Increasing support for Aged Care in Childers

Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt has welcomed improved access to aged care in Childers after an increase in the government viability supplement paid to smaller, rural providers throughout regional Australia.

Announced in this week’s 2016/17 Budget, the Commonwealth will increase the subsidy by 30 per cent, lifting funding across the nation by an extra $102.3 million through to 2019-20.

The viability supplement is a monthly payment to improve the capacity of smaller and rural aged-care providers to offer quality care, acknowledging that there are higher costs of delivering services in certain parts of the country.

Mr Pitt says locally this will mean higher rates of funding and improved services at Forest View Aged Persons Home in Childers.

“Funding of $55,746 for Forest View is part of a boost to 250 mainstream services and 100 multipurpose sites nationally, currently providing residential or in-home care in country areas.

“In regional Australia, increased support for aged care services is vital, as it means we can care for our elderly in familiar surroundings, and where family, friends or local support services are often close at hand,” Mr Pitt said.  

Ensuring our elderly rural citizens are ‘better off in the bush’ comes after Coalition-driven changes to the geographical remoteness classification system, which was replaced this year by the so-called Modified Monash Model.

The ‘Monash’ system is based on current Census figures, rather than a system reliant on 1990’s data, and is also being used to provide increased incentives to attract GP’s to rural and remote Australia, along with other vital workforce shortage programs.

The 2016/17 Budget increase, commencing 01 Jan 2017, is on the back of a 2014 Budget measure which increased the viability supplement by 20 per cent, following a recommendation by the Aged Care Financing Authority.