12Common form of nursing home agreement

12 Common form of nursing home agreement

(1A) In this section:

adjusted deficit, in relation to the proprietor of an approved nursing home, in respect of a year or any other period, means the amount obtained by deducting from the amount that, under subsection (4), is the approved deficit of the proprietor in respect of that year or other period any approved expenditure by the proprietor in respect of that year or other period that is of one of the following kinds:

(a) expenditure on the replacement of an asset of the nursing home exceeding $1,200 in value;
(b) expenditure exceeding $1,200 on repairs, or maintenance work, carried out on an asset of the nursing home;
(c) contributions paid to a superannuation scheme on behalf of persons employed by the proprietor for the purposes of the nursing home;
(d) payments in respect of long service leave entitlements of persons referred to in paragraph (c).

approved expenditure, in relation to the proprietor of a nursing home, means expenditure in accordance with particulars of expenditure or expected expenditure approved by the Secretary under the agreement relating to the nursing home entered into with the proprietor under section 15.

relevant association means an association that:

(a) represents eligible organisations; and
(b) is specified by the Minister by notice in writing published in the Gazette as a relevant association for the purposes of this section.

(1) The Minister may, after consultation with the relevant associations, approve a form of agreement to be entered into by the Commonwealth and any proprietor of a nursing home with respect to the provision by the Commonwealth of financial assistance: (a) in connexion with the carrying on of an approved nursing home by the proprietor; or (b) in connexion with the carrying on of an approved nursing home by the proprietor and the provision by the proprietor, in association with the provision of nursing home care at the home, of approved services for approved classes of persons. (2) Without limiting the generality of the matters that may be dealt with in a form of agreement approved under subsection (1), there shall be included in the form of agreement: (a) provisions in accordance with which the Secretary may approve particulars of amounts expected to be received and of amounts expended or expected to be expended, during a year or other period approved by the Secretary, by the proprietor in connexion with: (i) if the proprietor is providing, in association with the provision of nursing home care at the nursing home, approved services for an approved class of persons—the provision of nursing home care and other services specified in the agreement for qualified nursing home patients in the nursing home and the provision of those approved services for persons who are included in that class of persons; or (ii) in any other case—the provision of nursing home care and other services specified in the agreement for qualified nursing home patients in the home; (b) provisions for ascertaining the approved deficit (if any) of the proprietor in respect of a year or other period referred to in paragraph (a); (c) provisions under which, and subject to which, the Commonwealth will be liable to pay to the proprietor an amount equal to the approved deficit of the proprietor in respect of a year or other period referred to in paragraph (a); (d) provision for the making by the Commonwealth to the proprietor of advances on account of amounts that may become payable to him or her under the agreement and the deduction of amounts so advanced from amounts that become so payable; (e) provisions under which the agreement will apply in relation to a particular nursing home only in respect of a period during which the home is an approved nursing home; (f) provisions under which the agreement will apply in relation to services provided by the proprietor as set out in section 6 only in respect of a period during which the services are approved services; (g) provisions under which a person authorized by the Secretary may inspect, at any reasonable time, an approved nursing home carried on by the proprietor and premises that are approved premises in relation to the proprietor for the purpose of ascertaining whether the conditions applicable to the approvals are being complied with; (h) provisions under which a person authorized by the Secretary may inspect, at any reasonable time, the books, accounts and records relating to an approved nursing home carried on by the proprietor and the provision of approved services provided by the proprietor and may take copies of, or extracts from, those books, accounts and records; (j) provisions in accordance with which either party to the agreement may terminate the agreement, including provisions with respect to the recovery by such a party of any amount due to that party upon the termination of the agreement; and (k) such other provisions as are required under this Act to be included in the form of agreement. (3) The form of agreement approved by the Minister under subsection (1) shall also include provisions allowing the recovery by the Commonwealth of the amount by which the sum of the advances made to the proprietor of a nursing home who is a party to the agreement exceeds at any time the sum of the amounts paid or payable to that proprietor in accordance with the agreement at that time. (4) For the purposes of this Act, the approved deficit of the proprietor of an approved nursing home in respect of a year or other period is, if subsection (4A) does not apply, the amount by which the expenditure by the proprietor in respect of the period in connexion with the provision of nursing home care and other services (including approved services) referred to in subparagraph (2)(a)(i) or (ii), as the case requires, being expenditure in accordance with the particulars of expenditure or expected expenditure during the period approved by the Secretary under the relevant agreement, exceeds the sum of the amounts that are, under the relevant agreement, to be treated as having been received by the proprietor in connexion with the provision of that nursing home care and of those other services in respect of that period. (4A) If the adjusted deficit of the proprietor of a nursing home in respect of a year, or other period, ending after 30 June 1989 is more than the amount that, under subsection (4B), is the prescribed amount in relation to the proprietor in respect of that year or period: (a) the amount of the difference between that adjusted deficit and that prescribed amount shall be deducted from the amount that, under subsection (4), is the approved deficit of the proprietor in respect of that year or period; and (b) the amount obtained shall, for the purposes of this Act, be taken to be the approved deficit of the proprietor in respect of that year or period. (4B) The prescribed amount in relation to the proprietor of an approved nursing home in respect of a year, or other period, ending after 30 June 1989 (in this subsection called the later year and later period respectively) is: (a) if the average number of beds occupied per day by qualified nursing home patients in the nursing home during the later year or later period is less than the average number of beds occupied per day by qualified nursing home patients in the nursing home during the year, or (if applicable) other period approved by the Secretary under paragraph (2)(a), ending on 30 June 1989: (i) the amount calculated by using the formula: