Under the ACFI the issue of funding has been streamlined and simplified. In general terms there are now 12 questions that need to be answered for each resident with 2 categories of diagnoses to be determined. Under ACFI, assessments have been specified and documentation has been defined. The end result is to make funding assessments that best explain the variations in the cost of care for Australian aged care residents.

Under ACFI there are 3 funding streams. These are defined as:

• Activities of Daily Life
• Behaviour Supplement
• Complex Health Care Supplements

Each of these streams has 3 funded levels. These are defined as:

• High
• Medium
• Low

These 3 funding steams are broken down to a series of 12 questions.
They are:

Activities of Daily Life

1.	Nutrition
2.	Mobility
3.	Personal hygiene
4.	Toileting
5.	Continence

Each question has an A, B, C or D response which has a relative score. The total score determines either a High, Medium or Low funding level.

Behaviour Supplement

6.	Cognitive skills
7.	Wandering
8.	Verbal behaviour
9.	Physical behaviour
10.	Depression

Each question has an A, B, C or D response which has a relative score. The total score determines either a High, Medium or Low funding level.

Complex Health Care Supplements

11.	Medication
12.	Complex Health Care

The A,B,C or D response is then applied to a matrix to determine a High, Medium or Low funding level.

Under ACFI, there are 2 diagnoses to select from. They are:

• Mental and Behavioural
• Medical

These are then used to support the other ratings and the setting of minimum data. After answering these questions, the funding level for each resident can then be determined.

Ensuring an orderly transition to ACFI is an important part of the process. This means

• Only new residents must be assessed using the ACFI model as of March 20, 2008.
• All current residents will be assessed under ACFI when their
  RCS’s expire.
• Upon the expiration of their RCS’s, residents will only move to the ACFI rate if it is in excess of $15 a day more than their current RCS assessment.
• If under ACFI their assessment is less, they will stay on the higher rate.
• This means: that no resident will be worse off under ACFI.