New temporary housing option for young people in aged care
The government says Medium Term Accommodation will now be available under the NDIS as it moves to keep young people out of aged care.
Young people with disability who are at risk of being transferred to an aged care facility or who want to get out of aged care will be eligible for new temporary accommodation under the NDIS.
NDIS minister Stuart Robert has announced that the NDIS will now fund a new type of transitional housing, Medium Term Accommodation (MTA), designed to support participants as they prepare to move into permanent accommodation.
The introduction of MTA into the NDIS Price Guide as a new support item would give clarity to providers, he said.
However the NDIA declined to provide details of who would provide the housing or how many units would be available when contacted by Community Care Review for information.
The announcement comes after the interim report of the Aged Care Royal Commission in October identified stemming the flow of young people into aged care facilities, and speeding their exit, as one of three areas requiring immediate action.
‘The NDIS enables people with disability to live more independently and one of the most fundamental aspects of all our lives is having choice and control over where we live, who we live with and the supports we need,’ Mr Robert said as he announced the MAT funding in November.
MTA Funding will also be available to a range of NDIS participants who need temporary transitional housing while they wait for home modifications or specialist disability accommodation.
Responding to the interim report after its release, Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledged to invest $4.7 million to help remove young people from aged care and strengthen the targets of its younger people in residential age care action plan announced earlier this year.
Under the new targets anyone under 45 will be prevented from going into residential aged care by 2022, and there will be no one under 65 living in aged care facilities by 2025 unless it was their choice, Mr Robert said.
A joint agency taskforce will also be established to ensure the targets were met as well as a specialist NDIA team with 80 planners by 2020, to prevent people with disability form entering aged care.
He said the government would work with specialist disability accommodation providers and providers of supported independent living to ensure the targets were met.
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