Aged Care Funding Round

Not for Profit organisations that provide aged care and promote healthy ageing can now apply for new government funding.

The second application round for the Federal Government’s Aged Care Service Improvement and Healthy Ageing Grants Fund (ACSIHAG) was announced by the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing Mark Butler last week.

Minister Butler said that the fund has been expanded to support elements of the $3.7 billion Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package.

“The ACSIHAG Fund is intended to be broad in scope and flexible enough to support a wide variety of activities that strengthen the capacity of the aged care sector to deliver high quality aged care and promote healthy ageing,” Butler said.

“We are looking for applications from a wide range of organisations, including community groups and national peak bodies to help us support service improvement and improve the lives of older people.”

The government says that the ACSIHAG Fund was formed in 2011 as part of a process to simplify and streamline program funding by consolidating a number of smaller programs into larger, more flexible funds.

Applications are being sought from eligible organisations to undertake activities that support the objectives of the fund, with a focus on implementing aged care reform measures, including relevant activities that:

• support older people with diverse needs, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, care leavers, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people;
• focus on research translation, including projects that target better practice in the Quality Use of Medicines to support medical professionals and organisations in the safe and effective use of medicines for recipients of aged care; and
• ensure the continuation of some currently funded projects, such as Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Services (DBMAS) which provide clinical interventions to help aged care staff, health professionals and carers improve their care of people with dementia, where the behaviour of the person with dementia impacts on their care.

Minister Butler said that organisations wishing to provide activities that strengthen the delivery of aged care and promote healthy ageing are invited to apply for the funding.

Applications will be taken until December 21. More information is available at www.health.gov.au/flexfunds