We’re here to help you get your life back on track after your transport accident. If you or a family member has multiple physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities as a result of a transport accident, which makes it difficult to live independently, we can pay for supported accommodation in Australia.

If you have enough support to live at home, we can also pay for short term stays in supported accommodation, to allow your carers to have a break. This is called respite care.

How can supported accommodation help?

People with multiple physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities after an accident may find it too difficult to live independently in their own home or family home. Supported accommodation provides a home for them.

Supported accommodation includes:

• Shared Supported Accommodation (SSA)
• Supported Residential Services (SRS)
• Residential Aged Care (RAC)

It can also include the delivery of shared care support while residing in a NDIS funded Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) property.

How we approve these services

Supported accommodation

Your doctor, occupational therapist or treating team will let us know that because of your severe injuries you may need supported accommodation.

Your needs will be assessed to work out the level and type of assistance you need and the type of supported living arrangement you will require. We will work with your treating team to support you as much as possible.

The TAC can also consider the reasonable cost of Specialised Housing Case Management services to support you to explore the full range of housing options that could meet your needs, including SDA eligibility.

Residential aged care

If residential aged care is needed, an assessment will be required by the Aged Care Assessment Service. If you need this type of care, appropriate aged care options will be given to you, and you and your family can choose the Aged Care home where you will live. Residential Aged Care is usually only appropriate for people over the age of 65.

If you need help finding residential aged care we can pay for an approved placement provider, case manager or occupational therapist to help you.

Following your move into supported accommodation, we may contact your supported accommodation provider or treatment team to discuss your progress or request an assessment, to make sure that:

• You have all the appropriate support you need.
• You are getting proven, evidence-based treatment and not receiving treatment that isn't helping you recover.
• You are moving towards getting your life back on track or being able to live as independently as possible.

How these services are paid for

We pay for these services:

• Directly to your service provider, when you have provided them with your TAC claim number, or
• If you have to pay, use myTAC to send us a copy of your receipt and we will repay you.

To get the best outcome for you, we will only ever pay for:

• Supported accommodation settings that have the required registration/accreditation specific to that type of setting, to make sure that care provided meets quality and safety standards for residents.
• Services provided to you that demonstrate continued progress towards achieving your independence goals.

We pay for your services in line with our responsibilities under the Transport Accident Act 1986.

How much we will pay

The fees paid to supported accommodation facilities will vary depending upon the type of supported accommodation facility you need.

Supported Residential Services (SRS)

These are privately owned facilities that are registered with the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH). They provide services that meet the criteria for their registration. We will pay a reasonable fee as determined by the service provider, in line with the residential and services agreement between us, you or your family member and the owner of the facility.

The TAC will only pay for SRS services provided by facilities registered with DFFH. The services and care that you or your family member should receive in a Supported Residential Services facility should be aligned to those in the Residential Services (Private proprietors) Act 2010.

Your need for this type of supported accommodation must be directly related to your transport accident.

Shared Supported Accommodation (SSA)

These facilities are shared accommodation settings that provide a 24-hour shared care model which can include personal care and support, engaging residents in day to day activities, assistance with medication, behavioural support (if required) and completing exercises/rehabilitation as recommended by a health professional. We pay the cost of the following, up to an agreed amount:

• Daily support fee
• Daily living expenses
• Program establishment fee
• Attendant care for support needs above the level of support provided under the 24-hour shared support. This attendant care needs to be approved by the TAC and based on clinical recommendations by a health professional.

Your need for this type of supported accommodation must be directly related to your transport accident. Under the Transport Accident Act 1986, from 18 months after your discharge from hospital you will be required to pay a daily contribution towards the cost of your daily living expenses. Your required contribution will be published in the TAC's Benefits Schedule, which is updated every year in July.

SSA providers are required to be registered with the TAC in order to support TAC clients as residents.

Residential Aged Care (RAC)

The TAC can help pay the reasonable cost of Residential Aged Care if the need for the service is related to your transport accident injury. We can only pay for services provided by Residential Aged Care facilities that are accredited by the Commonwealth Government’s Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. This helps ensure that you receive a standard of care that is high quality and aligned to government standards.

Before seeking TAC funding for Residential Aged Care fees, you will need to establish your eligibility for a Commonwealth subsidised place in an aged care facility. To do this you can apply for an eligibility assessment on the My Aged Care website. Once you have an aged care assessment outcome, you can send this to your TAC claim manager. Your claim manager will then advise you if the TAC can contribute to the costs of your aged care support. We will directly pay the Aged Care  provider for costs in line with the fees determined by the Commonwealth Government.

Under the Transport Accident Act 1986, from 18 months after your discharge from hospital you will be required to pay a daily contribution of $10 towards the cost of your basic daily fee.

NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) properties

Under the Transport Accident Act 1986, the TAC is unable to pay for the physical building and maintenance of the accommodation itself or the “bricks and mortar”. People with extreme functional impairment and/or very high support needs may be eligible for SDA funding with the NDIS for this purpose. See NDIS website for further details.

In instances where you have NDIS SDA funding approved and are residing in a SDA property, TAC can pay for the reasonable costs of care within the shared supported accommodation as a result of your transport accident injuries. This may include;

• Daily support fee
• Daily living expenses
• Program establishment fee
• Attendant care for support needs above the level of support provided under the 24-hour shared support. This attendant care needs to be approved by the TAC and is based on clinical recommendations by a health professional.

See Shared Supported Accommodation section for further details. If you or your family member are an inpatient in hospital and there is yet to be a decision on a NDIS SDA application, the TAC may consider the funding of temporary shared supported accommodation if it is demonstrated that;

• All inpatient rehabilitation goals have been achieved
• The hospital has recommended the person is safe for discharge
• A continued hospital admission has resulted in detriment to the person’s mental and/or physical wellbeing

What we won’t pay for

We can’t pay for services that:

• Do not treat, or are not related to, your transport accident injuries.
• Are not reasonable, necessary or appropriate.
• Are not clinically justified, safe and effective.

The TAC will not pay supported accommodation providers that do not have the required accreditation/registration specific to that supported accommodation setting.

We also can’t pay for incidental items that may be provided to you as part of your stay. This includes upgrading a standard room type and other services you might request where there is no clinical need for the request that relates to your transport accident injuries.

Under the Transport Accident Act 1986 we cannot pay the cost of any accommodation bond, refundable accommodation deposit, interest that would have been earned on an accommodation bond or council rates associated with admission into, or continued living in, a supported accommodation facility.

Because the TAC cannot pay for the physical building, if you require shared supported accommodation based on the recommendation of your treating team, exploring eligibility for SDA funding with the NDIS is encouraged as a first step.

For providers

If you are a provider of supported accommodation, see our Supported Accommodation provider guidelines for circumstances in which you can provide services to our clients.