News

The new Aged Care Act will put the rights and needs of older people at the centre of aged care.

It will change the way aged care services are delivered to older people in their homes, in the community and in aged care homes.

Public consultation is now open on the draft Act and we want to hear your views.

To get involved in the consultation, read one or more of these supporting materials:

• plain English consultation paper summary
• full consultation paper
• draft law

You can also watch the recordings of our recent webinars about the draft Act:

• 18 January 2024 – a Q&A session with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner
• 14 December 2023 – information about the draft law

You can then provide your feedback on the draft Act by:

• attending an in-person workshop near you
• completing a short survey online or over the phone on 1800 318 209
• sending us an email or letter

Find out more about the new Aged Care Act consultation.

Public consultation closes on Friday 16 February 2024

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission new and updated resources.

Read more:

Top tips for service providers: Managing complaints fact sheet (.pdf)

News about the reforms

• Aged Care Act consultation open
• Finance and operations information preview
• Feedback from Aged Care Regulatory Model consultation
• New Quality Indicators for home care

Sector news

• New members for the National Aged Care Advisory Council
• Volunteering in aged care information and resources
• Support at Home program – seeking feedback from aged care assessors

Residential care

• Reminder: Quality Indicator reporting closes 21 January 2024
• Trainer Mentor Program for kitchen teams applications closing soon

In-home care

• Additional funding for CHSP ad hoc grant opportunity
• Support at Home: Expression of interest for online workshops

Read more:

Your Aged Care Update: Issue 01

The Albanese Government is pleased to announce the new membership of the National Aged Care Advisory Council.

The Council was established in response to recommendation 7 of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. It provides expert advice to government on key matters relating to the aged care sector.

Nine members return to the Council and nine new members have been appointed, commencing in January 2024.

Read more:

New members for the National Aged Care Advisory Council

News about the reforms

• Have your say on the new Aged Care Act
• The strengthened Quality Standards – final draft now published
• Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner announced

Sector news

• Quarterly Financial Report application available
• New Integrated Assessment Tool
• Aged Care Quality and Safety Advisory Council
• Keeping vulnerable people safe during heatwaves
• Calculating cost of care forms
• Study into the wellbeing of older people
• Up to Standard – video episode released

Residential care

• Updated Star Ratings now published
• Emergency leave extended
• January 2024 schedules of fees and charges
• Quality Indicator reporting opens
• Residents’ Experience Survey
• Quality improvement – share your success stories

Read more:

Your Aged Care Update: Issue 49

A year on from its introduction, Aged Care Star Ratings has revealed a significant improvement in the quality of aged care homes across Australia.

Within 12 months, the number of aged care homes with 4 and 5 stars has substantially improved. 1,329 homes (54 per cent) are now delivering good or excellent care (4 and 5 stars) which is an increase of 352 since December 2022. That’s a 15 per cent improvement.

Aged care homes that need improvement have decreased. 54 homes or 2 per cent are now receiving 1 and 2 stars, which is a decrease of 152 since this time last year.

Offering access to previously unavailable data, Star Ratings gives a comprehensive view of aged care home performance. It helps older people, their families and carers compare like for like services and encourages providers to embrace a culture of continuous improvement.

Read more:

One-year on – Star Ratings highlights improved aged care

This report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act) meets the requirement of section 63–2 of the Act that the Minister present to Parliament a report on the operation of the Act for each financial year. This report shows the operation of the Act during 2022–23.

Read more:

2022–23 Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997 (.pdf)

Thank you for your patience while we resolved a data transmission issue between Services Australia and the department.

The issue has now been fixed and the Star Ratings provider preview has resumed. We encourage residential aged care providers to log in to GPMS to preview your Star Ratings before 7 December.

The data transmission issue also meant care minutes targets published on our website for some aged care services were out by a small margin. The majority of care minutes targets have changed by less than 1 minute. This issue has not impacted funding.

Read more:

Issue resolved: Star Ratings provider preview and care minutes targets

The Department has released the new ‘Schedule of Fees and Charges for Residential and Home Care’ for 01 JAN 2024.

The key rates are:

Maximum Permissible Interest Rate (MPIR)

• 1 January 2024 – 31 March 2024: 8.38%

Base Interest Rate (BIR)

• 1 January 2024 – 31 March 2024: 2.25%

Read more:

Schedule of Fees and Charges for Residential and Home Care – from 1 January 2024 (.pdf)

Schedule of Fees and Charges for Pre-1 July 2014 Residential and Home Care Recipients – from 1 January 2024 (.pdf)

Base interest rate (BIR) and maximum permissible interest rate (MPIR) for residential aged care (.pdf)

This document provides the final draft of the strengthened Quality Standards which will be drafted into legislation under the new Aged Care Act, which is planned to commence from 1 July 2024.

We developed a strengthened set of Quality Standards that address recommendations 19 to 21 of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

The strengthened Quality Standards are:

• Standard 1: The Person
• Standard 2: The Organisation
• Standard 3: The Care and Services
• Standard 4: The Environment
• Standard 5: Clinical Care*
• Standard 6: Food and Nutrition
• Standard 7: The Residential Community

Read more:

The strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards – Final draft (November 2023) (.pdf)