Aged and Disability Services
Central Goldfields Shire Council transitioned away from delivering in-home aged and community-based services from 1 March, 2024.
Both the State and Commonwealth Governments have appointed new in-home aged and community-based service providers for Central Goldfields Shire residents.
Intereach are the new provider for the Home and Community Care Program for Younger People.
Maryborough District Health Service, mecwacare and Uniting AgeWell are the new providers for the Commonwealth Home support program for people over the age of 65.
We thank our Community Care Team for providing wonderful services to the community for many years.
Background Information
Who will provide services from 1 March 2024?
Maryborough District Health Service, mecwacare and Uniting AgeWell have been named as the new providers for the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) for people over the age of 65.
Intereach has been named as the new provider for the Home and Community Care Program for Younger People (HACC PYP).
Why did Council consider its role and focus in aged care services?
From 1 July 2024 it is anticipated that eligible Central Goldfields Shire residents will have choice over who, how and where their services are delivered and will have the opportunity to choose an aged care provider that can deliver a range of services that suits their current and future needs and priorities. This may or may not be their current provider. For example, a resident may choose to have delivered meals by one provider and personal care by a different provider.
For Council to remain a provider of some or all community-based aged care services, it would have needed to compete for available funding, retain current clients and attract new clients to purchase its services to remain viable.
Council would have needed to introduce changes to the way it currently manages and provides community aged care services to meet future regulatory requirements and to remain feasible in a new market environment.
Given the introduction of changes as a result of the aged care reform, Council needed to consider and respond to these future arrangements and explore how it may best meet the needs and aspirations of its older residents and ageing community now and into the future.
What are the Commonwealth government aged care reforms?
The Commonwealth government has been reforming the aged care sector for the past decade as part of its National Reform of Aged Care.
The Commonwealth determined reform was necessary to ensure the aged care sector can meet the needs of the ageing population in an efficient, fair and sustainable way, and also increase consumer choice.
Some changes have already taken place, such as the introduction of My Aged Care and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Under the current model, Council is responsible for entry-level client assessment and delivery of basic aged care support via the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP).
From July 1, 2024 the Support at Home (SAH) program will be a new, integrated program that will combine the CHSP and a range of other aged care programs. The SAH program will change the delivery of aged care services.