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Page 10 The Moorabool News – 8 March, 2022
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Council confirms aged care exit 93 per cent weren’t. So, freeing up that money may leave more for the ‘Age Well, Live Well Strategy’ and benefit more people.”
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 successor provider has not yet been decided by the Commonwealth, but Council has asked for a decision within the next four weeks.
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.
Manager of Active Ageing and Diversity, Belinda Stewart, said around 840 clients and 38 staff (23 full-time equivalent) would be affected by the change, but staff were well-placed to get work with the successor provider.
unexpected benefits for the community.
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.
“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.
The successor provider will ultimately be decided by the Commonwealth Government, but Council will make recommendations to the Commonwealth to “ensure continuity of service”.
“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.
Mayor Cr Tom Sullivan told the Moorabool News the decision was not taken lightly, but could result in some
“In an earlier meeting, one Councillor said seven per cent of their aged community were using aged care services, and
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“We’ve had our first staff briefing with half of our team… it’s obviously a challenging day, but the staff responded very well to the briefing. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that our staff are so incredibly skilled and qualified in what they do, and there’s such a shortage of high-quality and skilled workers in this sector,” she told the Moorabool News. “Any new provider coming in will need to employ new staff to fill the service requirements for Moorabool, so our staff are certainly in a very good position in terms of future employment opportunities. As part of our obligations to current staff, they’re also able to access outplacement training – so we can offer resume writing, interview preparation, and job search support.” A letter went out to clients of the Aged Care program on Monday 7 March, and Council plans to case manage each client once the provider is known with clients’ consent, to ensure the new provider can meet their individual needs.
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