Page updated: 26 May 2017

The Department of Health (the Department) is making changes to the financial reporting requirements for residential aged care and home care package providers.

New Arrangements
To stay in step with generally accepted good corporate governance and best practice, the Australian Government has decided to continue the auditing requirement for the Annual Prudential Compliance Statement (APCS).

This approach adjusts the previous advice to the aged care sector in late 2016 with the announcement of the Aged Care Financial Report (ACFR). The ACFR now involves a single template which consolidates the:

• Annual Prudential Compliance Statement
• Survey of Aged Care Homes
• Home Care Financial Report
• Short Term Restorative Care Financial Report

The General Purpose Financial Report (GPFR) will stay in its current form as a stand-alone audited report. This report and the independent audit opinion accompanying the APCS must be submitted through the ACFR portal at the same time as the components above.

Providers of home care who do not also provide residential care will not be required to submit a GPFR and will only complete the home care section of the ACFR.

Flexibility to include required line items
Under the new arrangements, the current GPFR suggested residential segment format will be replaced by required line items at both the approved provider and residential segment level. Providers will have the flexibility to include the required line items in their GPFR or ACFR. For example:

• A provider might choose to report their cash flow statement in their GPFR. If so all data items listed in the ACFR as required line items for inclusion in the cash flow statement must appear in the GPFR. This means the cash flow statement and the related required line items in the ACFR would be blank. Note that under this option if a provider does not have a particular data item (i.e. dividends received) then there is no need to include the item in the GPFR cash flow with a zero balance.
• Alternatively, a provider may decide to include their residential segment income statement in the ACFR (again ensuring all required data items are completed). In this instance there is no need to reflect the required line items in the GPFR. The GPFR is acceptable as long as it complies with the Australian Accounting Standards.

While providers have the flexibility to choose whether to include each of the components of the ACFR in either their GPFR or the ACFR, it is not possible to partially complete a component in both the GPFR and ACFR. Each individual component of the ACFR (including the required line items) must be completed in its entirety in either the ACFR or the GPFR.

Start Date
The new financial reporting arrangements are mandatory for all residential and packaged home care providers for use in the 2016-17 financial year. This will mean that providers who report on a 30 June financial year-end basis will submit their reports under the new arrangements by 31 October 2017.

Online Submission
Providers will complete the ACFR online with data to be entered into a new online portal. Residential aged care providers will also upload and submit the GPFR and the APCS audit opinion through the online portal.

Legislative Changes
The introduction of the ACFR will require changes to the Accountability Principles 2014 and the  Fees and Payments Principles 2014 (No. 2). Details of these changes will be available by August 2017.

Contacts
If you have any queries about this information email: FFBConsultation@health.gov.au or post to:

Director
Financial Performance Section, Department of Health
MDP 560, GPO Box 9848
Canberra ACT 2601