Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 3:41:17 to 3:45:09
Discussion on anticipated volumes for the escalation pathway, staffing requirements, and the 28-day decision target for reviews.
Topics: Social services, Government spending
Speakers: Mr Robert Day, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Ms Sonja Stewart, Mr Blair Comley
Alright, thank you. Um so my next questions go more specifically to the escalation pathway in Schedule 4. Um, so how many decisions does the department anticipated will be escalated using the escalation pathway? Have you done any modelling on potential numbers?
I think I'll um just wait for my colleagues to get to the table. I think it's important to state that there is not a target that we are aiming for or that government is aiming for in terms of the use of the escalation pathway. It's a genuine pathway for extenuating circumstances of an older person that with significant harm if this pathway is not being used. In terms of um uh costings and modelling, um, these are these form the advice that department gives to government, which is part of the um my EFO process, so it wouldn't be appropriate at this stage to go into that. Um, but but that would be made uh public once that um what those decisions are made and um and the government announces that.
I guess not that's not asking for costings, but really asking what is the expectation around how many how many escalations the department potentially needs to prepare for. So, for example, how many people is the department um preparing to work on adjudicating those decisions?
So um sorry, Senator, I think we we are doing modelling on numbers of both cases that assessors will will consider the number that will be referred to the department and then the potential um what that might mean for for decision outcomes. That does all fit directly into the um the costing model that will be considered and published in in my EFO. I think to give you a sense we are anticipating that there will be a significant number of cases, particularly in the early months of the pathway while we and assessment organisations are working towards a common understanding of of how the criteria work. Um we don't have a final number of staff, but I'm anticipating more than a hundred staff need be needed to process the applications as they come in.
Okay, thank you. Um how long are you anticipating participants will it have to wait from when the assessment delegate escalates the decision to when they actually their review is finalised?
Um so I think the the draft rules that have been published have a 28-day time frame attached to the that decision.
So someone can expect the plan is that if you're if you get escalated in four weeks' time, you should have that decision.
That's that's correct.
That's right.
Yeah, a maximum of four weeks. So some may be quicker depending on the flow through and depending how straightforward it is. But um the intention is to reply to everyone within 28 days.
Do you have any misgivings about creating another wait list for older people that have already been on a wait list?
Um so I think, Senator, we are really mindful and we're mindful in the design of the process that speed is going to be part of public confidence in the system. Um, and so some of the work that we have started and need to do between now and the 11th of January is working with assessment organisations to provide some real clarity around what is the pathway, what are the criteria, what are the processes, so that we can both streamline it that as much as possible, but also then make the decision making on the department's end as streamlined as as possible.