Advice from the Department of Health
On 21 October 2020, the Government introduced the Aged Care Amendment (Aged Care Recipient Classification) Bill 2020.
The Bill will introduce an additional, discretionary procedure for classification of recipients of residential aged care and some kinds of flexible care. This will enable a year of ‘shadow assessment’ to be undertaken using the Australian Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) assessment tool, starting in the first half of 2021. During this shadow assessment period, the AN-ACC tool will be used to assess all existing and new aged care residents, and assign them with an AN-ACC class.
The Department of Health (the Department) has advised that this year of shadow assessments is a necessary step that will allow a smooth and timely transition to the AN ACC in the event the Government decides to introduce a new funding model for residential aged care, and the shadow assessments are expected to impose only a minor regulatory burden.
The Department is preparing a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS), which will be finalised to inform any future Government decision to reform residential aged care funding arrangements.
The Department’s advice is published here for transparency purposes.