Home > For Health Professionals > Aged care > Aged Care Approvals Round > Extra Service Status

Extra Service Status

Extra Service status involves the provision of a significantly higher than average standard of services, including accommodation, the range and quality of food, and non-care services such as recreational and personal interest activities.

2011 Extra Service Approvals Round

Applications for the 2011 Extra Service Approvals Round closed on 2 August 2011. The 2011 Extra Service Status Guidelines for Applicants provided information about the Round.

The 2011 Extra Service calibrated ratios provided a guide to the proportion of residential places within each aged care planning region that could be granted Extra Service status in the 2011 Round.

Results of the 2011 Extra Service Approvals Round

A total of 126 applications were received in the 2011 Extra Service Approvals Round. The table below shows the number of ESS applications and places sought in each state/territory. No applications were received from providers in Tasmania or the Northern Territory.

State/Territory	No. of Regions	No. of ESS applications received	High care ESS places sought	Low care ESS places sought	Total ESS places sought
NSW	9	36	1,202	444	1,646
VIC	9	28	827	342	1,169
QLD	9	24	730	204	934
WA	5	23	886	105	991
SA	5	11	435	86	521
ACT	1	4	125	0	125
Total	38	126	4,205	1,181	5,386

Applications approved for ESS

Of the 126 applications received, 116 were approved. This includes 14 applications where the minimum acceptable number of places was approved.

A list of the successful applications is available at 2011 Extra Service Approvals Round: Places Approved for Extra Service Status (PDF 79 KB).

The table below shows the number of applications and places approved for Extra Service status by state and territory. It also shows the percentage of ESS places that were applied for that have been approved.

State/ Territory	No. of ESS applications approved	Total ESS places sought	Total ESS places approved
NSW	32 / 36	1,646	1,330
VIC	27 / 28	1,169	1,001
QLD	23 / 24	934	880
WA	22 / 23	991	750
SA	9 / 11	521	340
ACT	3 / 4	125	53
Total	116 / 126	5,386	4,354

Applications not approved for ESS

A total of 10 applications were not approved for ESS. The reasons why applications were not approved were:

• Current sanctions in place at a service: The Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) and the Extra Service Principles 1997 (the Principles) specify that, if the applicant has been a provider of aged care, the applicant must have a “very good record” of conduct and compliance with its responsibilities as a provider (paragraph 32-4(1)(c) of the Act and section 14.19 of the Principles). Where sanctions are issued, this criterion is not considered to be met.
• Very competitive region or state/territory with a high proportion of ESS: A competitive assessment of applications was conducted under section 32-5 of the Act where:
  • the total proportion of ESS places in a state or territory (if approved) was likely to exceed the 15% limit for the state or territory; or
  • the total proportion of ESS high care places in a region (if approved) was likely to exceed the calibrated ratio for the region by more than 5%.

A range of factors was taken into account in the assessment of applications in the competitive assessments (refer to the Guidelines).

• Insufficient places: ESS could not be granted where applicants did not have a sufficient number of residential care places at the relevant service, including where a provider applied for new residential care places in the 2011 ACAR, but these places were not been approved.

Feedback for unsuccessful applicants

The Department will be writing to unsuccessful applicants in January 2012. These letters will include details about how you can obtain feedback in relation to your application/s.

Future Extra Service Approvals Rounds

Any future Invitations to Apply for Extra Service status will be published on this website and advertised nationally.
Top of page