2101 and 1370.0 – Measures of Australia’s Progress, 2010 we can see some interesting trends developing the ageing demographics of Australia.

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Data from ABS report catalogue number 3222.0

As we can see, it’s expected that the percentage of the population aged 65 will nearly double in the next 100 years. These changes are perhaps better visualised using a population pyramid:

Age structure of the projected population(a)

(a) At 30 June. Series B population projection.
Source: ABS Population Projections, Australia, 2006-2101 (cat. no. 3222.0)

Comparing 2006 and 2056, you can quite clearly see a decrease in the proportion of the population in each age group under 60, and a marked increase in each population bracket over 60. People are living longer and fertility rates have dropped significantly, leading to an increase in the average age of the population over time.

This is going to present a number of interesting problems for Australia as a country. The working age proportion of the country (18-65) is going to decrease by a significant amount, meaning there will likely be less tax revenue being generated or else a greater tax burden will be placed on those who are working age. At the same time, there will be much greater demand for aged care services and home and community care due to the huge increase in elderly people.

As a result, there is expected to be huge growth in the aged care and home care industries over the next 50 years. It’s likely there simply won’t be enough public funding to provide aged care services for all those that need them. Individuals will have to fund their own care requirements or rely on their children and grandchildren to care for them directly or finance formalised care arrangements.

Home and community care can help to fulfill the needs of many ageing people without the massive infrastructure investments needed to build specialised care facilities. HACC offers the ability to give our ageing population a higher quality of life while continuing to live in their own homes. It can  potentially reduce the financial strain on tax revenues that would otherwise be spent trying to provide facilities for people who only need minor assistance, saving those resources for those that would rely on them to survive.

If you’re thinking about a career in home or aged care, a Certificate 3 in Aged Care or Certificate 3 in Home and Community Care is an excellent starting point to have a fulfilling job while gaining experience in the industry and being in a position to seize opportunities when they arise. Even if you don’t plan to work in the industry, having such training can be an asset when helping elderly family members and friends.

These population changes are not isolated to Australia and are being mimicked in many developed nations around the world, creating demand worldwide for skilled aged care and home care providers. 

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Home and Community Care Jobs About to go in Brisbane

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Health care workers protested in Brisbane yesterday to oppose job cuts to Home and Community Care. The cuts were announced by Metro South Health last month as part of a cost-cutting program designed to save $42 million in the state government’s budget. The home and community care program would be transferred to the non-government sector.

Metro South Health Chief Executive Richard Ashby said the move would reduce duplication of services as the non-government sector already provides home care services. He said clients of the home care service would not see any change in the quality of the care they receive.

However, Michael Thomas from the Together Union contends that there would be a noticeable impact for clients. He cites the ability of the private sector to charge a co-payment for services which the government home and community care program has never done. He believes it will have a huge impact on people as many will not be able to afford that co-payment and will have nowhere else to go to get help.

Approximately 150 home care workers on the southside of Brisbane are set to lose their jobs.

Home and community care staff support the elderly and disabled persons stay in their own homes.

Source:

Hands off home care Newman, protesters plea

 

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Community care and health: big losers in QLD TAFE cuts

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The Queensland Government recently announced that at least 25 TAFE campuses will be closed across the state as part of reforms to the vocational education and training sector. The government has supported all 40 of the recommendations made in October’s Skills and Training Taskforce Report, including a proposal to close about half of the 82 TAFE campuses in the state; however it has watered down this number to 25 for the time being.

The closures will include 13 empty campuses that will be closed and sold, as well as 12 campuses that will be transferred as part of a merger between Central Queensland University and the Central Queensland Institute of TAFE. Most of the campuses earmarked for sale are disused campuses in Brisbane. The closures are intended to redirect funding to viable campuses, ensure the remaining facilities are state of the art and concentrate on the key industry areas of mining, construction, tourism and agriculture.

This is part of a widespread move by state governments to reduce TAFE spending, with Victoria cutting $300 million from its TAFE budget (current estimates predict 2000 staff redundancies will occur as a result), while NSW is cutting 800 staff jobs.

Community services and health: neglected by TAFE

The four-industry approach has been criticised as “shallow and short-term” and ignoring community services and health training, even though it is the fastest growing area of the economy. However, private training organisations will be able to step in and provide quality training in many of these areas no longer supported adequately by TAFE institutions. Conversely, the reforms have been praised by some for giving TAFEs more autonomy, as the existing system had shackled Queensland TAFEs with regulation and they had become unworkable.

 

Sources:

Qld govt approves TAFE closures

Qld govt defends TAFE closures, transfers

Qld backs away from TAFE closures

Ridout warns against TAFE funding cuts

TAFE trauma: Baillieu govt $300m funding cut

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Aged care reforms and funding: impact on home and community care services

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In April 2012, the Australian Government announced a major aged care reform package worth $3.7 billion over 5 years, designed to be a catalyst for change in Australia’s aged care system.

Australia’s aged care system has come under greater pressure as the demographics of the country change and the average age of our population increases. The reforms introduced a host of changes for home and community carers and their patients.

As part of these reforms, the Home Care subsidy package will be means tested from July 1, 2014 and a ‘care fee’ will be introduced for people on higher incomes; however, no one will be denied a service they need based on an inability to pay fees. Family homes will be exempted from means testing and full pensioners won’t pay care fees.

Recipients of the single basic pension may pay a basic fee of up to 17.5 percent of that pension. These changes are designed to reduce Government funding from 84 percent of the package to 76 percent. There will be indexed caps on care fees of $5000 and $10,000 for part pensioners and self-funded retirees respectively, along with a lifetime indexed cap of $60,000. Fees for care may also not be greater than the cost of care.

In the short term – over the next 5 years – $6.7 billion has been committed in total for the HACC Program for older people. The package includes $880.1 million in order to expand home care and $5.8 billion for home care packages which will provide for 58,000 support packages a year.

In the longer term, the government is committing to providing an additional 80,000 new home-care packages by 2021/22 with an annual subsidy of between $7500 and $45,000. Carers have not been forgotten either, with over $1 billion allocated over 5 years for the National Respite for Carers Program

In a major change for all stakeholders, the HACC Program, the National Respite for Carers Program, Day Therapy Centres and the Assistance with Care and Housing for the Aged Program will be consolidated under a new Home Support Program. The objective of this new program is to focus on prevention and re-enablement. To facilitate this change, there is $73.5 million allocated to help integrate these programs.

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What is Home and Community Care?

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About Home and Community Care

Home and Community Care (HACC) services are designed to help ageing individuals and people with a disability to stay at home rather than be forced into premature or inappropriate admission to full time residential care. It is designed to help people who are experiencing difficulties managing daily tasks but still wish to live independently. Services offered by HACC can include Meals on Wheels and other food services, home help (aid with tasks like housework, laundry and shopping), modifications to homes as well as home maintenance, transport, nursing and other health services, personal care (facilitating eating, dressing and bathing), counselling and social support.

Why do we need more care options?

Australia’s population is ‘ageing’ due to a sustained rate of low fertility and increases to life expectancy. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics1, the median age of Australians (the age at which half the population is younger and half is older) has increased by 4.7 years in the last two decades. This is putting increasing pressure on Australia’s residential care facilities as they struggle to cope with increasing demand for services. However not all individuals require a full time care facility and many people can still live largely independently with the aid of Home and Community Care services.

How can you access home care services?

To find out if you’re eligible for government subsidised aged care services you should contact your local Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT), a group of health professionals who can assist you with working out the type of care that will best serve your personal needs. Anyone can refer you to an ACAT – a health care professional such as a doctor, a carer or even you. Once you’ve made an appointment, a member of your local ACAT team will come and visit you in your home, at the hospital or elsewhere. They will go through a series of questions with you and then discuss their assessment with you. Aged Care Assessment Team members can be doctors or nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, psychologist or any other appropriate health care professional.

More Information

For more information or to find a Home and Community Care service provider in your area, contact the Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centre on 1800 200 422 (free call)

To get trained to work in home and community care, check out Inspire’s Certificate III in Home and Community Care course

1http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/3101.0Feature%20Article1Jun%202011?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3101.0&issue=Jun%202011&num=&view=

 

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