The Guides to Social Policy Law is a collection of publications designed to assist decision makers administering social policy law. The information contained in this publication is intended only as a guide to relevant legislation/policy. The information is accurate as at the date listed at the bottom of the page, but may be subject to change. To discuss individual circumstances please contact Services Australia.

3.6.9.10 Overview of ADAT scoring regime

Summary

The ADAT has been designed to assess the care needs of a person 16 years and over with disability or severe medical conditions, or who is frail aged and provide a balanced assessment that assigns a similar score/rating to people with similar levels of disability. The ADAT comprises questions that assess care needs across a range of physical, cognitive and behavioural areas. It has been designed to ensure that, in addition to physical disabilities, the functional disabilities associated with dementia, intellectual disability, acquired brain injury and mental illness are also recognised.

The assessment tool comprises a carer questionnaire and a professional questionnaire in a 'tick box' format. If a person wants to claim CP and/or CA they must complete the carer questionnaire and arrange for an approved THP to complete the professional questionnaire.

Where a care receiver has been certified by a medical practitioner to be in the final stage of a terminal illness and is not expected to live more than 3 months the care receiver is automatically considered to have attained the score necessary to meet the care requirements to qualify their carer for both CA (30) and CP (25). It is not necessary for the carer or THP to complete the respective assessments.

Scoring regime

A basic scoring formula is used for the carer questionnaire and professional questionnaire, to produce a numerical score, which increases in line with a person's level of care needs. The scores from the carer questionnaire are added to the scores from the professional questionnaire to provide a total ADAT score.

Even though the number of questions differs from one functional area to another, the scores are weighted to provide a balanced indication of the person's overall level of functioning, indicated by the amount of help they need. The different scores attributed to each question ensure an appropriate balance between the physical, cognitive and behavioural sections represented in the assessment tool. The scoring formula provides equal access to CP and/or CA for people with similar levels of disability, even where the cause and type of disability differ.

Note: Although the carer and THP are instructed to provide only one answer to all questions, except the abbreviated mental test, there are instances where more than one answer might have been ticked. If the carer or the THP has ticked more than one answer, the answer that gives the highest ADAT score should be accepted. Where no answer has been provided the carer or THP should be contacted to find out why. The carer or THP should be given the opportunity to answer unanswered questions in their respective questionnaires. A claimant whose care receiver does not achieve a qualifying ADAT score may submit a new claim at any time if they feel that the care needs have increased.

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