Bayside City Council is expanding its aged care offering in defiance of the recent trend among Victorian local governments, while Golden Plains Shire Council has become the latest to withdraw from providing aged care services.

The local Council in Melbourne’s southern suburbs, which already offers Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP), will expand to offer Home Care Packages (HCPs) over the rest of 2022.

According to Bayside Mayor Cr Alex del Porto, last year Bayside’s 130 aged care staff provided over 96,000 hours of care to more than 2,800 residents.

“Our plan to expand our services to include the delivery of Home Care Packages (HCP) will allow us to continue being there for our older residents who need that extra level of support.

“As a Council, we’re committed to continuing to consider the varying support needs of our residents, partnering with our community to protect and care for the community of life in Bayside, making an inclusive, active, healthy and connected Bayside for everyone,” he said.

Bayside’s expansion of its aged care offering stands in contrast to many Victorian regional councils, which have dropped their aged care services due to changes in Federal Government aged care regulations. The latest, Golden Plains Shire Council, around 90km west of Melbourne, is set to end its in-home care services on 30 June; Mayor Cr Gavin Gamble said it had been a “challenging” decision.

“Council cares about all our aged and disability clients and their families, and we want them to receive the very best in-homes services.

“Under the new nation-wide system for the sector, the service will be best delivered by a dedicated care provider and Council is committed to supporting all our clients and their families in this transition and ensuring continuity of care,” he said.

Golden Plains Shire’s exit from aged care follows those of Hepburn, Moorabool and Mildura Councils in recent months.