Moonee Valley Council makes services call ahead of aged care reforms and NDIS scheme

MOONEE VALLEY Council has made bold decisions on the futures of its aged care and disability services. One of them comes with a warning of “significant” potential job losses.

MOONEE VALLEY Council will continue to offer aged care services despite unsecure future Federal funding.

Councillors last week voted unanimasly to continue council services despite an officer’s report that found the introduction of the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) and national aged care reforms would change the way aged care services were funded.

Currently, the Federal Government gives $4.8 million in block funding for CHSP services to Moonee Valley Council, but this was only secured until 2019.

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Deputy Mayor Samantha Byrne said she went home in tears earlier this month after Council voted to not continue its disability services under the NDIS.

The Government suggested funding would be extended until June 2020, but no further agreement had been reached. Councillors received a round of applause from the public gallery after rejecting a proposal to subcontract out and eventually exit the service area.

Councillor Nicole Marshall said she was sick of the provision of services being reduced to a dollar figure.

“I don’t want to be a council that knows the price of everything but the value of nothing,” she said. Forecast data showed that between 2016 and 2041, Moonee Valley’s population would increase by 54,059.

Of those, 12,074 people would be aged over 60.

Cr Marshall argued there was evidence the privatisation of care throughout Australia was not delivering the best results for clients.

Councillor Nicole Marshall received rounds of applause this week for sticking up for council’s continuation of aged care services.

The council provides aged care services to about 16 per cent of seniors who reside in Moonee Valley.

The City Services’ report warned that if funding was not continued there may be the need for mass redundancies.

This would lead to significant job losses for Moonee Valley’s part-time workforce and cost the council up to $6 million, it said.

Councillors locked horns earlier this month over the future of services for Moonee Valley residents with disability.

A motion to not register the council as an National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider was passed five votes to two.

Residents who access services under the council’s Home and Community Care Program for younger Persons (HACC PYP) can choose to transition to the NDIS at the start of October.

Croydon resident Geoff Woodrow has Motor Neurone Disease and has been told by the National Disability Insurance Scheme it will not fund modifications to his car because he will die soon and they won't get "value for money." Picture David Geraghty

The new scheme will see support for people with disability shift from a block funding model to an individualised funding model.

But there is currently no provider willing to take on the role.

The council called for tender applications in April, to deliver its current HACC PYP services under a subcontract arrangement that included maintaining disability services staff under the same wages and conditions.

No submissions were received.

Potential providers said maintaining staff was too costly and the proposal was too close to the NDIS implementation — not leaving enough time to develop a relationship with clients.

Deputy Mayor Samantha Byrne supported the council becoming a provider and said it was critical that residents were not left in a worse position when NDIS was rolled out.

“We are talking about some of the most vulnerable people in our municipality,” she said.

Councillor Cam Nation was against council signing onto the NDIS because it was important to “safeguard the stewardship role of council”.

He said the council had limited scope and could not offer as many services as a private provider.

Disability service staff will be moved to council’s aged care services.

The Brotherhood of St Lawrence will provide Local Area co-ordination and Early Childhood Early Intervention services.

It won’t provide disability services but will work with residents with disability to help them select a disability service provider.