Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

AGED CARE (TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS) ACT 1997 - SECT 2.1

  (1)   The objects of this Act, in conjunction with the Aged Care Act 1997 , are as follows:

  (a)   to provide for funding of * aged care that takes account of:

  (i)   the quality of the care; and

  (ii)   the * type of care and level of care provided; and

  (iii)   the need to ensure access to care that is affordable by, and appropriate to the needs of, people who require it; and

  (iv)   appropriate outcomes for recipients of the care; and

  (v)   accountability of the providers of the care for the funding and for the outcomes for recipients;

  (b)   to promote a high quality of care and accommodation for the recipients of * aged care services that meets the needs of individuals;

  (c)   to protect the health and well - being of the recipients of aged care services;

  (d)   to ensure that aged care services are targeted towards the people with the greatest needs for those services;

  (e)   to facilitate access to aged care services by those who need them, regardless of race, culture, language, gender, economic circumstance or geographic location;

  (f)   to provide respite for families, and others, who care for older people;

  (g)   to encourage diverse, flexible and responsive aged care services that:

  (i)   are appropriate to meet the needs of the recipients of those services and the carers of those recipients; and

  (ii)   facilitate the independence of, and choice available to, those recipients and carers;

  (h)   to help those recipients to enjoy the same rights as all other people in Australia;

  (i)   to plan effectively for the delivery of aged care services that:

  (i)   promote the targeting of services to areas of the greatest need and people with the greatest need; and

  (ii)   avoid duplication of those services; and

  (iii)   improve the integration of the planning and delivery of aged care services with the planning and delivery of related health and community services;

  (j)   to promote ageing in place through the linking of care and support services to the places where older people prefer to live.

  (2)   In construing the objects, due regard must be had to:

  (a)   the limited resources available to support services and programs under this Act and the Aged Care Act 1997 ; and

  (b)   the need to consider equity and merit in accessing those resources.