Health block funding model for
Aboriginal community controlled
health organisations
Guidelines
In 2009 the Department of Human Services undertook the development and implementation of the Simplified
Funding and Reporting Project reform.
A range of government and department reports and community consultations, have highlighted the impact of
government funding on Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), and stressed the
need to reduce the administrative burden on the organisations.
The Department of Health has further developed the reform to implement a block funding model for ACCHOs.
The Department of Health aims to:
• reduce the administrative burden on ACCHOs
• provide flexibility in funding to ACCHOs to reflect community needs
• improve funding and simplify data requirements.
Recurrent funding lines have been combined into fewer and larger ‘ACCO Services’ activities or funding
categories. Sub activities will be listed in the ACCHOs’ service agreement.
The new Department of Health ‘ACCO Services’ activities for recurrent funding to Aboriginal organisations are
listed in the following table.
Table 1 New health ‘ACCO Services’ activities
Health ACCO Services activities
ACCO Services – Aged & Home Care 13227
ACCO Services – Mental Health 15099
ACCO Services – Acute Health 11116
ACCO Services – Primary Health 28088
ACCO Services – Drug Services 34078
ACCO Services – Public Health 16461
Block funding
Program funding lines for the Department of Health have been positioned together from an ‘ACCO Services’
level of funding. This has collapsed the ‘jam jar’ lines of funding into larger funding categories, or ‘buckets’ of
funding.
Within the Department of Health these ‘buckets’ of funding have been grouped together as a ‘block’ to allow for
flexible use of funds across the buckets.
The Department of Health is implementing Block funding arrangements for recurrent health funds for Aboriginal
organisations.
This new way of funding provides an Aboriginal organisation with greater freedom in the way funding is
allocated within each Department of Health ‘ACCO Services’ Activity to meet the needs of the community.
ACCHOs are now able to redirect any recurrent health funds between the Department of Health ‘ACCO
Services activities through negotiations with their region.
Department of Health
Program accountability will be negotiated with the regional office following local negotiation and approval
processes.
This new way of funding also means that there will be less time spent on formal approval processes and more
emphasis on open discussions about the realities of service delivery.
How does block funding work?
A fundamental principle of the new block funding arrangements is that changes to the service mix will be
determined at the local level and negotiated between organisations and the Department of Health.
Changes should focus on the local community’s needs but also take into account broader health objectives,
along with the capacity of the ACCHO.
Each ‘ACCO Services’ activity or ‘bucket’ includes sub activities that describe the programs or ‘jam jars’.
In a block funding model, ACCHOs will have the flexibility to move funds from one ‘bucket’ to another, as well as
have one ‘jam jar’ to another, to address local priorities.
The service standards and guidelines for each program area will still apply.
What is negotiated?
The organisation will have a discussion with their region. The negotiation will identify recurrent funds where the
objectives and deliverables of a program have been met, and agree to funds being moved to another program.
During regular visits with ACCHOs, regions will discuss the organisation’s progress in implementing their
programs. ACCHOs will then identify where program objectives and deliverables have been met.
What is in and out of scope for funding?
All Department of Health programs other than Home and Community Care (HACC) are in scope for flexible use
of funding based on these guidelines.
What does this mean for HACC?
Within HACC, funding is only flexible between HACC programs or ‘jam jars’ and cannot be transferred to any
other Department of Health funding category or ‘buckets’. Negotiations over the targeting of HACC funding
should be within the context of broader HACC objectives and regional priorities.
To move funds from HACC into another ‘bucket’ requires an agreement between the Victorian Minister for
Health and the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Ageing.
The approach
The proposed approach for ACCHOs is outlined below.
• The ACCHO and region negotiate any adjustments necessary to meet community needs during the next 12
months. The region and ACCHO negotiate the adjustments in the overall context of the organisation in which
agreement is reached.
• The region can then negotiate ‘projects’ for funds that would meet organisational needs.
ACCHOs will be able to make more choices about the use of Department of Health funding across a range of
health services. They will have greater freedom in determining the type and volume of the service, and therefore
more opportunity to adapt service responses to local community need. It is expected that the department’s
regional office communicate regularly with ACCHOs about local needs and local service provision.
Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne. To receive this publication in an accessible format, phone
9096 9389 or email <aboriginalhealth@health.vic.gov.au>.
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Department of Health