Final Report on RREF 2001 - Department of Health

Part A: Background and Scope of the RREF Review
Round 2 Consultations
The second round of consultations was held in late March and early April 2001. Again,
consultations were held in all nine regions and in Mildura and Geelong, as per the schedule at
Appendix 1.3. A further consultation was also held with indigenous groups
Almost 200 individuals from 148 organisations attended. A similar range of agencies was
represented as at the first round of consultations
To assist in recording views on issues and options presented at the Round 2 Consultations,
participants were provided with a response sheet. Just on half of all the participants returned a
completed response at the consultation or subsequently and a tally of the responses was made to
provide a summary account of the views expressed.
<strong>Final</strong> <strong>Report</strong>
Information gathered from the consultations and submissions was drawn on extensively as the
Review progressed and is incorporated in the later sections of this <strong>Report</strong>. This <strong>Final</strong> <strong>Report</strong>
also draws on the material presented in the Consultation Paper and Options Paper.
ROLE OF THE RREF IN THE HACC PROGRAM
How the current RREF allocates growth funds to regions
The RREF was introduced in 1992 as a mechanism for allocating the additional resources made
available as HACC growth funds each year to the nine DHS regions on an equitable basis. To
this end, the RREF is used to measure the share of resources currently allocated to the nine DHS
regions against an ‘equity’ distribution in which any region would receive the same number of
dollars per person in the Target Population. Where any region is more than 5 % below ‘equity’,
some of the annual growth funds are set aside for a special allocation to these under-funded
regions to bring them closer to the statewide equity level of funding.
The remaining growth funds are then allocated to all regions in accord with each region’s
proportion of the State’s total Target Population. The size of each regional HACC Target
Population is built up from estimates of the HACC Target Population in each LGA.
An example of how the RREF works at the LGA and regional level is presented in the box over.
Equity outcomes achieved 1995-96 to 1999-2000
An equitable distribution of HACC resources is achieved when all members of the HACC target
population in all regions receive the same per capita dollar funding. Each region’s share of the
State’s total HACC funding would then be equal to its share of the total State target population.
Regional deviations from equity are shown in the graph below. The bars in the graph show the
percentage difference between the actual level of funding received and the amount that would
be received if each region was funded at the statewide per capita level.
<strong>Final</strong> <strong>Report</strong> July 2001 7