2009-10 Aged Care Approvals Round commences

Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot, announced on 22 January that more than 12,000 new aged care places throughout Australia, worth more than $477 million in annual funding, will be on offer as part of the 2009-10 Aged Care Approvals Round (ACAR).

The ACAR is an annual competitive process that allocates new Australian Government-funded aged care places to service providers who best demonstrate that they can meet the growing needs of the ageing population within their local region.

Applications are independently assessed and judged against criteria such as financial strength, capacity to provide care and the providers past experience with providing care.

The ACAR will give aged care providers the opportunity to apply for:

• Residential, community and flexible aged places worth $477.6 million a year;
• Up to $160 million in zero real interest loans; and
• More than $41 million in capital grants to construct or upgrade residential aged care facilities.

The new 12,218 aged care beds and community care packages build on the more than 225,000 places already operational in Australia.

This year’s ACAR will include the provision of additional community care places that help older Australians retain their independence by providing practical and clinical care in the community.

The Rudd Government will also be providing more than $200 million in capital assistance to support investment in residential aged care facilities.

Minister Elliot said: “Importantly, this year there will be an additional commitment to community care places. These services are in high demand with older Australians, and their families, telling me that as they age they prefer to remain in their own homes and communities, close to their families and friends.

“We recognise this and to help support older Australians to remain at home the Government is providing practical assistance through community care services to help older people retain their independence.

“We are also committed to providing high quality residential aged care services. We are supporting increased availability of residential aged care places by allocating more bed licences and supplementing this allocation with a capital assistance package made up of low interest loans and capital grants to support construction and investment,” Minister Elliot said.

Advertisements seeking applications will appear in metropolitan and selected regional newspapers on Saturday 30 January 2010. Applications will close on 15 March 2010.

Decisions on aged care places are made independently by the Department of Health and Ageing. The aim of the process is to ensure that the allocation of aged care places best meets the identified needs of the community.

Allocations were as follows:

New South Wales; 2,244 Residential, 517 CACPs, 115 EACHs, 57 EACH Ds, a total of 2,933 places.

Victoria; 1,490 Residential, 428 CACPs, 338 EACHs, 210 EACH Ds, a total of 2,466 places.

Queensland; 2,003 Residential, 337 CACPs, 578 EACHs, 350 EACH Ds, a total of 3,268 places.

Western Australia; 1,564 Residential, 107 CACPs, 384 EACHs, 250 EACH Ds, a total of 2,305 places.

South Australia; 237 Residential, 135 CACPs, 17 EACHs, 10 EACH Ds, a total of 399 places.

Tasmania; 245 Residential, 28 CACPs, 10 EACHs, 10 EACH Ds, a total of 293 places.

Northern Territory;  71 Residential, 20 CACPs, 11 EACHs, 10 EACH Ds, a total of 112 places.