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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 4 Hansard (3 April) . . Page.. 1401 ..



per 1000 people compared with 86 per 1000 elsewhere if we had an 86 per 1000 entitlement;

(2) How many residential care places does the ACT have under the 80 per 1000 ratio;

(3) Why is there this discrepancy;

(4) If 15 percent of ACT aged care residents are from outside the ACT, how many places does this translate to under (a) the 80 places per 1000 and (b) the 86 places per 1000;

(5) What consideration is given for this use by interstate residents of ACT places by the State or Territory from where they came;

(6) What is the Government doing to address the (a) discrepancy in actual places and (b) to seek some sort of consideration for the use of scarce ACT residential care places by interstate residents.

Mr Corbell: The answer to the member's question is:

(1) The AIHW report presents a picture of service delivery in aged care as at June 2001. The Aged Care Chapter within the 2003 Report on Government Services (RoGS) reports service delivery as at June 2002 . It is important to note that there are discrepancies between data reported by the AIHW and the RoGS for the 2001 financial year, and there is later data available from the Commonwealth on the most recent allocations.


In response to the questions raised above, answers will refer to the AIHW report unless otherwise stated.

Aged Care ratios are calculated using the following formula:

ratio = number of places / (population ³

70 years

)

1000

The AIHW report indicates that population estimates are based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics as at June 2000. Based on the above formula it is presumed that the AIHW has used a population of 18,500 people aged 70 and over for the ACT.

If the ACT's ratios were to increase to 86 per 1000 the ACT would require an additional 111 places. Overall, according to the Commonwealth benchmark, the ACT is entitled to 90 residential places per 1000. The data presented in the report by the AIHW indicates that both nationally and within the ACT, the benchmarks are not being met. If the ACT were to increase to 90 places per 1000, the number of places would need to increase by 185 places. The AIHW report does not clearly specify whether the figures refer to operational places or total allocations. In reference to similar figures in the RoGS it is assumed that the report is referring to operational places.

(2) According to the report, there are 1,480 places in the ACT, equating to a ratio of 80 places per 1000 aged 70 and over (Table 2.4 ).


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