Understanding the Aged Care Quality Standards
Understanding the Quality Standards
For Aged Care providers to ensure compliance with the Quality Standards, it is vital that their staff must first have a thorough understanding of what exactly the Quality Standards are.
The Aged Care Quality Standards are a set of requirements that all Aged Care providers must meet when they are assessed by the Australian regulatory body known as the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC). These Quality Standards are applicable to all government funded providers of aged care, including home care and residential care organisations.
The Quality Standards were first introduced by the ACQSC on the 1st of July 2019 to ensure that providers were delivering safe, high-quality and person-centred care. At that time, public concern about the quality of aged care services was growing due to some worrying findings that had come from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
As a result, the Quality Standards were designed to place a greater emphasis on dignity and choice for all care recipients among other vital aspects of care provision. When first introduced, there were eight Quality Standards in total:
- Consumer dignity and choice
- Assessment and planning
- Personal care and clinical care
- Services and supports for daily living
- Service environment
- Feedback and complaints
- Human resources
- Organisational governance
Providers were required to demonstrate that they deliver care in accordance with each of these requirements during their accreditation assessment. Where any of these Standard were not met, the provider was required to produce a service improvement plan. This was then reviewed at their next assessment to measure their improvement towards the requirement. Continual failure to meet the Standards would result in closure of the service.
Changes to the Aged Care Quality Standards
In June 2024, the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards were introduced in draft format by the ACQSC. This was in response to the final report handed down by the Royal Commission, which recommended that the Quality Standards be reviewed as part of wider industry reforms to be introduced.
During an extensive consultation period, the ACQSC reviewed the eight existing Aged Care Quality Standards, paying particular attention to areas identified as requiring specific attention by the Royal Commission findings, namely: food and nutrition, dementia care, diversity, organisational governance and clinical care.
What are the most significant changes?
The revisions implemented to the Quality Standards aim to enhance the person-centredness of the Standards, whilst also streamlining requirements and eliminating redundancies to provide greater clarity to providers about their obligations.
Key changes include:
- Reducing the standards from eight to seven to consolidate and streamline provider requirements
- Introduction of new standards
- Integration of the new Statement of Rights
- A renewed focus on:
- Person-centredness
- Safe and supportive environment
The seven strengthened Quality Standards are:
- The person
- The organisation
- Care and services
- The environment
- Clinical care
- Food and nutrition
- The residential community
Aged care providers will be assessed against the strengthened Quality Standards as of the 1st of July 2025. This will occur alongside the introduction of the new Aged Care Act that was passed by Australian parliament at the end of 2024.
Compliance with these strengthened standards will require organisations to take stock of their current staffing levels, organisational processes, as well as the software systems they use to help document and deliver care. This will be particularly critical when it comes to evidencing care and services as well as clinical care.
In our next blog we will explore the ways in which a comprehensive care management system will be able to strengthen your compliance and ensure you are ready come this July.
