Upgrade grants available for MPS providers

Multi-purpose residential aged care providers in regional and remote areas can apply for a grant to undertake minor capital works to improve residential care settings.

The Federal Government has opened a two-year $40 million grant scheme for regional or remote multi-purpose services to undertake renovations of residential aged care environments.

The Multi-Purpose Service Program Minor Capital Grant Opportunity targets the nation’s 179 multi-purpose residential aged care services in regional and remote areas, which collectively offer 3,688 flexible aged places in either residential aged care or home care settings.

Eligible providers can apply for a grant worth $50,000 to $600,000 for new minor capital works that make homes more dementia-friendly, homelike and comfortable, promote residents’ independence, dignity and choice as set out in the standards, and improve safety and the capacity to provide higher intensity care.

Grant recipients must commit to providing at least 20 per cent of the total project costs as a cash or in-kind contribution.

Richard Colbeck

Examples of eligible works includes upgrading care recipients’ rooms to increase privacy, improving communal spaces and outdoor recreational areas, reducing shared bathroom facilities and increasing access for people from special needs groups.

Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services Richard Colbeck said the government expected to see improvements in the health, safety and wellbeing of aged care recipients from this funding.

“Along with better services in local communities with an MPS, there will be a focus on delivering important improvements within the facilities, including fewer shared bathroom facilities and improved infection prevention and control, which is vital in the ongoing response to COVID-19,” he said.

The funding is part of a $630 million commitment the government announced in the 2020-21 Budget to make the aged care system more accessible for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and senior Australians who live in regional, rural, and remote communities.

Applications for the program close on 11 August.

Find out more.

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Tags: aged care environment, grant, Multi-Purpose Service Program Minor Capital Grant Opportunity, multi-purpose services, Richard Colbeck,

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