Mildura Council make “tough” decision to drop aged care

Mildura Council has made the “tough” decision to withdraw from offering aged care and other at-home support services.

Mildura Rural City councillors have voted to withdraw from offering in-home care.

Mildura Rural City councillors have voted to withdraw from offering in-home care to residents, including aged care and other support services.

It was decided that the Commonwealth funded aged care programs delivered by the council will transition to a new model of care called the ‘Support at Home’ Program, which will be introduced in July 2023.

Mildura Mayor Liam Wood said it was a “tough decision” but the “right one for our community”.

“Making this decision now, more than 12 months before the Commonwealth’s proposed shift to the new Support at Home model, ensures our valuable clients and dedicated staff will be as prepared as they can be,” he said.

Under this new program agencies will register as providers of ‘Support at Home’ in a similar way they register as a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) providers. Customers can then choose to receive services from an agency of their choice, with funding provided to clients directly rather than service providers.

In January, the council said that it would not be able to provide services under the Support at Home model or the National Disability Insurance Scheme, sighting the federal government’s reforms to the aged and disability services sector.

According to council these reforms require “dramatic changes to financial, corporate and clinical governance structures to operate”.

“The new competitive market for service providers will not allow council to operate in the system, as any council subsidy will result in a breach of the Government’s Competitive Neutrality Policy. It is therefore in the best interests of our community to proactively transition out of all in-home aged care services,” the report reads.

The council undertook a consultation process in which one member of the community expressed concern about the quality of aged care services and thought that council should “try harder” to get more funding from the government to allow them to continue with the services.

“She expressed concern for those clients who did not have the means to be able to speak up and she wanted to speak on their behalf and let it be known she is not happy,” the report reads.

The council has promised it would help clients to transition to the new model which will include the employment of an officer to support clients into the transition process.

Studies in 2021 across 30 different councils found that in home support services were costing ratepayers about $800,000 per annum and that by making this transition ratepayers contributions could be redirected to other priority areas.

Twenty three councils across Victoria have announced their exit from aged care services this year, all sighting increased costs from the federal and state governments.