Home care funding for WA & SA

Posted January 13th 2010

by DPS

Western Australia
Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, has announced an extra $13.6 million for Home and Community Care (HACC) services in Western Australia.

The Rudd Government contributed $8.3 million and the Western Australian government contributed $5.3 million in funding to this $13.6 million package, taking the total annual investment in HACC services in Western Australia to $196.6 million – an increase of almost 9% on last year.

The package provides financial support for 158 new or extended HACC projects across Western Australia including:

Melville Cares – more than $228,000 to provide additional centre-based day care, transport, domestic assistance, respite care, home maintenance and assessment;
Hills Community Support Group – more than $300,000 to provide additional centre-based day care and transport services, along with provision for a new bus, IT equipment and vehicle modifications;
City of Canning – more than $300,000 to expand centre-based day care, transport, respite care, home maintenance and transport services; and
Brightwater Care Group Inc – more than $300,000 to provide a variety of community care services including funds for a new vehicle and office/IT equipment.

South Australia
Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot, and South Australian Minister for Ageing and Disability, Jennifer Rankine, have announced an 8% increase in Home and Community Care (HACC) funding in South Australia.

Under the new arrangements, the Rudd Government will contribute an additional $7.7 million and the South Australian government $4.8 million in funding to take the total annual investment in HACC services in South Australia from $150 million to $162 million.

Ms Rankine made the announcement at the Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS) 24 hour health call centre at Glenside – one of the key recipients of the program.

RDNS will receive $350,000 in new recurrent funding to expand the Virtual Hospital or Telehealth service, which provides home nursing services utilising videophone technology as part of their $16 million in annual funding.

The expanded Telehealth service which will now assist another 90 South Australians, is in addition to the home visits by RDNS nursing staff and enables face to face delivery of nursing services multiple times per day, 24 hours a day if required.

The Telehealth Service is just one of more than 105 new or extended HACC projects across South Australia including:

$600,000 for Anglicare SA for intensive case management of vulnerable older residents of Supported Residential Facilities;
$300,000 for Uniting Care Wesley in Adelaide to help frail older people from smaller ethnic communities including from the Filipino, Hungarian and Baltic Communities;
$278,850 for Helping Hand Aged Care to set up a new respite service for carers of older people, including those with dementia;
$200,000 for the Australian Red Cross Society’s tele-cross service. This is in addition to the $100,000 that the Red Cross will receive to help provide emergency contact and information for older people during heat waves and other extreme events.