Note: Part 2.6 of the Aged Care Act 1997
Part 2.6 of the Aged Care Act 1997 is about the certification of residential care services.
Only if a residential care service has been certified under Part 2.6 of the Act, may an approved provider:
(a) charge an accommodation bond or an accommodation charge; or
(b) receive an accommodation supplement, a concessional resident supplement or a charge exempt resident supplement.
The Certification Principles deal with a number of aspects of the certification process.
Part 1 Preliminary
8.1 Citation [see Note 1]
These Principles may be cited as the Certification Principles 1997.
8.2 Commencement
These Principles commence on 1 October 1997.
8.3 Definitions
In these Principles:
Act means the Aged Care Act 1997.
resident means a person to whom care is provided in a residential care service.
State includes a Territory.
| Note: Definitions A number of expressions used in these Principles are defined in the Aged Care Act 1997 (see Dictionary in Schedule 1), including: |
| · approved provider · certified · place | · residential care · residential care service. |
8.4 References to relevant State law
In these Principles, a reference to a relevant State law, for a residential care service, is a reference to the law of the State where the residential care service is being provided.
Example of a State law:
Law made by a local government authority.
Part 2 Application requirements
8.6 Applications to be signed by appropriate person
(1) The application must be signed by a person authorised, in writing, to act for the applicant.
(2) The application must state:
(a) the position and title of the person signing the application; and
(b) that the person is authorised to act for the applicant.
8.7 First application
(1) The application must state the following details:
(a) the name of the residential care service;
(b) the address of the place where the service is being provided;
(c) the postal address of the service;
(d) the number of places allocated to the applicant for the service;
(e) if a building in which the service is being provided is leased — the term of the lease and the lessor’s name and address.
(2) If the applicant has been approved, under the Act, to provide another aged care service in the State where the residential care service is being provided, the application must also state the following details:
(a) the name of the other service;
(b) the address of the place where the other service is being provided;
(c) the postal address of the other service;
(d) if a building in which the other service is being provided is leased — the lessor’s name and address.
8.8 Application following refusal to certify or certification ceasing to have effect
(1) This section applies if:
(a) the Secretary has previously refused to certify the residential care service; or
(b) the certification has lapsed under section 39‑2 of the Act; or
(c) the certification has been revoked under section 39‑3 or 39‑5 of the Act; or
(d) the certification has been revoked or suspended under Part 4.4 of the Act.
(2) The application must also give details of any improvements that have been made to the buildings or equipment being used to provide the service, or the residential care being provided by the service, since certification was refused or ceased to have effect.
Part 3 Determination of applications
8.9 Purpose of Part (Act, s 38‑3)
This Part specifies additional matters to which the Secretary is to have regard in considering an application for certification of a residential care service.
8.10 The matters
(1) The Secretary must have regard to the following matters:
(a) the assessment of the residential care service carried out under subsection 38‑4 (1) of the Act;
(b) if an extreme hazard is identified in the assessment — any steps taken by the approved provider of the service to remove the hazard;
(c) whether, under section 65‑1 of the Act, sanctions have been imposed on the approved provider of the service;
(d) whether, under paragraph 77 (c) or 79 (c) of the Aged Care (Consequential Provisions) Act 1997, the approved provider of the service is taken to have been given a notice of non‑compliance under section 67‑2 of the Act;
(e) whether, under section 67‑4 of the Act, the approved provider of the service has been given a notice to remedy non‑compliance by the provider with its responsibilities under Part 4.1, 4.2 or 4.3 of the Act;
(f) whether, under section 67‑5 of the Act, the approved provider has been notified that the Secretary has decided to impose a sanction on the provider in respect of non‑compliance by the approved provider with its responsibilities under Part 4.1, 4.2 or 4.3 of the Act.
Note The approved provider’s responsibilities under Parts 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 of the Act relate to the quality of care provided by the residential care service, the rights of users of the service, and accountability for the care provided by the service.
(2) The Secretary may also have regard to any other relevant matter, including, for example:
(a) whether the buildings and equipment being used to provide the residential care service, and the residential care being provided by the service, meet the requirements of any relevant State law or State or local government authority;
(b) whether any of the buildings or equipment are subject to an order by a State or local government authority for repair, renovation or restoration because it is a fire hazard, or is otherwise dangerous to the health or safety of the residents or staff of the service;
(c) any findings by a Commonwealth, State or local government authority about the standard of the buildings or equipment being used to provide the service, or the standard of the residential care being provided by the service.
Part 4 Assessment of residential care service
8.11 Purpose of Part (Act, s 38‑4)
This Part deals with matters relevant to the power of the Secretary to require a residential care service to be assessed for the purpose of deciding whether to certify the service.
8.12 Authorisation of person or body to carry out assessment
The Secretary may authorise a person or body to carry out an assessment of a residential care service only if:
(a) the person or body is independent of the Department; and
(b) the Secretary is satisfied that the person or body is qualified to carry out the assessment; and
(c) the Secretary has approved the equipment, assessment form, and method of evaluation, to be used by the person or body to carry out the assessment; and
(d) the person or body has agreed to:
(i) use the approved equipment, assessment form, and method of evaluation, to carry out the assessment; and
(ii) prepare a report setting out the findings of the assessment.
8.13 Aspects of residential care service to be assessed
The Secretary may approve a method of evaluation for an assessment only if the evaluation deals with the following aspects of the residential care service:
(a) whether the service provides a secure and safe environment for residents and staff;
(b) the exits from the service (for example, the number of exits, their width, and how they are identified);
(c) whether the service has adequate smoke‑free compartments;
(d) whether the service has:
(i) adequate fire protection (for example, fire detectors, alarms and fire fighting equipment); and
(ii) appropriate emergency evacuation systems;
(e) whether there are any hazards within or outside any of the buildings;
(f) whether the service provides adequate personal privacy to residents (having regard to, for example, the number of beds in each room);
(g) whether the buildings have adequate facilities to enable residents to move freely within the buildings (for example, ramps, rails, and lifts);
(h) whether the buildings have adequate heating and cooling facilities;
(i) whether the buildings have adequate lighting and ventilation;
(j) whether the service provides a home‑like environment;
(k) whether there is access to community services (for example, public transport, banks, medical care, pharmacies, shopping centres).
Note Under subsection 38‑4 (2) of the Act, the assessment of the residential care service may relate to any other aspect of the service that the Secretary considers relevant to the suitability of the service for certification.
8.14 Report of assessment
As soon as practicable after finishing the assessment, the person or body authorised to carry out the assessment must:
(a) prepare a report setting out the findings of the assessment; and
(b) give the report to the Secretary.
8.15 Findings of assessment to be given to applicant
(1) After the residential care service is assessed, the Secretary must give the applicant:
(a) a copy of the assessment report; and
(b) a copy of any other findings used by the Secretary in deciding whether to certify the service.
Examples of other findings:
1. Findings by a Commonwealth, State or local government authority about the standard of the buildings or equipment being used to provide the service, or the standard of the residential care being provided by the service.
2. Findings about whether the approved provider is complying with the Accreditation Standards set out in Part 3 of the Quality of Care Principles 1997.
(2) The copies must be given to the applicant when the notice setting out the Secretary’s determination is given to the applicant under subsection 38‑6 (1) of the Act.
Part 5 Application fees
8.17 Amount of fee
The application fee for certification of a residential care service is:
(a) for a service that has less than 10 places allocated to it — $150; or
(b) for a service that has more than 46 places allocated to it — $700; or
(c) for any other service — $15 for each place allocated to the service.
8.18 Fee increases
(1) In this section:
application fee, for a financial year, means an application fee applying in the financial year.
CPI number means the All Groups Consumer Price Index number (that is, the weighted average of the 8 Australian capital cities) published by the Australian Statistician.
earlier CPI number, for a financial year, means the CPI number for the last March quarter before the beginning of the financial year.
latest CPI number, for a financial year, means the CPI number for the March quarter in the financial year.
(2) If, for a financial year, the latest CPI number is more than the earlier CPI number, the amount of each application fee is increased on 1 July of the next financial year.
(3) The amount of the increased fee is the amount worked out in accordance with the formula:
(4) If, apart from this subsection, the amount of an application fee increased under this section would be an amount of dollars and cents, the amount is to be rounded to the nearest whole dollar and, if the amount to be rounded is 50 cents, rounded down.
(5) If, at any time, whether before or after the commencement of these Principles, the Australian Statistician publishes a CPI number in substitution for a CPI number previously published, the publication of the later CPI number is to be disregarded for this section.
(6) However, if, at any time, whether before or after the commencement of these Principles, the Australian Statistician changes the reference base for the Consumer Price Index, then, in applying this section after the change is made, regard is to be had only to numbers published in terms of the new reference base.
8.19 No refunds
If the application is unsuccessful, the application fee is not refundable.