News

Australia’s population has now reached 24 million!

What does 24 million people look like?

In 1971, 28.7 per cent of the population were children (0-14 years), 63 per cent were working age (15-64 years) and 8.3 per cent of the population were aged 65+. There were 2.9 children born per woman, the median age of the population was 27.5 years and life expectancy was 68.3 years for males and 74.8 years for females. 20.2 per cent of the population was born overseas.

In 2015, 18.8 per cent of the population were children, 66.2 per cent were working age and 15 per cent were aged 65+. There were 1.8 children born per woman, the median age of the population was 37.4 years and life expectancy was 80.3 years for males and 84.4 years for females. 28.1 per cent of the population was born overseas.

Read more:

Population clock
Video: Australia’s Population Milestones: To 24 million and beyond

The Department of Health has released a new edition of its ‘Information for Aged Care Providers’ newsletter.

Information for Aged Care Providers – Issue #2016/2 (.pdf)

DoH has released information on Recruiting Allied Health Professionals.

“You may not be aware that there are options available to expand recruitment of allied health professionals. Providers can consider candidates from both regulated and self-regulated professions.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) is the administrative body for the National Regulation and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS), which regulates 14 professions. Entry of professions into the NRAS is based on an assessment of potential risk to the public by services provided by the profession.”

Read more:

Recruiting Allied Health Professionals

Monday 8th February is Chinese New Year.

2016 is the Year of the Monkey.

The Monkey is ninth of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. The 12 zodiac animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

Monkey Years of Birth: 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016

The Lucky and Unlucky Things for “Monkeys”

Lucky numbers: 4 and 9 (and numbers containing 4 and 9, like 49 and 94)
Lucky days: the 14th and 28th of any Chinese lunar calendar month
Luck months: Chinese lunar months 8 and 12
Lucky colours: White, Blue, Gold
Lucky flowers: Chrysanthemum, Crape-myrtle
Lucky direction: North, Northwest, West

The Unlucky Things That “Monkeys” Should Avoid

Unlucky colours: Red, Pink
Unlucky numbers: 2 and 7
Unlucky directions: South, Southeast
Unlucky months: Chinese lunar months 7 and 11

The Department is aware of recurring errors with ACFI claims involving ‘agitation’. If you are looking to make this claim for a resident it is important that you note the following:

– When making claims in ACFI 8 (verbal behaviour) and ACFI 9 (physical behaviour) you should refer to page 44 of the ACFI User Guide for a clear description of the behavioural symptoms.

– If the assessed care need of the ‘agitated’ behaviour is as a symptom of depression it should be scored in the Cornell Scale for Depression (CSD) and claimed in ACFI 10 (Depression), not ACFI 8 and/or ACFI 9.

– If these behaviours are not related to depression, claims should be made against ACFI 8 and 9.

The ACFI User Guide can be accessed from the department’s website.

Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) User Guide (.pdf)

Both Apple and Microsoft have recently issued a recall on some power cords/adapters.

This is for some Apple wall plug adapters shipped from 2003 to 2015 with Mac and certain iOS devices and Microsoft AC power cords for Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, and certain Surface Pro 3 devices.

Read more:

Apple AC Wall Plug Adapter Exchange Program
Microsoft AC power cord recall for Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, and certain Surface Pro 3 devices

This year is a leap year, with 366 days instead of 365. The department has received queries from Approved Providers of residential care seeking advice on how to calculate a daily accommodation payment in a leap year.

The Fees and Payments Principles 2014 (No. 2) (the Principles) refers to 365 days when the calculating the daily payment (or contribution) equivalent to a refundable deposit (or contribution).

Residential care providers should continue to use 365 days when calculating the daily amounts equivalent to lump sums, even though 2016 is a leap year. However, please note that daily payments and daily contributions are payable for 366 days in 2016.

The calculator specified in the Principles for determining the maximum permissible interest rate (MPIR) applicable on a given day refers to the number of calendar days in the relevant year. If you are calculating the MPIR in accordance with section 6 of the Principles, you should use 366 days. The MPIR advised by the department (currently 6.22% until 31 March 2016) accounts for 2016 being a leap year.

From 1 February 2016, Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACATs) will start to use My Aged Care to conduct comprehensive assessments and referrals.

The transition dates for each jurisdiction are provided in the link below.

Read more:

Service Provider readiness for the ACAT Transition

The Department of Health has released a new edition of its ‘Information for Aged Care Providers’ newsletter.

Information for Aged Care Providers – Issue #2016/1 (.pdf)

Media Release: 25 January 2016

The Australian Government today announced the next phase in a new national approach to programmes and services supporting people with dementia and their carers.

Minister for Aged Care, Sussan Ley, said the restructure follows the findings of last year’s Analysis of Dementia Programmes report which showed us what was working well and what can be improved.

“What I want to see is a nationally streamlined approach to the design, development and outcomes from dementia programmes and services”, Ms Ley said.

Read more:

New national approach to dementia support (.pdf)