Changes To Our Aged Care Services

Following the Australian Governments aged care reforms, Council recently made the difficult decision to start exiting from providing several in-home services for older residents.

City of Port Phillip will continue to deliver community-based services such as:

• Delivered meals
• Transport
• Social connection programs
• Hop-on-hop-off bus program.

The following services will be delivered by another provider under the Australian Government's Support at Home Program:

• Cleaning assistance in the home
• Assistance with personal care and showering
• Assistance with one-on-one shopping
• In-home respite care
• Property maintenance and home modifications.

The 650 residents currently receiving in-home services will not experience any gap during this transition. Our staff will continue to visit them until arrangements with not-for-profit providers of their choice to take up these services have commenced.

We believe this, and our unique new Community Connector role, will ensure the smoothest possible transition as well as establishing our Council as the first port of call for older people wanting trusted advice on how to navigate the entire, often complex, aged care system.

Under our new Village Model, we will continue to deliver meals and social support programs, provide a free hop-on hop-off community bus to help people get around and stay socially connected and run activities including our annual Seniors Festival and valued Linking Neighbours program. This is not a cost-cutting measure - our Community Service funding will receive an extra $65,000 each year.

Council have not made this decision lightly as we understand change can be challenging for everyone and many clients have provided wonderful feedback about their Council staff.

However, the Australian Government aged care reforms require significant extra resources and make it incredibly hard for us to compete with other providers. We have already lost staff and clients and the new federal funding model will put us on the backfoot by not providing block funding in advance.

Moving forward, the Australian Government will take the time to assemble a panel of not-for profit providers for residents to choose from.

We will then start transitioning clients in stages over three to four months. We will have a team of staff, as well as our Community Connector service, who will be there every step of the way to assist clients seeking advice about how to arrange a new provider. We expect everyone will have a new provider by the end of August 2024.

We have already sent out letters to all our clients, and we are working through contacting all clients via phone by the end of April 2024 to discuss these changes in detail.

We have included some frequently asked questions below. If you would like to speak to a member of our team about these changes, you can contact them directly on 03 9209 6882 or email [email protected]

Frequently asked questions

• What are the changes happening to Council's in-home aged care services?

  Following the Australian Government's Aged Care reforms and extensive consultation with our clients and staff, Council has made the difficult decision to stop delivering in-home aged care services by end of August 2024.

  Clients using these services will be transitioned to a specialist aged care provider of their choice under the Australian Government's Support at Home Program. This transition will provide quality outcomes for older people in the City of Port Phillip, providing a wider choice of providers and a broader range of services across all care levels, which will allow older people to age at home for longer.

• What in-home aged care services will Council no longer provide?

  Services that will be transitioning to new providers under the Australian Government's Support at Home Program are:

  • Cleaning assistance in your home
  • Assistance with personal care and showering
  • Assistance with one on one shopping
  • In-home respite care
  • Property maintenance and home modifications.

• I am a client accessing in-home services; what do these changes mean for me?

  There are no immediate changes to your regular services. 

  We will continue to provide these services until we can transition each client to a provider of their choice through the Australian Government's Support at Home Program.

  You will be contacted individually by our transition team to start this process; you do not need to do anything now.

  Our transition team will contact you shortly and support you through the transition period to ensure you are happy with your choice of provider and assist you to change if you are not.

  You will not need to be reassessed by My Aged Care. You will remain eligible for all services you receive now. 

  We expect the cost for services to be similar to what you pay now.

• What do I need to do?

  At this time, there is nothing you need to do.

  We will be in touch before April 2024 to discuss these changes with you, and on an ongoing bases as the transition of your service takes place.

• Who will my new provider be?

  You will be able to choose your provider from a list provided to you by the Australian Government. The new provider will be a specialist aged care provider.

  These specialist aged care providers will have a local presence, have a history of delivering quality aged care services and be able to meet clinical governance requirements under the new Support at Home Program (SHP) and be able to offer a range of services.

  We do not have a list of providers from the Australian Government at this stage, but will keep you updated when we know more.

• Will City of Port Phillip support me through these changes?

  We heard our community's concerns about providing support for our older residents who may have a change in provider of services. As a result, we have set up a dedicated team to ensure a smooth transition for our clients as they move to the Australian Government's Support at Home program. This will ensure that clients are provided the same level of support and care they currently receive, and that City of Port Phillip can continue to be a central point of contact for questions and concerns during the transition period and beyond.

  Our transition team will work closely with clients individually to support the transition to a provider of choice. We will also continue to assist older people in our community to connect to and navigate services and support that help them age well at home.

• What services will City of Port Philip continue to provide?

  The City of Port Phillip will continue to deliver community-based services such as delivered meals, transport, social connection programs and our hop-on-hop-off bus program.

  We will also be delivering a new dedicated service to connect community with information, activities and services.

  We will also continue providing our Seniors Festival program, working closely with our Older Persons Advisory Committee, as well as continuing our Linking Neighbours' programs, and older adults programming in libraries, events and activities.  

  Council has a strong and ongoing commitment to supporting older people, which is highlighted in our Positive Ageing Policy. 

• What will happen to my support worker?

  We have an amazing team of aged care workers, who take great pride in what they do. We know that many of our clients have developed great relationships with our staff and will be concerned about their future.

  Rest assured, we are providing a range of support to our staff, including pathways to employment with the new providers, upskilling opportunities, redeployment to other roles within Council and financial support options.

• Why has Council made this decision?

  Council has evaluated how it needs to respond to changes in requirements to provide aged care services funded by the Australian Government under the new Support at Home Program. These changes have meant that all Victorian Councils have had to assess their role in providing aged care services.

  Following a robust assessment, it is clear that Council can no longer meet all the requirements under the new program for in-home services, as it currently provides entry-level supports. Under the Support at Home Program, Council would need to provide services for the full continuum, from entry-level to complex care. Council does not have the capacity or workforce to meet quality standards to deliver this range of care. These services would be best delivered by specialist aged care providers as they have a diverse workforce and increased capacity to meet complex client needs, clinical governance and quality standards.  

  It's important to note that Council has not made this decision for financial reasons, and we will continue the same investment for programs to support older people in our community.

• Who can I contact if I have questions about these changes?

  Our transition team will be in touch with all clients via phone before April 2024 to discuss these changes in detail and provide next steps.

  In the meantime, if you have questions or concerns, you can contact the team on [email protected] or phone (03) 9209 6882.