Some aged care facilities will now receive extra funding to help them meet the requirement for Registered Nurses to be on duty 24/7. This extra funding is called the “24/7 RN Supplement” and will be available to eligible residential aged care facilities from 1 July 2023. Here’s how it works.

Background: the 24/7 Registered Nurses Requirement

From 1 July 2023, residential aged care providers will have to ensure that “at least one registered nurse is on site, and on duty, at all times at the residential facility”.

For the purposes of the 24/7 RN requirement, a “registered nurse” is a person who is registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law in the nursing profession as a registered nurse (RN). This means that enrolled nurses do not meet the requirement.

A RN is considered “on site” when they are physically present at the residential facility. A RN is considered “on duty” if they are working and can respond in person to the clinical care needs of consumers at the facility when they need it.

Exemptions

Residential aged care providers may be eligible for an exemption from the 24/7 RN requirement for up to 12 months from 1 July 2023 (i.e. until 30 June 2024) if:

• their facility is located in a Modified Monash Model (MMM) 5–7 location (regional and remote locations); and
• their facility has 30 or fewer operational places; and
• they have taken reasonable steps, by having alternative clinical care arrangements in place, to ensure that the clinical care needs of their care recipients will be met during the exemption period.

Facilities with more than 30 operational places or that do not have alternative clinical care arrangements in place will not be eligible for the exemption. If an exemption is not granted, providers must ensure that they meet the 24/7 RN requirement for each facility through which care is provided to residents from 1 July 2023.

Services that are exempt from the requirement cannot receive the supplement.

The 24-7 RN Funding Supplement

Purpose of the Supplement

The purpose of the supplement is to help some residential aged care providers employ extra RNs to be on site and on duty 24/7. The supplement will be available to eligible facilities from 1 July 2023.

Who Is Eligible to Receive the Supplement?

From 1 July 2023, the supplement is available to residential facilities with, on average, 60 residents or fewer per day (based on occupied bed days).

The supplement is NOT available to facilities with, on average, more than 60 residents per day. The Government’s reasoning for this exclusion is that these larger facilities “receive sufficient funding through the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) Basic Subsidy to deliver 24/7 RN care to their residents.”

The supplement is NOT available to flexible care services, including Multi-Purpose Services (MPS).

Multiple Facilities

According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, “Where multiple residential care services are at one facility, the 24/7 RN supplement will be calculated based on all of the services’ occupied bed days and then paid through one of the residential care services. Where multiple facilities are associated with one residential care service, the supplement will be calculated based on circumstances at each facility and then paid through the residential care service.”

Payment: When is the Supplement Paid and How Much?

The supplement is paid monthly in line with other residential aged care subsidies and supplements.

The amount of the supplement varies according to the size of the facility and MMM location. According to the Department of Health and Aged Care:

• facilities with, on average, fewer residents per day receive more funding
• services located in rural, remote and very remote locations (MMM 5-7) receive more funding to account for the additional costs that come with working in those areas.

See the Department of Health and Aged Care website for a more detailed list of figures.

How to Apply

Providers do not need to apply. Services Australia automatically pays this subsidy to eligible services.

More Information

Department of Health and Aged Care: 24/7 registered nurse supplement for residential aged care