As part of the Australian Government’s Budget 2023-24 measure to fund award wage increases for the aged care sector, from 1 July 2023 the fees for the Veterans’ Home Care (VHC) and Community Nursing (CN) programs will be increased.
The fee schedules and Notes and Manuals will be updated following the Fair Work Commission’s Decision on the Aged Care Work Value Case for a 15% increase to award wages for aged care workers.
The wage increase applies to workers on the:
- Aged Care Award 2010
- Nurses Award 2020
- Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010.
This is part of the Budget 2023-24 announcement that the Government is investing $11.3 billion in funding to support increased wages for aged care workers and includes $82.5 million for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) VHC and CN programs.
The increase will apply to fees for all direct care services, including domestic assistance, personal care, home and garden maintenance and respite care for VHC and personal care and clinical care for CN.
The fee increase will apply to service plans and/or claim periods commencing on or after 1 July 2023. DVA payment systems will be updated so that claims for services delivered on or after 1 July 2023 will be paid at the increased rate. Providers do not need to do anything to effect this change.
DVA recognises that some claim periods commencing in June 2023 will overlap with the implementation date of the fee increase. A process to adjust these payments is being developed and information about this will be provided in the coming weeks.
Additional funding is also available to VHC and CN providers to fund leave liabilities as a result of the Fair Work Commission’s decision. DVA is working closely with the Department of Health and Aged Care to develop and process for making these payments. Further information will be made available in the near future.
If you have any questions about this, please contact your DVA contract manager.