Council votes to transition aged care services to alternative provider

Northern Grampians Shire Council will advocate for aged care services in the municipality to be transitioned to local service providers, namely Grampians Community Health and East Wimmera Health Service, following a decision made to withdraw from providing community care services in a closed council at the July 7 council meeting in Stawell.  

Earlier this year, council made the decision to formally review its aged care services following Federal Government changes to the way aged care services are funded and delivered. 

A key component of the changes is the way in which services are funded, moving from block funding – where council receives set funding to deliver services – to fee-for-service models, where funding follows individual clients who can choose their own provider.  

Northern Grampians Shire mayor Karen Hyslop said the changes were designed to give older Australians greater choice in relation to services and providers but introduced considerable financial risk for council given the move away from the certainty of block funding.  

"More providers will likely enter the market to offer aged care services, which could make it difficult for council to remain cost-competitive, as these providers may deliver services more efficiently due to different cost structures, wage agreements and economies of scale," she said.  

Councillors discussed officer recommendations and options during closed council before reaching a decision. One option was that council continues to deliver its Community Care services. The other option was that council exits direct service delivery and transitions services to alternative providers.  

Cr Hyslop said council decided to exit direct aged care service delivery due to the significant financial challenges and increased compliance requirements imposed by the aged care reforms. These are among some of the reasons why many other councils in the state have made the same decision. 

"It is widely known that council is facing financial pressure in an environment where there is decreasing state and federal funding opportunities, rising inflation, rate capping limitations and cost shifting events,” she said. 

"Council is focused on making long-term financially sustainable decisions that ensure we can efficiently provide the services we are legislated to deliver. 

“Ours is not the only council re-evaluating its service delivery in light of the aged care reforms. Several other councils have also transitioned aged care services to alternative providers as a result.” 

Cr Hyslop stressed that council remained focused on ensuring the community continued to have accessible and reliable aged care services.  

"There is no question that aged care services provide enormous value to older residents and those needing extra support at home,” she said.  

"These services are required in our community and often give vulnerable people the opportunity to stay in their own homes for longer.  

"We are committed to ensuring aged care services remain accessible for residents, provide value for money and are hopefully, still provided by some familiar faces.” 

About 30 council staff currently provide aged care services to more than 300 clients. All have been a focal point throughout the past several months as council’s aged care review and community engagement process unfolded. 

"It's important to remember that we have dedicated staff and existing clients who are crucial to this process,” Cr Hyslop said. 

"We will continue to work closely with affected staff, clients and their families during the transition period to ensure they feel supported and are given timely updates – this is top of mind for all involved.” 

Cr Hyslop said council will advise the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care of the decision to exit these services, with the department then having the final say as to who the new service providers will be.  

Council’s recommendation is that East Wimmera Health Service and Grampians Community Health take over the services. Council will then exit direct service delivery in January 2027 with the exact date to be advised. 

"We have already consulted with both providers during the review and community engagement process that was conducted across February and March,” she said. 

“Through the review process, feedback showed the community was not totally against council exiting as a service provider, as long as it was trusted local organisations taking on the service. 

"This was part of council's due diligence process to ensure there were appropriate providers who had capacity to take over council's existing aged care services and clientele. 

“We know change can make some people nervous, but Grampians Community Health and East Wimmera Health Service are already providing excellent services to our community, and we have full faith they are well-equipped to take over the aged care services currently offered by council.” 

Cr Hyslop said despite council exiting direct aged care service delivery, council staff were not stepping away from supporting older people within the shire.  

She reiterated council's focus on helping people age well in our region by re-enforcing other community connection services available.  

"We already have several social connection programs available in our communities that are directly supported by council, programs we encourage older residents to participate in,” she said. 

"We will also continue to run programs at our libraries, aquatic and recreation facilities, as well as continue our advocacy efforts to ensure there is funding available for these initiatives.” 

Cr Hyslop said council would provide further updates about transition progress to the community as information became available. 

She encouraged people to stay connected via council’s website and social media pages.  

In the meantime, people can review a summary of council’s findings from the community engagement process via a report on our council’s website, here.

If you or someone you know has questions about the transition process or would like to find out more about what is involved, please contact council's Community Care team by emailing community.care@ngshire.vic.gov.au or calling (03) 5358 0514.

If you are a current client, specific information has been curated for you on our website here. Please check back to this page over the coming months as we will update it as information becomes available relevant to transition plans.