Home and Community Care Program
456 organisations share in over $21M to provide support to seniors to stay in their homes.
Overview
The Home and Community Care (HACC) Program provides community care services to frail aged and younger people with disabilities, and their carers.
What is the HACC Program?
The Home and Community Care (HACC) Program is a joint Australian, State and Territory Government Initiative.
The HACC Program provides services such as domestic assistance, personal care as well as professional allied health care and nursing services, in order to support older Australians, younger people with a disability and their carers to be more independent at home and in the community and to reduce the potential or inappropriate need for admission to residential care.
Some of the services funded through the HACC Program include:
- nursing care;
- allied health care;
- meals and other food services;
- domestic assistance;
- personal care;
- home modification and maintenance;
- transport;
- respite care;
- counselling, support, information and advocacy;
- assessment.
Aims
The HACC Program delivers high quality, affordable and accessible services in the community that are essential to the well being of eligible older Australians, younger people with a disability, and their carers.
The Program aims to support these people to be more independent at home and in the community, and reduce the potential or inappropriate need for admission to a residential care facility.
The Program is a key element of the Australian Government’s aged-care policy and its vision for a world-class community care system.
Background
The HACC Program is a joint Australian Government, State and Territory initiative under the auspices of the Home and Community Care Act 1985. Nationally, the Australian Government contributes approximately 60 per cent of Program funding and maintains a broad strategic policy role.
The Program provides funding for services which support people who are frail aged, younger people with a disability and their carers, who live at home and whose capacity for independent living is at risk or who are at risk of premature or inappropriate admission to long term residential care.
The HACC Program is part of a broader framework of community and health services funded through the Australian Government or States and Territories, or jointly. The services within this framework are both residential and community based, for example, community health care services, disability services (such as accommodation and attendant care), residential aged care homes, Community Aged Care Packages (CACPs), Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH), the National Respite for Carers Program (NRCP) and the Veterans’ Home Care Program administered by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Recipients
Some of the recipients included:
- Baptcare – $105,000 to expand existing day centre services in North Western Tasmania.
- Lifeline – an additional $218,000 to expand the CHATs Program in to North and North Western Tasmania.
- Anglicare – an additional $1,005,000 to provide extra hours of domestic assistance, and personal care across the state.
- Family Based Care North West – $170,000 to undertake a one-off project to assist people living in squalor.
- Stanhope Healthcare – $80,000 to deliver 1,970 additional hours of personal care.
- Volunteering Tasmania – $90,000 to undertake research on the impact of ageing on volunteerism in Tasmania.
- $2,600,000 to the Royal District Nursing Service Ltd to expand nursing services in Metropolitan Melbourne
- $400,000 to Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association of Victoria Inc to expand the rural hub providing dementia services in Grampians and Barwon regions
- $16,000 to Lorne Community Hospital to establish a dementia planned activity group in Surf Coast
- $101,000 to Australian Croation Community Services, an ethno specific service provider to expand social support services in Casey and Whittlesea
- $62,500 to Kincare Community Services for enhanced respite care services in South East Sydney
- $160,000 to Tweed Byron & Ballina Community Transport for enhanced Community Transport services in the Tweed and Ballina areas
- $50,000 to Warrigal Care for enhanced Personal Care services in Kiama, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, and Wollongong
- $10,000 to the Multi-purpose Allira Gathering Association Inc for enhanced Centre-Based Day Care services in Dubbo.
- $1.98 million for Alzheimers Australia NSW to implement projects aimed at improving care for people with dementia.
- $62,500 to Kincare Community Services for enhanced respite care services in South East Sydney
- $160,000 to Tweed Byron & Ballina Community Transport for enhanced Community Transport services in the Tweed and Ballina areas
- $50,000 to Warrigal Care for enhanced Personal Care services in Kiama, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, and Wollongong
- $10,000 to the Multi-purpose Allira Gathering Association Inc for enhanced Centre-Based Day Care services in Dubbo.
- $1.98 million for Alzheimers Australia NSW to implement projects aimed at improving care for people with dementia.
Media Release – 4 December 2012
Seniors in Western Australia will receive more support to stay in their homes thanks to an $18.8 million boost to the Home and Community Care Program.
Federal Minister for Ageing Mark Butler announced the funding today which will ensure more services, to more older West Australians than ever before.
“Older Australians across the country are saying they want more support to stay in their own homes, for as long as possible and we’ve listened to that message.” Mr Butler said.
“This additional funding means 70,000 more WA seniors will get access to domestic assistance, personal care, social support and respite, helping them live in their own communities and avoid premature entry to residential aged care.”
Mr Butler said the funding boost brings total planned expenditure on HACC services to more than $247 million this financial year.
“More than 100 services that deliver HACC support across the state will benefit,” Mr Butler said.
“This includes $329,000 for Bayswater Extended Community Help Organisation and $112,000 to Community Vision to expand their care and transport services within the East Metropolitan and North Metropolitan regions.”
“Both services will also receive additional funding for new vehicles, and regional and remote services will receive funding to improve their telecommunications systems.”
Regional services to benefit from additional funding include:
- The Ngaanyatjarra Health Service in the Goldfields which gains $196,000 for a new building and car.
- $134,000 to Harvey Health and Community Services Group in the state’s South West to expand its services.
- $80,000 to Kimberley Remote Aged Care Services, which includes equipment for its day centre.
And more than $3 million has been made available to Silver Chain Nursing Association to increase its nursing and allied health services to HACC clients.
