Your Aged Care Update # 44
Notable dates
Webinar: CHSP provider update
16 November
Survey: COVID-19 vaccination in aged care homes
Closes 17 November
In this issue
News about the reforms
Draft Aged Care Data and Digital Strategy consultation closing soon
The opportunity to provide feedback on the draft Aged Care Data and Digital Strategy closes soon. In addition to reading the strategy, you can watch the webinar recordings we held for the sector and older people and their carers.
The strategy looks at how data and digital technologies can improve the care and wellbeing of older people. It will drive a sustainable and productive care and support economy through data and digital innovation.
Older people and their carers are at the centre of the strategy and we want to hear from you. We also want to hear from aged care workers, assessors, health clinicians, service providers and technology vendors that supply software to providers.
Tell us what you think by emailing: DigitalReformStrat@Health.gov.au.
The consultation closes on Monday 20 November.
Sector News
Webinar: Publishing provider reporting for stakeholders and the community
Additional information about aged care providers’ finances and operations will be published on My Aged Care from February 2024. This includes information on income, expenditure, and surplus or loss.
We invite residential and home care providers to join us for an information session on:
how their data will be published on My Aged Care
how they can preview their operational and financial data prior to publication.
When: Tuesday 28 November, 2 pm to 3 pm (AEDT)
For those unable to attend the webinar, a recording will be available at webinars for the aged care sector.
Register for the webinar now.
Grant opportunity: Improving respite care for people with dementia and their carers
An Improving respite care for people with dementia and their carers grant opportunity is now open on GrantConnect. Up to $27.4 million of funding is available for up to four years
The program focuses on carer wellbeing. It aims to increase support to informal carers and families caring for a person living with dementia through access to dementia-specific respite services.
Grant activities will involve innovative approaches to:
improve the quality and experience of respite care for people living with dementia
carer wellbeing
respite care planning for people with dementia.
Organisations are invited to apply to deliver activities in Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.
Applications close 18 December 2023.
Aged Care Capital Assistance Program: Thin markets grant opportunity now open
Up to $135 million is available across four funding streams aimed at maintaining or improving access to quality aged care services in thin markets, particularly in small rural towns and remote communities. The streams are:
$95 million combined across both:
Stream 1: Staff accommodation, and
Stream 2: Upgrades, expansions or new builds
$30 million in Stream 3: Specialised homeless
$10 million in Stream 4: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care (NATSIFAC) minor projects and equipment.
Applications close Friday 12 January 2024 at 2pm (AEDT).
Grant information, including eligibility requirements is on GrantConnect (GO6593)
This is the first of two competitive infrastructure grant opportunities opening in 2023-24 under the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program.
More at-risk people eligible for shingles vaccination under the National Immunisation Program
The shingles vaccine Shingrix® has replaced Zostavax® on the National Immunisation Program (NIP) schedule for the prevention of shingles and post-herpetic neuralgia.
Aged care providers are advised that a 2-dose course of Shingrix® is available for free for:
people aged 65 years and over
First Nations people aged 50 years and over
immunocompromised people aged 18 years and over with some specific medical conditions.
Conditions apply for those who have previously received a Zostavax® vaccine.
Aged Care providers should make arrangements through their normal vaccination provider to enable eligible residents to access a Shingrix vaccine.
Any aged care providers looking to access additional information about vaccines can also get the latest NIP updates by subscribing to our email list.
For more information visit Shingles (herpes zoster) vaccine on our website.
In-home care
Home Care Packages wait times on My Aged Care
A reminder to Home Care Package (HCP) providers to refer to the My Aged Care website for the most up to date information on wait times for packages.
Please do not refer to wait times on My Aged Care client records through MyGov.
Unfortunately, we are experiencing issues with client records, where the estimates information does not reflect a person’s actual estimated wait time.
The My Aged Care website is an accurate source of wait-time information across all package levels.
While waiting for a package, a person may access short-term emergency aged care services through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP), state or privately funded services.
For more information about HCP wait times or to access CHSP, call My Aged Care on
1800 200 422.
Reminder: Fair Work Commission CHSP Base Funding Grant closes soon
A reminder that applications for the Fair Work Commission (FWC) Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) Base Funding Grant will close on Thursday 30 November 2023.
The grant opportunity will help CHSP providers meet the increase to award wages and related on-costs for some aged care workers from 30 June 2023.
To apply, CHSP providers must have a 2023-24 grant agreement and employ staff or subcontractors under the following awards:
Aged Care Award 2010
Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry (SCHADS) Award 2010 (Schedule E)
Nurses Award 2020.
Apply online via GrantConnect before 2 pm (AEDT) 30 November 2023.
For more information, read our provider fact sheet and grant opportunity guidelines.
Webinar: Introduction to Accessible Documents
Vision Australia is delivering a free training webinar for Commonwealth Home Care Providers (CHSP).
Are your documents accessible to everyone? Unless you have training, you risk creating documents that not everyone can use including, people living with vision loss or blindness.
When: Monday 27 November 2023, 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm (AEDT)
You will learn how to:
Use the suite of inbuilt accessibility tools in Word, PDF and Adobe Acrobat.
Check Word and PDF documents to ensure accessibility requirements have been met.
Understand the importance of accessibility in documents.
This course is free for CHSP providers and suitable for communications and marketing specialists and content authors. There are 30 spots available for this session.
Register for the webinar now.
If you’re unable to join this session, please register for a session in January or March 2024. For further information contact DigitalAccessTraining@visionaustralia.org.
Webinar: How to support older people displaying difficult behaviours
Vision Australia is sharing advice in a free webinar for Commonwealth Home Care Providers (CHSP) on supporting people displaying difficult behaviours.
When: Tuesday 21 November 2023, 12 pm to 1 pm (AEDT)
Supporting older people with difficult behaviours can be challenging, especially if they’re experiencing tough health conditions and major life changes.
With CHSP providers preparing for reform, understanding how best to support the specific emotional needs of older people is critical.
Vision Australia will discuss:
what is driving the challenging behaviour
ways to become aware of your emotions and managing unpleasant feelings
methods that unpack why the individual might be distressed
Workforce
Aged Care Registered Nurses’ Payments Round 2 - Now Open
The second round of applications for the Aged Care Registered Nurses’ Payments is now open.
Applications close on 20 December 2023.
The grant opportunity guidelines (GO6557) are available on Grant Connect.
Aged Care providers are responsible for applying on behalf of eligible Registered Nurses (RNs).
RNs directly employed through an aged care provider for 6 or 12 months can receive up to $6,000. For eligibility periods visit our website.
Additional payments are available to nurses who work in a rural or remote area, hold a relevant postgraduate qualification, or have leadership responsibilities.
For more information, visit Aged Care Registered Nurses’ Payment.
Aged care worker pay rise survey
We’re inviting workers and organisations from the aged care sector to do a short survey to tell us what the 15% pay rise has meant to you.
has it helped you to attract more workers to aged care?
does it make you want to stay working in the sector?
do you feel more valued and rewarded for the work you do?
The survey is open until 8 December 2023 and should take 10 minutes to complete.
Take the Aged Care Wage Increase Satisfaction Survey
Your feedback will help us to evaluate and understand the effect the wage increase has had on the aged care sector.
Please share the survey link with your colleagues and networks.