2015 AGED CARE APPROVALS ROUND - ESSENTIAL GUIDE
CHAPTER 5 – CAPITAL GRANT PROGRAM GUIDELINES
RURAL, REGIONAL AND OTHER SPECIAL NEEDS BUILDING FUND – PROGRAM GUIDELINES 2015
A. Introduction
The Rural, Regional and Other Special Needs Building Fund (the Fund) is administered by the Department of Social Services (the Department). It provides capital grants for the construction or upgrade of residential aged care buildings:
· in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia; and/or
· which specifically focus on the provision of residential aged care to people from special needs groups or concessional, supported, assisted or low-means residents (as defined under the Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act)), including in major cities; and/or
· in a location where there is a demonstrated need for additional residential aged care services.
Capital grants are only available to organisations that cannot afford to fund the proposed capital works without a grant from the Australian Government.
The Fund operates under the provisions of Part 5 of the Act, and the Residential Care Grant Principles 1997 (the Principles).
Up to $67 million in capital grants is available under the Fund for allocation through the 2015 Aged Care Approvals Round (ACAR). This includes approximately $11.5 million that has been earmarked to support access to residential aged care for older people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities (CALD).
In line with the Australian Government’s commitment to addressing homelessness, in the 2015 ACAR the Government is aiming to provide a capital grant for at least one new specialist residential aged care facility for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Applicants may apply for a capital grant only or an allocation of residential aged care places plus a capital grant. To apply for a capital grant only - you must use the ‘Residential Aged Care Places’ application form, completing Part A once for your organisation and Part C for each service where you are seeking a capital grant. To apply for both residential aged care places and a capital grant – you must use the ‘Residential Aged Care Places’ application form, completing Part A once for your organisation, Part B for each service for which you are seeking residential aged care places and Part C for each service where you are seeking a capital grant.
B. Purpose of this section
These guidelines are designed to provide details of the Fund and its operation for prospective capital grant applicants in the 2015 ACAR, including information about the activities for which capital grants are available, who can apply, how applications will be assessed, how to lodge an application and what successful applicants need to do.
These guidelines may be revised and updated for future ACARs.
As noted above, the Fund operates under the provisions of the Act and the Principles. Should these guidelines be inconsistent with the provisions of the Act or Principles in any way, the Act and the Principles will prevail.
C. Aim, objective and outcomes of the Fund
The overall aim of the Fund is to facilitate equitable access to residential aged care across Australia.
The Fund’s objective is to provide capital grants to facilitate equitable access to residential aged care where access is impeded by virtue of:
· geographic location; and/or
· inadequate supply of residential aged care, including for people with special needs (as defined in the Act and Principles); and
· lack of access to sufficient non-grant funding by an approved provider.
The main outcomes delivered by the Fund are new residential aged care buildings, and the upgrade of existing residential aged care buildings which, without the assistance of capital grants provided under the Fund, would otherwise not be available.
ELIGIBILITY AND ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK
D. Overview of the grant eligibility and assessment framework
All valid applications received by the Department (see Chapter 1 of the 2015 ACAR Essential Guide) will undergo a formal assessment process, undertaken by the Department in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Principles.
In order to be considered for a grant, applicants must first satisfy the threshold criteria outlined in point E below.
Applications which meet these threshold criteria will be then assessed by the Department on a competitive basis (see point F below).
Based on this competitive assessment process, the Department will award grants to those applications which best meet the needs of people from special needs groups, giving priority to those applications which demonstrate the best value for money for the Australian Government and the most urgent need (see point F below).
All decisions on the assessment and allocation of capital grants are taken by the Department. The Assistant Minister for Social Services has no involvement in the decision to award a capital grant.
E. Threshold eligibility criteria
In order to be considered for a grant, applications must meet threshold criteria in relation to:
· the eligibility of the project for which a grant is being sought; and
· the eligibility of the organisation seeking a grant.
1.1 Eligible project criteria
As set out in Section 20 of the Principles, capital grants will only be provided for capital works projects which provide or upgrade accommodation for:
· a majority of care recipients who are (or will be) people
o from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
o from non-English speaking backgrounds (that is, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds)
o who live in rural or remote areas
o who are financially or socially disadvantaged
o who are veterans
o who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless
o who are care-leavers
o who are parents separated from their children by forced adoption or removal
o from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community
o who are concessional, assisted or supported residents (as defined under Schedule 1 of the Act;
· people who live in a location where there is a demonstrated need for additional residential aged care service
· people who do not live in a major** city.
In addition, projects are not eligible for a grant for capital works if they have been contracted, commenced, or completed prior to the execution of a Deed of Agreement or are located at a residential aged care service with Extra Service Status (as defined under s 72-1(4) of the Act).
Further information about the costs that can be covered by a capital grants project and the costs that may not be covered are included below in parts 1.2 and 1.3.
1.2 What costs can be covered by a capital grant?
As set out under Section 70-3 of the Act, capital grants can be used to fund:
· the acquisition of land;
· the acquisition, construction, extension or alteration of premises; and/or
· furniture, fittings and equipment.
1.3 What costs are not covered by a grant?
Capital grants may not be used to fund costs arising from:
· routine administration of a service, whether or not the costs are related to the proposed capital works
· acquiring and operating vehicles
· rent, insurance and state and local government statutory charges (for example, rates)
· any taxation payable by the service, including any tax which is payable as a result of receiving the grant
· interest costs, costs associated with obtaining finance and costs relating to other work undertaken by the Grantee.
2. Applicant threshold criteria
In order to be eligible for a capital grant, an applicant must be able to:
· demonstrate its ongoing financial and organisational viability
· demonstrate that it does not have the capacity to fund all or part of the project without a capital grant
· if it is already an approved provider or has been an approved provider, demonstrate that it has a very good record, or a demonstrated commitment to improvement, in its conduct as an approved provider.
2015 ACAR Essential Guide: Chapter 5 – Capital Grant Program Guidelines Page 4 of 4
Further information about these criteria is outlined below in points 2.1 and 2.2.
Before a capital grant is awarded an applicant must also be an approved provider and have an allocation of residential aged care places (see point 2.3).
Capital grants are not available to State or Territory governments or an authority of a State or Territory.
** “Major city” is defined using the Australian Standard Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 5 - Remoteness Structure, July 2011, produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (s 20.3 of the Principles). Major cities are Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, Melbourne, Geelong, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast–Tweed Heads, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra–Queanbeyan. Maps identifying remoteness area boundaries in each state and territory are available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) website.
Alternatively, the ABS may be contacted by email () with the subject line "Postcode to Remoteness Areas 2011." Provide the ABS with your town/suburb name and postcode and it will provide details of the remoteness classification for the location.
2.1 Demonstrated ongoing financial and organisational viability and lack of capacity to fund all or part of the project without a residential care grant
In order to be eligible for a grant, the Department must be satisfied that the applicant is financially viable (and so will be able to continue to deliver aged care into the future).
The Department must also be satisfied that the applicant is unable to fund the proposed capital works without the assistance of a capital grant.
Assessment against these eligibility criteria will take account of information provided in the application and any other information available to the Department from its internal records or available publicly.
The information provided by applicants may be assessed by an independent financial analyst to assist the Department in coming to a view about:
· the financial viability, sustainability and overall robustness of the financial situation of the applicant organisation and service
· sensitivity of the applicant’s debt servicing capacity to interest rate fluctuations
· the applicant’s use of accommodation bonds, refundable accommodation deposits, refundable accommodation contributions and other sources of funding
· the applicant’s capacity to complete any capital works associated with the proposal with or without a capital grant, taking into account all possible sources of funding including debt finance.
2.2 Conduct as an approved provider
If the applicant is an existing approved provider, the Department will consider previous and current non-compliance (including but not limited to sanctions and notices of non-compliance) at any service operated by the approved provider. Non-compliance will also be considered in relation to services operated by related approved providers. Approved providers may be regarded as related if they have key personnel in common.
The matters the Department will consider in determining the past conduct of an approved provider or a related approved provider include, but are not limited to:
· the nature of the non-compliance
· the recency of the non-compliance
· the frequency of any non-compliance
· the timing and effectiveness of the response to the non-compliance
· the extent of the non-compliance across services operated by the approved provider or services operated by related approved providers
· the current period of accreditation for the approved provider’s services
· whether an applicant has demonstrated a commitment to improvement in relation to its conduct as a provider through the extent to which the response to any non-compliance was sustained over time.
In addition to these matters, the Department may also consider other aspects of an approved provider’s past conduct record such as any past history in meeting conditions attached to an allocation of places, a capital grant or a zero real interest loan.
2015 ACAR Essential Guide: Chapter 5 – Capital Grant Program Guidelines Page 12 of 12
2.3 Approved provider status
An applicant does not need to be an approved provider at the time it applies for a capital grant, but it does need to have been approved as a provider and have an allocation of residential aged care places before a grant can be allocated.
Further information on how to become an approved provider can be accessed at the following webpage link, Approved Provider Information.
F. Competitive Assessment
Applications which meet the threshold eligibility criteria set out in point E will be assessed by the Department on a competitive basis, consistent with the provisions of the Act and the Principles. Specifically, Section 72-3 of the Act and Sections 20.6 and 20.7 of the Principles set out the matters that the Department will consider in assessing, and then prioritising, applications for capital grants.
Grants will be awarded for those proposals which are assessed by the Department as best meeting the needs of people with special needs, with priority given to those proposals which demonstrate best value for money for the Commonwealth and the most urgent need to improve or maintain access to residential aged care.
1.1 Matters that will be considered during competitive assessment
In assessing the extent to which each proposal meets the needs of people with special needs the Department will consider:
· the proportion of care recipients who will be supported, concessional, assisted or low-means care recipients
· the location of the aged care service, and particularly whether it is in a rural or remote area
· the availability of other aged care services in the area
· the need for the grant
· whether there is an urgent need for the grant due to unforeseen circumstances
· whether the project meets the needs of care recipients living with dementia
· whether the project provides high quality accommodation for current or future care recipients
· whether the project offers significantly improved operational efficiency
· whether appropriate arrangements will be put in place for the provision of care to care recipients or other people while the project is being carried out.
Proposals which address a general lack of access to residential aged care in a location where there is a demonstrated need for additional residential aged care services (for example, regions where the ratio of residential aged care places per 1,000 people aged 70 or over is significantly below the national average) may also be regarded as addressing a lack of access for people with special needs.