Tasmanian Home and Community Care program costs

Fees are payable for many services provided through the Tasmanian HACC Program.

• Fees are kept by the service provider and used for  additional service delivery.
• Special consideration is given to people with limited finances.
• You will still receive services if you cannot pay.

Your service provider organisations will provide advice on:

• whether fees are payable for their service
• how much the fees are
• payment methods
• what to do if have difficulty in paying fees.

Fees are not charged for:

• assessment or reassessment of a client's care needs
• advocacy
• counselling, information and education
• allied health services.

Scale of fees

This scale applies to the following services types:

• Domestic Assistance
• Personal Care
• Social Support
• Home Maintenance
• Respite
• Community Nursing

Services provided to workers compensation clients will be charged at full cost as advised by the relevant service provider.

	One visit per week	Two or more visits per week (capped)
Pensioner	$5.00	$10.00
Non-pensioner	$20.00	$30.00
Workers compensation clients	Full cost	Full cost

The Fee Cap

No matter how many services you receive, or how many service providers are involved, fees for the service types above in ‘Scale of fees’ are capped, meaning you won’t pay more than $10 a week if you are a pensioner, or $30 a week for a non-pensioner.

Fees for meals, centre day care support , and community transport are not subject to capping arrangements.

Your rights and responsibilities

Service providers are required to ensure that you rights are protected and promoted. Your Service Provider should give you a copy of the brochure - Tasmanian HACC Program Rights and Responsibilities.

Fees for meals, transport and centre day care

Each service provider sets their own fee schedule for these service types.

These services are normal living expenses. Fees are payable for all occasions of service for these activities and would generally not be waived (see advice on waivers) by the service provider.

Waivers or fee reductions

You may not have to pay Tasmanian HACC fees if you spend a significant amount of your income on health related goods and services. Your service provider will explain this to you at the initial assessment. Your service provider will be able to provide you with a Fee Waiver Application form, and can help you to complete the form.

You can request a review of your fees or apply for a waiver at any time.

Confidentiality

It is your right as a client to have an advocate support you at any interviews or interaction with your service provider. An advocate can be a family member, a friend, or an independent advocate from Advocacy Tasmania.

You can find information about Advocacy Tasmania, as well as contact details, at their website.

Reviews of decisions about fees:

Full waivers or partial waivers of fees

If you have concerns about fee or fee waiver decisions made by your service provider, you should do the following:

• You (or your advocate) should contact the Services Manager of the organisation that provides you with services.
• The organisation (service provider) will provide details of an independent advocacy service if required.
• The Service Manager will review the processes that were followed and check that fees are being charged correctly - or not.
• The Service Manager will consider reducing or waiving your fees while the review is underway.
• You should receive a written response within 28 days of contacting the Service Manager. This response should include information about the decision and advice on any further steps to be taken.

If you aren’t happy with the review process, you can take the matter to our Community Care Reform team.

You can contact the Department at [email protected].

Alternatively, you can contact the Health Complaints Commissioner.

Office of the Health Complaints Commissioner

Ground Floor, Bathurst Street, Hobart, TAS 7000

GPO Box 960, Hobart, TAS 7001

• Freecall Tasmania: 1800 001 170
• Local Call Australia: 1300 766 725
• Fax: (03) 6233 8966
• Email: [email protected]

You will not be disadvantaged or penalised as a result of seeking a review of fees.

Payment options for Tas HACC fees

The payment options might be different between service providers and you can discuss payment options with them.