Council confirms aged care exit

By Lachlan Ellis

Council will officially cease delivering aged care and disability services from 1 July this year, following a decision at the 3 March Ordinary Meeting of Council.

The move confirms an in-principle decision made in December 2021, prompted by a decision from the Commonwealth Government to transition out of funding services funded under the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP), Home and Community Care Program for Younger People (HACC-PYP), and Regional Assessment Services (RAS).

At the 3 March meeting, Councillors approved a range of recommendations, including accepting that “Moorabool Shire Council, along with many other Victorian councils, will not be able to play a meaningful future role in service delivery” due to cost and other challenges.

However, Council has committed to helping aged and disability care clients in the transition process and advocating for their needs, including through the expression of interest process, which will choose a successor provider.

The successor provider will ultimately be decided by the Commonwealth Government, but Council will make recommendations to the Commonwealth to “ensure continuity of service”.

Mayor Cr Tom Sullivan told the Moorabool News the decision was not taken lightly, but could result in some unexpected benefits for the community.

“Our priorities are the residents of Moorabool who use or may require aged care and disability services, and making sure they continue to receive the same level of service they are currently receiving under Council’s programs, noting that these service providers can provide a suite of services outside of Council’s capacity to ensure older community members are supported,” he said.

“This decision could free up some resources to re-invest into the area…it could be advantageous in some ways. We could perhaps provide services that we haven’t been able to in the past.

“In an earlier meeting, one Councillor said seven per cent of their aged community were using aged care services, and 93 per cent weren’t. So, freeing up that money may leave more for the ‘Age Well, Live Well Strategy’ and benefit more people.”

To read the full story – Simply click on the following link

https://issuu.com/themooraboolnews/docs/mn_2022-03-08/10

in the 8 March 2022 edition
OR
pick up a paper around your town.