AIHW: Younger People with Disability in Residential Aged Care Program

27 May 2010: The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) today released its Report on the latest data available from the Younger People In Residential Aged Care Program. The  AIHW Report 700 Kb indicates that in the first three years of the program over 90 people were moved out of nursing homes, 300 people were provided with improved services within aged care, and 150 were diverted from inappropriate admissions to aged care.

The Alliance’s National Director, Dr Bronwyn Morkham, was interviewed by Richard Aedy on ABC Radio National’s Life Matters program, about the impact of the program.
Listen to the interview

Life Matters (Richard Aedy) said that "...up until recently almost the only place young people with severe disabilities could get proper care was in aged care nursing homes. But a report released today by the AIHW shows that moving young people with severe disabilities out of aged care facilities is well underway. In the first three years of the program over 90 people were moved out of nursing homes, 300 people were provided with improved services within aged care, and 150 were diverted from inappropriate admissions to aged care..."

 The Young People in Nursing Homes National Alliance has been lobbying hard for these improvements and they're delighted by the progress."

National Compact Consultation Report 

The National Compact between the Australian Government and the not-for-profit or Third Sector, was launched by Prime Minister Rudd on March 17 at Parliament House in Canberra.

The Compact represents an undertaking by the Commonwealth Government and the Third Sector to develop a new, collaborative way of working together to achieve to address key social, economic and environmental challenges.  More information and an opportunity to sign up is available at www.nationalcompact.gov.au

Prior to the launch of the compact, extensive community consultations were held, the results of which are published in the  National Compact Consultation Report 2Mb

Submission: Aged Care Funding Instrument Review

 Alliance submission to the Aged Care funding Instrument Review 336.16 Kb

The Australian Government supports care for older Australians living in aged care homes through a government subsidy that homes receive based on the aged care provider’s appraisal of each resident’s care needs. From March 2008, the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) replaced the Resident Classification Scale (RCS) as the mechanism to allocate this Government subsidy.

The ACFI was developed in response to the Review of Pricing Arrangements in Residential Aged Care carried out by Professor Warren Hogan in 2004 and the RCS Review in 2003. The ACFI is designed to:

• better match funding to the complex care needs of residents;
• reduce the documentation created by aged care providers to justify funding; and
• achieve higher levels of agreement between aged care staff and departmental review officers in review audits (known as validation).

The Australian Government committed to a post-implementation review to ensure that the new instrument is meeting its objectives. 

Report: The Way Forward

In April 2008 the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children’s Services, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, assembled a group of prominent Australians with a wealth of experience and knowledge in philanthropic investment and asked them to explore innovative funding ideas from the private sector that will help people with disability and their families access greater support and plan for the future.

The Disability Investment Group (DIG) was chaired by Ian Silk. Its members included Bruce Bonyhady, John Walsh, Bill Moss, Kathleen Townsend, Allan Fels and Mary Ann O’Loughlin (until October 2008). The Australian Government released the Disability Investment Group’s report called  The Way Forward: A New Disability Policy Framework for Australia 334kb on December 3 2009.

The report makes six recommendations. The principal recommendation is for a feasibility study into a national disability insurance scheme for Australia.

Other recommendations refer to:

• Special Disability Trusts
• savings and investment incentives
• private investment in housing
• better employment opportunities and
• building best practice and research

According to The Way Forward, over the next 40 years in Australia the number of people with severe or profound disability is projected to grow from 1.4 million to 2.9 million. Recent trends indicate growth in demand for specialist disability services of 7.5 per cent per annum in real terms.

PricewaterhouseCoopers National Disability Insurance Scheme final report

PricewaterhouseCoopers worked with the Disability Investment Group (DIG) to consider the costs, benefits and governance of a National Disability Insurance Scheme.
On 23 November 2009, the Federal government announced that as part of its National Disability Strategy, the Productivity Commission had been commissioned to undertake a feasibility study into long-term care and support for people with disability in Australia. The study will be supported by an independent panel of prominent experts and will report by July 2011.

PricewaterhouseCoopers: National Disability Insurance Scheme - Final Report 1.2Mb

Shaping the Future Today conference report

In 2006, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) announced a limited, 5 year initiative to address the growing Younger People In Residential Aged Care (YPIRAC) issue.  Held midway through this national program’s 5 year term, Shaping the Future Today reviewed the initiative’s achievements to date; and highlighted priorities for the final 2 ½ years of its life.
 STFT Conference report 1.16 M

COAG YPIRAC Program's Mid-Term Review report

The Council of Australian Government’s (COAG) Younger People in Residential Aged Care (YPIRAC) Program’s Mid-Term Review report analyses the targets, performance to date and key issues associated with the YPIRAC Program.

This landmark collaboration between Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments was always intended as a first step towards final resolution of the YPINH® issue, and not a solution in and of itself.

Aiming to provide community based accommodation and support alternatives to younger people with disability living in or at risk of admission to residential aged care (RAC), the YPIRAC program has three key objectives.  These are to:

• offer community based alternative supported accommodation options to younger people with disability currently accommodated in RAC
• prevent or divert further admissions of younger people with disability who are at risk of admission to RAC
• and provide disability services to younger people with disability whose health prevents them exiting RAC, or who choose to remain there for reasons of proximity to family and community in remote and rural areas.

Each state and territory government signed a bi lateral agreement with the commonwealth to implement the program.  These bi lateral agreements contained targets specific to each objective.

The Commonwealth Government provided 50% of the initial funding or $122m with each State and Territory matching this amount dollar for dollar on a per capita basis.  Victoria provided an additional $10m for capital development.

A second phase of this landmark initiative is currently under discussion.

 COAG YPIRAC Program's Mid-Term Review report 713.30 Kb