The Department of Health and Aged Care recently requested a meeting with OTA to discuss our submission on the Aged Care Act Rules for the Residential Care Services List. Chief OT, Michelle Oliver, and senior OTA staff met with representatives of the Aged Care Branch on Monday 3 March.

The meeting was productive with the Department responding to key issues raised in our submission, including inconsistencies in language, particularly around OT specific services and expertise. The discussion highlighted in OTA’s concerns around the lack of specificity when referring to service provision with generic language like ‘health professionals’. OTA recommended language to ensure suitably qualified health professionals, including allied health professionals, are identified and referred for service provision. The Department advised terminology, and definitions would be addressed in the next version of the rules and acknowledged that the tranch-based approach to the release of the rules made it difficult to track how feedback is being addressed.

The Department also responded to OTAs concerns about the restrictions placed on the provision of customised aids and motorised wheelchairs. The Department indicated these matters were outside the scope of the current rules, but valued OTA’s input on these matters for future consideration.

OTA also raised in the discussions:

• The lack of recognition of the importance of multi-disciplinary and collaborative approaches in the service list
• The apparent lack of focus in the service list on the provision of allied health to support wellbeing, safety and quality of life thus undermining the Act’s objectives of a person-centred and human-rights based sector
• The impact on the provision of occupational therapy services following the introduction of the mandatory care minutes in residential care as reported by our members.

OTA is concerned that there is unlikely to be an opportunity to provide feedback on the next version of the rules, likely to be the final version. Nevertheless, OTA we welcome the opportunity to continue to liaise with the Department on key matters and provide case studies that highlight the importance of the role of OTs in aged care.