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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 11 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 3546 ..

MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND COMMUNITY CARE

QUESTION ON NOTICE: No. 71

Respite Care Services

Mr Wood - on 26 November 1998 asked the Minister for Health and Community Care questions in relation to the Kincare organisation and its tender for respite care services:

(1) Given that Kincare was incorporated on the same day as the Health and Community Care (HACC) tender no 14 closed, are you satisfied that it meets the requirements of the HACC agreement, especially Appendix A, Part II, Clause 4.1

(2) Has the purchasing process to award the contract to an out of town provider ignored the departmental policy of facilitating community development particularly the role of members of the ACT community.

(3) Are you aware of the circumstances behind the formation of FaBRiC which was to ensure that respite care services were provided by ACT bodies, or has that policy changed.

(4) Will Kincare be required to acquit details of all costs in quarterly reports.

(5) While Kincare will establish an ACT office, will it be allowed to expend any of its contracted funds on its administrative centre in NSW.

(6) Has the Department of Health and Community Care been concerned about (a) the number of service providers in the HACC service system and (b) the difficulties that can follow.

(7) Is it the case that the funding of Kincare is a duplication of existing services with additional administration overheads.

Mr Moore - The answers to Mr Wood's Questions are as follows:

(1) The agreement in question is the Home and Community Care Agreement (HACC) and the reference in Mr Woods question to Appendix A is an explanatory document, not the agreement itself. The wording in the explanatory document does appear within the HACC agreement (Clause 2.1).

The department sought and received confirmation from the ACT Government Solicitor to the effect that a contract entered into between the department and Kincare Community Services Ltd would not be in breach of the Commonwealth Territory HACC agreement.

(2) The role of facilitating local development is one of a number of policy objectives which guide the selection of providers. In this case, Kincare was

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