Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Improved Home Care Payment Administration No. 2) Bill 2020 amends the way that home-care providers are paid the government subsidy in order to address stakeholder concerns regarding unspent funds and to align home-care arrangements with other government programs such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The measures in the bill improve financial accountability and allow for better transparency over the actual use of the funds for home-care service delivery.

This bill will amend the Aged Care Act 1997 and the Aged Care (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 such that home-care providers will only be paid the subsidy for care and services rendered to a home-care recipient during a month, with Services Australia retaining the unspent subsidy that a home-care recipient is eligible to receive each month. This unspent subsidy will be available for providers to draw down on behalf of a home-care recipient as care and services are provided in the future. There is no change to a customer's access to their full subsidy. This builds on the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Improved Home Care Payment Administration No. 1) Bill 2020 that amends the Aged Care Act 1997 and the Aged Care (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 such that providers of home care will receive a payment not in advance but in arrears. I thank members for their contributions to the debate on this bill.

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