DisabilityCare Australia Fund

DisabilityCare Australia Fund

The money raised from the increase in the Medicare levy will be placed into a DisabilityCare Australia Fund (the Fund) for 10 years which will only be drawn upon to fund the additional costs of delivering DisabilityCare Australia.

Assisting the States

A fixed amount of the money flowing into the Fund each year will be set aside for the States and Territories. This amount will be $825 million in 2014‑15 (one quarter of the money estimated to be raised in that year). The annual amount allocated to the Fund will be grown in future years by 3.5 per cent per year. Over 10 years, the States and Territories will be allocated a total of $9.7 billion.

The States and Territories will be able to draw down from the Fund when they meet key conditions, including agreement to full scheme, and once at least 50 per cent of their eligible population is covered by the scheme. This is the stage at which it is likely that States and Territories will begin to incur significant new costs related to their participation in the scheme.

To support early establishment costs, eligible States and Territories will be able to access part of their annual allocation (10 per cent in 2015-16, and 20 per cent in 2016‑17 and 2017‑18) once they have clients participating in the scheme.

Composition of funding for DisabilityCare Australia in 2019‑20