ADMINISTRATOR PANEL AND ADVISER PANEL
APPLICATION GUIDE
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The document must be attributed as the Department of Social Services Aged Care Administrator and Adviser
Panels, A resource guide for approved providers & panel members
Contact officer
John Coram
Quality and Monitoring
Department of Social Services
PO Box 7576
Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610
Telephone:
02 6289 1976
Email:
[email protected],
Web address of this report:
http://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/ageing-and-aged-care
Please note:
From 18 September 2013, responsibility for aged care has moved to the Department of Social Services. During
this period of transition, you may continue to receive correspondence from Department of Health and Ageing
email addresses.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1
Panels Members .............................................................................................................. 1
LODGING YOUR APPLICATION ............................................................................................. 2
Electronic Lodgement ..................................................................................................... 2
Language ......................................................................................................................... 2
Enquiries by Applicants .................................................................................................. 2
Late Applications, Corrupted Files and Incomplete Applications .................................. 3
APPLICATION SUBMISSION ................................................................................................... 3
Ownership of Applicant Documents ............................................................................... 3
Confidentiality ................................................................................................................ 3
Disclosure of Information ............................................................................................... 4
Commercial, Technical and Financial Capacity ............................................................. 4
Security, Probity and Financial Checks .......................................................................... 5
EVALUATION PROCESS........................................................................................................... 6
Acceptance of Applications ............................................................................................ 6
Compliance ..................................................................................................................... 6
Outcome of the Application Process ............................................................................... 6
SPECIFIED PERSONNEL ........................................................................................................... 7
SUB-CONTRACTORS ................................................................................................................ 7
ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................................. 8
ADDITIONAL SERVICES .......................................................................................................... 8
SPECIFIC ISSUES ....................................................................................................................... 9
TIMEFRAMES ............................................................................................................................. 9
CONFLICT OF INTEREST ......................................................................................................... 9
INTRODUCTION
The Department of Social Services (the Department) is seeking applications from suitably
qualified individuals or corporate entities (‘Applicants’) to be members of the Administrator
Panel and/or Adviser Panel (‘Panels’) established under section 66A-1 of the Aged Care Act
1997 (‘the Act’). Applications must be lodged using the Application for Appointment to the
Administrator Panel and/or Adviser Panel (the Application).
Approved providers who are subject to sanctions under the Act engage Administrators and/or
Advisers from the Panels for a defined period of time in lieu of having their approved provider
status revoked.
Panels Members
Under section 66A-1 of the Act the Secretary of the Department may appoint a person to a
Panel if the Secretary is satisfied that the person:



has the skills and experience required to assist an approved provider to comply with its
responsibilities under Part 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 of the Act;
is not a ‘disqualified individual’ under section 10A-1 of the Act (if the person is an
individual);
if a body corporate, any individual responsible for the executive decisions of the body
corporate (e.g. directors, chief executive officer, managing director and any other
person with the authority to make decisions on behalf of the company) is not a
‘disqualified individual’ under section 10A-1 of the Act;

if appointed to the Panel, would not have a conflict of interest between their duties as a
panel member and any of their other interests or duties; and

is not a Commonwealth officer or employee.
Panel members are selected given their expertise in aged care, understanding of the causes of
systemic failure, and knowledge about how to remedy them. They have extensive backgrounds
(more than five years) senior administrative or clinical management experience, that
encompasses experience in leading and managing change, influencing and motivating others
and high level communication and negotiation skills.
The Department does not guarantee that a panel member will be selected and engaged by an
approved provider. The specific function, role, authorities, reporting requirements and
clearances, and remuneration of a panel member assisting an approved provider to remedy their
non-compliance are determined by negotiation between the panel member and the approved
provider.
The Department’s regulatory role requires it to monitor the progress of the action being taken
by the approved provider to rectify the non-compliance and to monitor the risk to the health,
welfare and interests of care recipients and the ongoing serious nature of non-compliance with
the Act. To fulfil this role the Department will require periodic progress reports from a panel
member who has been appointed to work with an approved provider.
Panel members must not use their status as a panel member for any business or other purpose
not related to their engagement by an approved provider in a specific sanction situation. Panel
members are not and must not claim to be advisers to, or on behalf of, the Commonwealth or
the Department. Panel members do not work for or receive any remuneration from the
Commonwealth.
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LODGING YOUR APPLICATION
This Application is expressly not a contract between the Commonwealth and the Applicant.
Nothing in this Application is to be construed as to give rise to any contractual obligations,
expressed or implied.
Electronic Lodgement
Applications must be lodged by close of business (5.00pm) ESDT on Tuesday, 4 March 2014
(‘Application Closing Date’). Late Applications will not be considered. The Department may
extend the closing time at its sole and absolute discretion.
The Department requires Applicants to lodge their Application electronically via
[email protected] Neither the Department nor the
Commonwealth take responsibility for any problems arising from the Applicant’s infrastructure
and/or internet connectivity.
Two electronic copies of each Application are required, one in Microsoft Word and one in PDF
format. The PDF version must include a scanned signed copy of the declarations included in
the Application.
Applications must be completely self-contained. No hyperlinked or other material may be
incorporated by reference.
If the applicant is a corporate entity, the representative of the Applicant who approves the
Application (by signature) must have the authority to bind the company/organisation.
Before submitting an electronic Application, Applicants must:

take all steps to ensure that the Application is free from anything that might reasonably
affect useability or the security or operations of the Department’s computing
environment;

ensure that the Application complies with all file types, number of copies, format,
naming conventions, size limitations or other requirements specified in this Guide or
otherwise advised by the Department.
When an Application is successfully lodged, an email confirming receipt of the Application
will be sent to the sender’s email address.
Applicants are to meet all costs of responding to this Application, including preparation,
submission, postage, courier, lodgement and costs associated with attending interviews (if
required).
Language
The Application, including all attachments and supporting material, must be written in English.
Enquiries by Applicants
All communications related to this Application should be addressed to the Contact Officer via
email [email protected]. Any notices of clarification
regarding this application process will be posted as an Addendum on the Department’s website
at http://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/ageing-and-aged-care.
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Late Applications, Corrupted Files and Incomplete Applications
Late or incomplete applications, including those with electronic files that cannot be read or
decrypted, applications which the Department believes potentially contains any virus,
malicious code or anything else that might compromise the integrity or security of the
Department’s computing environment, will be excluded from consideration.
If the Applicant becomes aware of any discrepancy, error or omission in the Application after
lodgement and wishes to lodge a correction or additional material, that correction or additional
material must be in writing and lodged in accordance with the requirements specified in this
guide or otherwise advised by the Department prior to the application closing date.
APPLICATION SUBMISSION
Ownership of Applicant Documents
All Application documents will become the property of the Commonwealth on lodgement.
Intellectual property rights of information in the Application do not pass to the Commonwealth
with the lodgement of the Application. However, in submitting an Application, the Applicant
grants the Commonwealth a licence to retain, use, disclose and copy the information contained
in any Application document for the purposes of:

evaluating or clarifying the Application;

evaluating any subsequent Application/s;

administering the requirements for the engagement of a person as an Administrator or
Adviser to an approved provider;

responding to any challenge to the application process, audit and complying with
governmental and parliamentary reporting requirements or requests for information,
including but not limited to requests from parliament or parliamentary committees; and

any other purpose related to the application process or above purposes.
Confidentiality
The Commonwealth undertakes to keep confidential any confidential information provided to
the Commonwealth by applicants prior to any appointment and, in respect of unsuccessful
applicants, after any appointments.
The obligation of confidentiality does not apply if the confidential information:
(a) is disclosed by the Commonwealth to its advisors or employees solely in order to
consider the Application;
(b) is disclosed by the Commonwealth to the responsible Minister;
(c) is disclosed by the Commonwealth, in response to a request by a House or a
Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth;
(d) is authorised or required by law to be disclosed; or
(e) is in the public domain otherwise than due to a breach of this clause.
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To enable the Commonwealth to consider whether it agrees to keep specific information
confidential, Applicants must include in their Application any request that information is to be
treated as confidential, if any, specifying the information and giving reasons why it is necessary
to keep the information confidential.
The Commonwealth will consider any request made under this clause and will inform the
Applicant whether or not the Commonwealth, in its sole discretion, agrees to the request and
the terms under which it agrees.
The terms of any agreement as to confidentiality will form part of the appointment at
completion of the application process.
Disclosure of Information
In this clause, ‘personal information’ has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act 1988. The
Department may collect, use and disclose any personal information collected, or provided to it
by the Applicant during the course of this application process for any of the following
purposes:
(a) conduct that is carried out in the establishment of the Administrator Panel and Adviser
Panel under section 66A-1 of the Aged Care Act 1997;
(b) conduct that is carried out in the appointment of Administrators and Advisers under
sections 66A-2 and 66A-3 of the Aged Care Act 1997; and
(c) conduct that is carried out in the selection of an Applicant or panel member for
Additional Services, if that panel member has indicated a willingness to be considered
for this role, including the provision of details to aged care industry bodies and/or aged
care providers.
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (‘FOI Act’), gives to members of the public rights of
access to official documents of the Commonwealth and its agencies. The FOI Act extends as
far as practicable the right of the Australian community to access information (generally
documents) in the possession of the Commonwealth, limited only by exceptions and
exemptions necessary for the protection of essential public interests and of the private and
business affairs of persons in respect of whom information is collected and held by
Departments and public authorities. Information can’t be disclosed if it is ‘protected
information’ under the Aged Care Act 1997. However, in certain circumstances a delegate of
the Secretary may disclose such information.
Commercial, Technical and Financial Capacity
Applicants must disclose any litigation, arbitration, mediation, conciliation or proceeding,
including any investigations ('Proceedings'), that are taking place, pending or threatened,
against them where such Proceedings will or have the potential to affect either:

the Applicant’s capacity to perform and fulfil its obligations if appointed as a result of
this Application process; or

the Applicant’s reputation.
In circumstances where there are no Proceedings as detailed in this clause, Applicants must
make a declaration to this effect. (Refer to page 7 of the Application.)
Applicants who fail to disclose Proceedings in accordance with this clause or who fail to make
a statement in accordance with this clause (as applicable) and are subsequently found to have
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Proceedings that the Commonwealth considers should have been disclosed will immediately be
disqualified from the application process. If it is found that a successful Applicant has
Proceedings as detailed in this clause after they are appointed, it may be grounds for immediate
termination of the appointment.
The Department will consider the Applicant’s response to this clause and the commercial,
technical or financial capacity of any Applicant or subcontractor proposed in their submissions,
including the existence of any breach or default or alleged breach or default of any agreement,
order or award binding upon them.
Security, Probity and Financial Checks
The Commonwealth reserves the right to perform such security, probity and/or financial
investigations and procedures as the Commonwealth, in its absolute discretion, may determine
are necessary in relation to each Applicant, its partners, associates, sub-contractors or related
entities including consortium members and their officers or employees. Each Applicant agrees
to provide, at its cost, all reasonable assistance to the Commonwealth in this regard.
Under section 66A-1 of the Act, a person is not eligible to be a member of the Administrator
Panel and/or Adviser Panel if:

the person is a ‘disqualified individual’; and

if the person is a body corporate, any individual responsible for the executive
decisions of the body corporate (including directors, chief executive officer, managing
director and any other person with the authority to make decisions on behalf of the
company) is a ‘disqualified individual’.
Applicants should check the relevant provisions in detail, but generally, under section 10A-1 of
the Act, an individual is a ‘disqualified individual’ if:
(a) the individual has been convicted of an indictable offence;
(b) the individual is an insolvent under administration; or
(c) the individual is of unsound mind.
Applicants must note Part 4 of the Accountability Principles 1998 which prevent an approved
provider engaging a person as an administrator or adviser:
(a) without a current (dated not more than 3 years before the day on which the person is
engaged) national criminal history record
(b) with a national criminal history record that records a conviction for:
 murder or sexual assault; or
 any other form of assault with a sentence of imprisonment.
The Applicant is to attach to the Application an original or certified copy of a national criminal
history record check obtained through the Australian Federal Police or a CrimTrac accredited
agency. The national criminal history record check must be dated no more than 90 days before
the date the Application is received by the Department. Where a national criminal history
record check can’t be obtained within the application timeframes Applicants must attach
evidence or a declaration that a national criminal history record check has been applied for.
The national criminal history record check will be required prior to appointment. National
criminal history record checks are required for:

the Applicant when the Applicant is an individual;
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
all individuals responsible for the executive decisions of the body corporate (including
directors, chief executive officer, managing director and any other person with the
authority to make decisions on behalf of the company) when the applicant is a
corporate body; and

each specified personnel and/or sub-contractor of all Applicants (i.e. Applicants that
are individuals and body corporates).
The Applicant is to attach to the Application, an original or certified copy of a national
insolvency search report/extract obtained through Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia
(ITSA) or an accredited agency. The national insolvency check must be dated no more than
90 days before the date the Application is received by the Department.
EVALUATION PROCESS
Acceptance of Applications
The Commonwealth may seek clarification of the contents of an Application from any
Applicant.
Any Application that does not provide all required information or which contains false or
misleading information may be excluded from consideration.
Compliance
The Applicant will be taken to agree and comply with all parts of the Application unless the
Applicant provides detail of the extent of, and reasons for, any non-compliance.
Applicants that do not meet an essential requirement will be automatically excluded from
consideration.
A non-compliant Application may be excluded from consideration as being incomplete;
however, the Commonwealth may seek clarification from the Applicant.
Outcome of the Application Process
Each evaluation criteria is not necessarily of the same relative importance. Weightings are
assigned to each evaluation criterion to reflect their relative importance. Weightings are
determined by the Department.
In evaluating the Applications, the Department reserves the right to draw on information about
the Applicant in the public domain or acquired in the Department’s course of business, to
ascertain an Applicant’s capacity and suitability to perform the role from a commercial,
financial, professional or technical perspective (along with the formal compliance check).
The Department reserves the right to only select sufficient Applicants to ensure adequate
coverage of each Panel (administrator/adviser), each category (residential/community) and key
functional area (quality of care/user rights/accountability), in each State and Territory
jurisdiction.
All Applicants will be informed in writing of the outcome of their Application. Following this
notification, Applicants may request written feedback from the Contact Officer on the outcome
of their Application. This will be at the discretion of the Contact Officer, and must be
requested within 7 days of receiving the notification.
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SPECIFIED PERSONNEL
Applicants should provide details of any proposed personnel who may assist the panel member
in providing services to an approved provider. Panel members may not use any personnel other
than those stated in the Schedule of Specified Personnel attached to the panel member’s
Instrument of Appointment.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring their specified personnel meet the following
requirements:





hold relevant qualifications;
hold a current national criminal history record check;
have declared to the Department any conflict of interest between the person’s duties as a
panel member and any other interests or duties of the person;
conform to all relevant professional codes of conduct and guidelines of their respective
profession/s; and
meet all relevant national and/or state and territory employment and/or professional
registration requirements.
If personnel become unavailable any replacement is subject to approval by the Department.
The Department will not unreasonably withhold its consent to a request to approve additional
personnel to replace those unavailable or the addition of new personnel if it is satisfied that the
proposed personnel meet the requirements.
SUB-CONTRACTORS
Applicants should provide details of any proposed sub-contractors who may be contracted by
the panel member to assist in providing services to the approved provider. Panel members may
not use any sub-contractors other than those stated in the Schedule of Sub-contractors attached
to the panel member’s Instrument of Appointment.
Panel members are responsible for ensuring any sub-contractors they engage meet the
following requirements:






hold relevant qualifications;
have appropriate commercial, technical and financial capacity;
hold a current national criminal history record check;
have declared to the Department a conflict of interest between the person’s duties as a
panel member and any other interests or duties of the person;
conform to all relevant professional codes of conduct and guidelines of their respective
profession/s; and
meet all relevant national and/or state and territory employment and/or professional
registration requirements.
If the nominated sub-contractor becomes unavailable any replacement is subject to approval by
the Department. The Department will not unreasonably withhold its consent to approve an
additional sub-contractor to replace the unavailable one or the addition of a new sub-contractor
if it is satisfied that the sub-contractor meets the requirements listed above.
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ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS
The Commonwealth will exclude an Application from further consideration if the
Commonwealth considers that the Applicant does not comply with the following essential
requirements:
(a) Submit a completed and signed Panel Application Form. The Application is to include
the signed declaration which includes:



the disclosure of any conflict or potential conflict of interest between the
Applicant’s duties as a panel member and any other interests or duties of the
Applicant and how they will be managed;
they, and in the case of a corporate entity no individuals who are responsible
for the executive decisions of the body corporate are a ‘disqualified individual’
as defined in section 10A-1 of the Act; and
the Applicant or any of the specified personnel included in their Application is
not a Commonwealth officer or employee;
(b) if a corporate entity, the Application has been approved by signature of an officer
authorised to bind the company/organisation;
(c) the Application, including all attachments and supporting material, must be written in
English;
(d) provision of the information detailed in the Panel Application Form; and
(e) have or be willing to maintain if appointed the following minimum levels of insurance
and indemnity coverage and agree to maintain it for the term of appointment to the
Administrator and/or Adviser Panels:


$20,000,000.00 Public Liability; and
$10,000,000.00 Professional Indemnity.
ADDITIONAL SERVICES
An aged care provider may require the services of a person from the Panel for purposes in
addition to those required under section 66-2(1)(a)(iii) and (iv) of the Act (‘Additional
Services’). The Department may provide the list of panel members who have nominated to
provide Additional Services, to aged care industry bodies and/or aged care providers when
assistance with Additional Services is required. Additional Services may include:


similar services required outside of a sanction situation, i.e. when an approved provider
has been served with a Notice of intention to impose sanctions; or
services related to the Aged Care Funding Instrument appraisals.
The specific function, role, authorities, reporting requirements and clearances, and
remuneration for such additional services are determined by negotiation between the panel
member and the aged care provider.
An Applicant should indicate their willingness to provide Additional Services in their
Application.
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SPECIFIC ISSUES
When providing services for specific sanctions, the Department expects panel members to
conform to the professional codes of conduct and guidelines of their respective profession/s,
and to ensure that all relevant national and/or state and territory employment and/or
professional registration requirements are met.
Once appointed to the Panel, members must advise the Department within 28 days of any
changes to their circumstances that may impact on their status as a panel member. This would
include, but not limited to changes to, ownership of business, geographic location, skill profile
and personnel listed in either the Schedule of Specified Personnel and Schedule of Subcontractors, or resignation from a Panel.
TIMEFRAMES
The term of appointment to the Panels will be for a period of up to three years and will be
stated in the Instrument of Appointment.
Panel appointments may be terminated in writing by either the panel member or the Secretary.
If terminated by the Secretary, a statement of reasons will be provided.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
A conflict of interest is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that a person’s duty, judgment
or actions regarding an interest will be unduly influenced by a different interest. An example
of a conflict of interest is an instance where a panel member, or a business associate or close
personal associate of the panel member, has a direct financial, personal or other interest which
influences, or may appear to influence, the roles and responsibilities of the panel member.
Conflicts of interest are not ‘one-off’ issues and it is important to consider at regular intervals
whether a conflict of interest exists, and if so developing, implementing and monitoring
strategies to effectively manage them.
When applying for membership of the Panel/s applicants have a responsibility to disclose any
conflict of interest, or potential conflict of interest, which may affect their duties as a member
of the Panels. All known actual, perceived or potential conflicts of interest must be declared.
The Secretary can only appoint a person to the Panels if satisfied that there would be no
conflict of interest between the panel member’s duties as a member of the Panels and any other
interests or duties of the panel member (see section 66A-1(2) of the Act).
The panel members also undertake, as a condition of being appointed to the Panels, to have
continuing regard to the issue of conflicts of interest. Panel members are to immediately advise
the Department of any changes to the actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest listed in
the panel member’s application form. It is a serious offence to give false or misleading
information to the Commonwealth.
Panel members nominated by an approved provider to assist that approved provider also have a
responsibility to disclose any conflict of interest, or potential conflict of interest that may
impact on their duties as the panel member. The Secretary may only approve the appointment
of a panel member by an approved provider if there would be no conflict affecting the delivery
of care or other services.
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