ADMINISTRATOR PANEL AND ADVISER PANEL
APPLICATIONGUIDE
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The document must be attributed as the Department of Social Services Aged Care Administrator and Adviser Panels, A resource guide for approved providers & panel members
Contact officer
John Coram
Quality and Monitoring
Department of Social Services
PO Box 7576
Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610
Telephone: 02 6289 1976
Email:,
Web address of this report:
Please note:
From 18 September 2013, responsibility for aged care has moved to the Department of Social Services. During this period of transition, you may continue to receive correspondence from Department of Health and Ageing email addresses.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
Panels Members
LODGING YOUR APPLICATION
Electronic Lodgement
Language
Enquiries by Applicants
Late Applications, Corrupted Files and Incomplete Applications
APPLICATION SUBMISSION
Ownership of Applicant Documents
Confidentiality
Disclosure of Information
Commercial, Technical and Financial Capacity
Security, Probity and Financial Checks
EVALUATION PROCESS
Acceptance of Applications
Compliance
Outcome of the Application Process
SPECIFIED PERSONNEL
SUB-CONTRACTORS
ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS
ADDITIONAL SERVICES
SPECIFIC ISSUES
TIMEFRAMES
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
INTRODUCTION
The Department of Social Services (the Department) is seeking applications from suitably qualified individuals or corporate entities (‘Applicants’) to be members of the Administrator Panel and/or Adviser Panel (‘Panels’) established under section 66A-1 of the Aged Care Act 1997 (‘the Act’). Applications must be lodged using the Application for Appointment to the Administrator Panel and/or Adviser Panel (the Application).
Approved providers who are subject to sanctions under the Act engage Administrators and/or Advisers from the Panels for a defined period of time in lieu of having their approved provider status revoked.
Panels Members
Under section 66A-1 of the Act the Secretary of the Department may appoint a person to a Panel if the Secretary is satisfied thatthe person:
- has the skills and experience required to assist an approved provider to comply with its responsibilities under Part 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 of the Act;
- is not a ‘disqualified individual’ under section 10A-1 of the Act (if the person is an individual);
- if a body corporate, any individual responsible for the executive decisions of the body corporate (e.g. directors, chief executive officer, managing director and any other person with the authority to make decisions on behalf of the company) is not a ‘disqualified individual’ under section 10A-1 of the Act;
- if appointed to the Panel, would not have a conflict of interest between their duties as a panel member and any of their other interests or duties; and
- is not a Commonwealth officer or employee.
Panel members are selected given their expertise in aged care, understanding of the causes of systemic failure, and knowledge about how to remedy them. They have extensive backgrounds (more than five years) senior administrative or clinical management experience, that encompassesexperience in leading and managing change, influencing and motivating others and high level communication and negotiation skills.
The Department does not guarantee that a panel memberwill be selected and engaged by an approved provider.The specific function, role, authorities, reporting requirements and clearances, and remuneration of a panel member assisting an approved provider to remedy their non-complianceare determined by negotiation between the panel member and the approvedprovider.
The Department’s regulatory role requires it to monitor the progress of the action being taken by the approved provider to rectify the non-compliance and to monitor the risk to the health, welfare and interests of care recipients and the ongoing serious nature of non-compliance with the Act. To fulfil this role the Department will require periodic progress reports from a panel member who has been appointed to work with an approved provider.
Panel members must not use their status as a panel memberfor any business or other purpose not related to their engagement by an approved provider in a specific sanction situation.Panel members are not and must not claim to be advisers to,or on behalf of, the Commonwealth or the Department. Panel members do not work for or receive any remuneration from the Commonwealth.
LODGING YOUR APPLICATION
This Application is expressly not a contract between the Commonwealth and the Applicant. Nothing in this Application is to be construed as to give rise to any contractual obligations, expressed or implied.
Electronic Lodgement
Applications must be lodged by close of business (5.00pm)ESDT onTuesday,4March 2014(‘Application Closing Date’).Late Applications will not be considered. The Department may extend the closing time at its sole and absolute discretion.
The Department requires Applicants to lodge their Application electronically via Neither the Department nor the Commonwealth take responsibility for any problems arising from the Applicant’s infrastructure and/or internet connectivity.
Two electronic copies of each Application are required, one in Microsoft Word and one in PDF format. The PDF version must include a scanned signed copy of the declarations included in the Application.
Applications must be completely self-contained. No hyperlinked or other material may be incorporated by reference.
If the applicant is a corporate entity, the representative of the Applicant who approves the Application (by signature) must have the authority to bind the company/organisation.
Before submitting an electronic Application, Applicants must:
- take all steps to ensure that the Application is free from anything that might reasonably affect useability or the security or operations of the Department’s computing environment;
- ensure that the Application complies with all file types, number of copies, format, naming conventions, size limitations or other requirements specified in this Guide or otherwise advised by the Department.
When an Applicationis successfully lodged, an email confirming receipt of the Application will be sent to the sender’s email address.
Applicants are to meet all costs of responding to this Application, including preparation, submission, postage, courier, lodgement and costs associated with attending interviews (if required).
Language
The Application, including all attachments and supporting material, must be written in English.
Enquiries by Applicants
All communications related to this Applicationshould be addressed to the Contact Officer via . Any notices of clarification regarding this application process will be posted as an Addendum on the Department’s website at
Late Applications, Corrupted Files and Incomplete Applications
Late or incomplete applications, including those with electronic files that cannot be read or decrypted, applications which the Department believes potentially contains any virus, malicious code or anything else that might compromise the integrity or security of the Department’s computing environment, will be excluded from consideration.
If the Applicant becomes aware of any discrepancy, error or omission in the Application after lodgement and wishes to lodge a correction or additional material, that correction or additional material must be in writing and lodged in accordance with the requirements specified in this guide or otherwise advised by the Department prior to the applicationclosing date.
APPLICATION SUBMISSION
Ownership of Applicant Documents
All Application documents will become the property of the Commonwealth on lodgement.
Intellectual property rights of information in the Application do not pass to the Commonwealth with the lodgement of the Application. However, in submitting an Application, the Applicant grants the Commonwealth a licence to retain, use, disclose and copy the information contained in any Application document for the purposes of:
- evaluating or clarifying the Application;
- evaluating any subsequent Application/s;
- administering the requirements for the engagement of a person as an Administrator or Adviser to an approvedprovider;
- responding to any challenge to the application process, audit and complying with governmental and parliamentary reporting requirements or requests for information, including but not limited to requests from parliament or parliamentary committees; and
- any other purpose related to the application process or above purposes.
Confidentiality
The Commonwealth undertakes to keep confidential any confidential information provided to the Commonwealth by applicants prior to any appointment and, in respect of unsuccessful applicants, after any appointments.
The obligation of confidentiality does not apply if the confidential information:
(a)is disclosed by the Commonwealth to its advisors or employees solely in order to consider the Application;
(b)is disclosed by the Commonwealth to the responsible Minister;
(c)is disclosed by the Commonwealth, in response to a request by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth;
(d)is authorised or required by law to be disclosed; or
(e)is in the public domain otherwise than due to a breach of this clause.
To enable the Commonwealth to consider whether it agrees to keep specific information confidential, Applicants must include in their Application any request that information is to be treated as confidential, if any, specifying the information and giving reasons why it is necessary to keep the information confidential.
The Commonwealth will consider any request made under this clause and will inform the Applicant whether or not the Commonwealth, in its sole discretion, agrees to the request and the terms under which it agrees.
The terms of any agreement as to confidentiality will form part of the appointment at completion of the application process.
Disclosure of Information
In this clause, ‘personal information’ has the same meaning as in thePrivacyAct 1988. The Department may collect, use and disclose any personal information collected, or provided to it by the Applicant during the course of this application process for any of the following purposes:
(a)conduct that is carried out in the establishment of the Administrator Panel and Adviser Panel under section 66A-1 of the Aged Care Act 1997;
(b)conduct that is carried out in the appointment of Administrators and Advisers under sections 66A-2 and 66A-3 of the Aged Care Act 1997; and
(c)conduct that is carried out in the selection of an Applicant or panel memberfor Additional Services, if that panel member has indicated a willingness to be considered for this role, including the provision of details to aged care industry bodies and/or aged care providers.
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (‘FOI Act’), gives to members of the public rights of access to official documents of the Commonwealth and its agencies. The FOI Act extends as far as practicable the right of the Australian community to access information (generally documents) in the possession of the Commonwealth, limited only by exceptions and exemptions necessary for the protection of essential public interests and of the private and business affairs of persons in respect of whom information is collected and held by Departments and public authorities.Information can’t be disclosed if it is ‘protected information’ under the Aged Care Act 1997. However, in certain circumstances a delegate of the Secretary may disclose such information.
Commercial, Technical and Financial Capacity
Applicants must disclose any litigation, arbitration, mediation, conciliation or proceeding, including any investigations ('Proceedings'), that are taking place, pending or threatened, against them where such Proceedings will or have the potential to affect either:
- the Applicant’s capacity to perform and fulfil its obligations if appointed as a result of this Application process; or
- the Applicant’s reputation.
In circumstances where there are no Proceedings as detailed in this clause, Applicants must make a declaration to this effect. (Refer to page 7 of the Application.)
Applicants who fail to disclose Proceedings in accordance with this clause or who fail to make a statement in accordance with this clause (as applicable) and are subsequently found to have Proceedings that the Commonwealth considers should have been disclosed will immediately be disqualified from the application process. If it is found that a successful Applicant has Proceedings as detailed in this clause after they are appointed, it may be grounds for immediate termination of the appointment.
The Department will consider the Applicant’s response to this clause and the commercial, technical or financial capacity of any Applicant or subcontractor proposed in their submissions, including the existence of any breach or default or alleged breach or default of any agreement, order or award binding upon them.
Security, Probity and Financial Checks
The Commonwealth reserves the right to perform such security, probity and/or financial investigations and procedures as the Commonwealth, in its absolute discretion, may determine are necessary in relation to each Applicant, its partners, associates, sub-contractors or related entities including consortium members and their officers or employees. Each Applicant agrees to provide, at its cost, all reasonable assistance to the Commonwealth in this regard.
Under section 66A-1 of the Act, a person is not eligible to be a member of the Administrator Panel and/or Adviser Panel if:
- the person is a ‘disqualified individual’; and
- if the person is a body corporate, any individual responsible for the executive decisions of the body corporate (including directors, chief executive officer, managing director and any other person with the authority to make decisions on behalf of the company) is a ‘disqualified individual’.
Applicants should check the relevant provisions in detail, but generally, under section 10A-1 of the Act, an individual is a ‘disqualified individual’ if:
(a)the individual has been convicted of an indictable offence;
(b)the individual is an insolvent under administration; or
(c)the individual is of unsound mind.
Applicants must note Part 4 of the Accountability Principles 1998 which prevent an approved provider engaging a person as an administrator or adviser:
(a)without a current (dated not more than 3 years before the day on which the person is engaged) national criminal history record
(b)with a national criminal history record that records a conviction for:
- murder or sexual assault; or
- any other form of assault with a sentence of imprisonment.
The Applicant is to attach to the Application an original or certified copy of a national criminal history record check obtained through the Australian Federal Police or a CrimTrac accredited agency. The national criminal history record check must be dated no more than 90 days before the date the Application is received by the Department. Where a national criminal history record check can’t be obtained within the application timeframes Applicants must attach evidence or a declaration that a national criminal history record check has been applied for. The national criminal history record check will be required prior to appointment. National criminal history record checks are required for:
- the Applicant when the Applicant is an individual;
- all individuals responsible for the executive decisions of the body corporate (including directors, chief executive officer, managing director and any other person with the authority to make decisions on behalf of the company) when the applicant is a corporate body; and
- each specified personnel and/or sub-contractorof all Applicants (i.e. Applicants that are individuals and body corporates).
The Applicant is to attach to the Application, an original or certified copy of a national insolvency search report/extract obtained through Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia (ITSA) or an accredited agency. The national insolvency check must be dated no more than 90days before the date the Application is received by the Department.
EVALUATION PROCESS
Acceptance of Applications
The Commonwealth may seek clarification of the contents of an Application from any Applicant.
Any Applicationthat does not provide all required information or which contains false or misleading information may be excluded from consideration.
Compliance
The Applicant will be taken to agree and comply with all parts of the Applicationunless the Applicant provides detail of the extent of, and reasons for, any non-compliance.
Applicants that do not meet an essential requirement will be automatically excluded from consideration.
A non-compliant Applicationmay be excluded from consideration as being incomplete; however, the Commonwealth may seek clarification from the Applicant.
Outcome of the Application Process
Each evaluation criteria is not necessarily of the same relative importance. Weightings are assigned to each evaluation criterion to reflect their relative importance. Weightings are determined by the Department.
In evaluating the Applications, the Department reserves the right to draw on information about the Applicant in the public domain or acquired in the Department’s course of business, to ascertain an Applicant’s capacity and suitability to perform the role from a commercial, financial, professional or technical perspective (along with the formal compliance check).
The Department reserves the right to only select sufficient Applicants to ensure adequate coverage of each Panel (administrator/adviser), each category (residential/community) and key functional area(quality of care/user rights/accountability), in each State and Territory jurisdiction.
All Applicants will be informed in writing of the outcome of their Application. Following this notification, Applicants may request written feedback from the Contact Officer on the outcome of their Application. This will be at the discretion of the Contact Officer, and must be requested within 7 days of receiving the notification.
SPECIFIED PERSONNEL
Applicants should provide details of any proposed personnel who may assist the panel memberin providing services to anapprovedprovider. Panel members may not use any personnel other than those stated in the Schedule of Specified Personnel attached to the panel member’s Instrument of Appointment.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring their specified personnel meet the following requirements:
- hold relevant qualifications;
- hold a current national criminal history record check;
- have declared to the Department anyconflict of interestbetween the person’s duties as a panel member and any other interests or duties of the person;
- conform to all relevant professional codes of conduct and guidelines of their respective profession/s; and
- meetall relevant national and/or state and territory employment and/or professional registration requirements.
If personnel become unavailable any replacement is subject to approval by the Department. The Department will not unreasonably withhold its consent to a request to approve additional personnel to replace those unavailable or the addition of new personnel if it is satisfied that the proposed personnel meet the requirements.