Extension of home support funding agreements
The recent extension of Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) funding agreements is a welcome announcement from the federal government.
Adjunct Professor John Kelly, Aged & Community Services Australia (ACSA) chief executive, says the funding of more than $1.6 billion a year for the next three years to 30 June 2018 gives certainty until the CHSP and Home Care Packages programmes are combined from July 2018.
“The announcement by the Assistant Minister for Social Services, Senator Mitch Fifield, that the mandatory national fees policy for CHSP would not proceed from 1 July 2015 is a relief,” Professor Kelly says.
“A proposed fees framework, which outlines principles providers can adopt in setting and implementing their fees, will work better than a mandatory national fees policy,” he says.
According to Professor Kelly, providers now have three years to bed down the CHSP programme without having to implement a fees policy that does not recognise demographics and other variables in each community.
“It will give time for providers to talk with consumers about the need to contribute to the cost of their care and gives time for the community and the sector to become aware that CHSP is designed to provide small amounts of entry level service for older people,” he says.
ACSA will continue to work with the Department of Social Services on the implementation of these reforms.
