Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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AGED CARE AMENDMENT (AGED CARE RECIPIENT CLASSIFICATION) BILL 2020

                                     2019-2020




       THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA




                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES




AGED CARE AMENDMENT (AGED CARE RECIPIENT CLASSIFICATION) BILL
                           2020




             SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM




              Amendments to be Moved on Behalf of the Government




    (Circulated by authority of the Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians,
                          Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck)




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   AMENDMENTS TO AGED CARE AMENDMENT (AGED CARE RECIPIENT
                   CLASSIFICATION) BILL 2020

OUTLINE
The Aged Care Amendment (Aged Care Recipient Classification) Bill 2020 (the Bill) amends
the Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) to introduce an additional, discretionary procedure for
classification of recipients of residential aged care and some kinds of flexible care.

The government amendments to the Bill have the effect that any protected information
recorded, disclosed, or used by people conducting assessments for the purposes of:
     reporting on, and conducting research into, the level of need for, and access to, aged
       care, or other community, health or social services; or
     monitoring, reporting on, and conducting research into, the quality or safety of aged
       care;
may not be used for that purpose if that purpose was to include the publication of personal
information.

The type of personal information obtained in relation to a person when assessing their care
needs may include sensitive personal information, such as health information. As such, these
amendments have been moved to provide an additional protection of this type of information
to ensure that it is not published, which will assist in protecting a care recipient's privacy.

Financial Impact Statement
Nil.

NOTES ON CLAUSES

Amendment (1)
Amendment (1) will insert a new item 6A into the Bill. New item 6A will amend the existing
text of section 86-4 to be numbered sub-section 86-4(1).

Amendment (2)
Amendment (2) inserts a new sub-section 86-4(2) into item 9 of the Bill. New
subsection 86-4(2) provides that the purposes mentioned in paragraphs 86-4(1)(c) and
86-4(1)(d) of the Act do not include publication (whether in writing or otherwise) of personal
information. In effect, any protected information, which may include personal information,
recorded, disclosed, or otherwise used by a person conducting an assessment for the purposes
of:
     reporting on, and conducting research into, the level of need for, and access to, aged
       care, or other community, health or social services; or
     monitoring, reporting on, and conducting research into, the quality or safety of aged
       care;
may not be used for that purpose if that purpose was to include the publication of personal
information.

Personal information has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act 1988 (see Schedule 1 to the
Act).




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                      Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

 AGED CARE AMENDMENT (CARE RECIPIENT CLASSIFICATION) BILL 2020

  This Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
 international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny)
                                           Act 2011.

Overview of the Bill
The Aged Care Amendment (Aged Care Recipient Classification) Bill 2020 (the Bill) amends
the Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) to introduce an additional, discretionary procedure for
classification of recipients of residential aged care and some kinds of flexible care.

The government amendments to the Bill have the effect that any protected information
recorded, disclosed, or used by people conducting assessments for the purposes of:
     reporting on, and conducting research into, the level of need for, and access to, aged
       care, or other community, health or social services; or
     monitoring, reporting on, and conducting research into, the quality or safety of aged
       care;
may not be used for that purpose if that purpose was to include the publication of personal
information.

Human rights implications
The Bill, as amended, engages the following human rights as contained in article 11 and
article 12(1) of the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (ICESCR) and articles 25 and 28 of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (CRPD):
 the right to an adequate standard of living, including with respect to food, clothing and
    housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions; and
 the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

The UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (the Committee) has stated that
the right to health is not a right for each individual to be healthy, but is a right to a system of
health protection which provides equality of opportunity for people to enjoy the highest
attainable level of health.

The new scheme for the classification of care recipients will more accurately classify care
recipients and in doing so, better target the level of care required to meet their needs. This is
because the assessment process to classify a care recipient will utilise updated methods to
determine the level of a care recipient's functioning.

As such, the new classification scheme aims to enhance the standard of living that care
recipients in residential aged care services.

The amendments additionally prevent publication of personal information (as defined in the
Privacy Act 1988) about care recipients when information created by the operation of the new
classification scheme is used to monitor, report on, or conduct research into the level of need
for, and access to aged care, or other community, health or social services, or the quality or
safety of aged care.


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Conclusion
The Bill is compatible with human rights as it promotes the human right to an adequate
standard of living and the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

   Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians




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