Australia
New Zealand
The Australian Government’s My Aged Care service is the entry point for older Australians to access government-funded aged care. My Aged Care e-Referrals, powered by HealthLink SmartForm technology, were introduced in 2019 to provide fast, convenient and secure referral to My Aged Care.
The Department of Health and Aged Care is establishing a Single Assessment System to make it easier for older people to enter aged care and access different services as their needs change.
New Single Assessment System workforce
As the next stage of establishing the Single Assessment System, from 9 December 2024, the Single Assessment System workforce will bring together and replace:
- Regional Assessment Service (RAS)
- Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACAT)
- independent Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) assessment organisations.
Under the Single Assessment System workforce, assessment organisations will be funded to conduct:
- all aged care needs assessments (both home support and comprehensive) for in-home aged care, flexible aged care programs, residential respite and entry into residential aged care, and/or
- residential aged care funding assessments to determine an older person’s AN-ACC classification.
State and territory governments will continue to deliver hospital-based assessments.
Updates to HealthLink e-Referral SmartForm naming conventions:
To support the transition to the Single Assessment System workforce, GPs may notice the following changes:
- Changes to the naming conventions in the GP e-Referral SmartForm: The terms “Regional Assessment Services (RAS)” and “Aged Care Assessment Teams (ACAT)” will be replaced with “Home Support Assessment” and “Comprehensive Assessment.”
These changes are being made to align with the new assessment process and will not impact Health Professionals’ ability to make a referral to My Aged Care.
More information:
Find out more information about the Single Assessment System for Aged Care on the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website.
My Aged Care e-Referrals resources including video tutorials, user guides and FAQs: https://www.healthlink.com.au/my-aged-care/