At its meeting on Tuesday, 22 March, Council resolved to transition out of the delivery of aged and disability care, with the services to move to a dedicated sector provider.
The impacted services are home and community care services to assist older people, those recovering from acute care and people with disabilities to continue to live independently in the community, including the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) and Home and Community Care for Younger People (HACCPYP).
Service clients and their families will be directly informed of Council’s decision and will be supported through the transition by Council management and the Active Ageing & Inclusion team. All clients will continue to receive the services they are currently provided without interruption, with Council’s delivery to cease on 30 June 2022 and a new dedicated provider starting in-home care on 1 July 2022. Beyond the date of service transfer, Council staff will continue to be available to support clients through the transition and will offer dedicated navigation support to existing and new clients of aged and disability services in the Shire.
Council management has been supporting affected staff during the Best Value Review process which began in November 2021 and all staff have been informed of Council’s decision to transition from the current service delivery. Moving forward, affected staff will be supported individually through a range of options including redeployment opportunities, paid redundancies and advice on future career pathways in the aged and disability care sector.
The Australian Government has sole policy and funding responsibility for the delivery of aged services and has announced a new national system for the sector that will be implemented from 1 July 2023. It is a significant change and Council’s Best Value Review of Aged and Disability Services determined that this new system will negatively impact Council’s commitment to deliver high quality services that provide the best value to the community.
Mayor Cr Gavin Gamble said that the Council is committed to supporting clients, families and staff through the transition of care services and will continue to offer positive ageing and social connection programs in the Shire.
“The resolution of Council to transition out of aged and disability care services was considered very seriously and it was a challenging decision.
“For many years Council has had the privilege of providing these services to our more vulnerable residents and it is regrettable that the new national system for the aged and disability care sector means we cannot continue to deliver high quality services to the community.
“Council cares about all our aged and disability clients and their families, and we want them to receive the very best in-homes services. Under the new nation-wide system for the sector, the service will be best delivered by a dedicated care provider and Council is committed to supporting all our clients and their families in this transition and ensuring continuity of care.
“Over the past four months, Council has communicated with affected staff members and we greatly appreciate their engagement in the Best Value Review. With this decision, Council management will meet with all these team members, providing information on redeployment and paid redundancies, free counselling services for them and their families, and support the move to new employment in the aged and disability sector.
“While Council will transition out of care service delivery, the Active Ageing & Inclusion team will continue to serve our community members with new programs to promote positive ageing, improve access and inclusion, assist with service navigation and information, and create more opportunities for social connection.
“We appreciate that this change of service delivery is an important decision and we encourage all clients and family members to call Council’s Active Ageing & Inclusion team to have a chat on 5220 7151. We are happy to answer all your questions as we move through the transition of service providers.”
Tuesday's decision followed the consideration of the Best Value Review of Aged and Disability Services that was requested by Council at its meeting on 23 November 2022. All clients and their families, staff and community members were invited to make a submission on the current and anticipated needs of aged and disability services, and the barriers to ageing well in Golden Plains Shire from 23 November to 21 December, 2021. There were 47 responses received during the consultation process; 38 were from clients and community members and 9 were from staff members. All feedback was presented to Council with the Best Value Review
The Best Value Review of Aged and Disability Services reported on the current service delivery model, quality and costs standards, and an external Expression of Interest (EOI) of service providers. Local councils who opt to transition out of service delivery prior to the implementation of the new national system have the option of confidentially informing the Australian Government of recommended quality providers, and from the Best Value Review EOI process, preferred providers were identified and will be communicated by Council to the Australian Government.