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Report on the Feasibility of Developing a Standards Rating System for all Australian Government Subsidised Aged Care Homes

Following a tender process in 2004, the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing contracted the Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care to report on the feasibility of developing a standards rating system for all Australian Government subsidised aged care homes. This is the final report of that study.

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Online ISBN: 1 74186 149 7
Publications Number: 3952

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© Commonwealth of Australia 2007

This work is copyright. You may reproduce the whole or part of this work in unaltered form for your own personal use or, if you are part of an organisation, for internal use within your organisation, but only if you or your organisation do not use the reproduction for any commercial purpose and retain this copyright notice and all disclaimer notices as part of that reproduction. Apart from rights to use as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968 or allowed by this copyright notice, all other rights are reserved and you are not allowed to reproduce the whole or any part of this work in any way (electronic or otherwise) without first being given the specific written permission from the Commonwealth to do so. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights are to be sent to the Online, Services and External Relations Branch, Department of Health and Ageing, GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, or by e-mail to copyright@health.gov.au.

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As an independent consultancy report, this document does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commonwealth Government.

The terms used and references made within this report reflect the date at which the report was prepared by the consultant.

Report on the Feasibility of Developing a Standards Rating System for all Australian Government Subsidised Aged Care Homes


In May 2004, the Australian Government commissioned Professor Warren Hogan to undertake a major inquiry into the future of residential aged care. The ‘Review of Pricing Arrangements in Residential Aged Care’ (the Review) assessed the current regulatory and financing arrangements to ensure they adequately supported the Government’s commitment to a flexible and sustainable aged care sector.

The Review suggested that people seeking an aged care home for themselves or their relatives may have difficulty finding a single source of information covering all aspects of aged care services. The Review recommended this be addressed and that a standards rating system for homes be explored to make it easier for older people and their families to choose a suitable home.

In response to the Review and building on the aged care reforms from 1997, the Government announced a substantial package of measures ($2.2 billion in the 2004-05 Federal Budget) to continue the provision of high quality care services for older Australians.

The Investing in Australia's Aged Care: More Places, Better Care package included $2.1 million specifically aimed at ‘enhancing consumer information and protection’. This measure involves the development of a consumer website and an examination of the feasibility of a rating system that would empower consumers to make informed choices about their aged care and to choose a home that meets their specific needs.

The Government accepts the major findings of the following report that a rating system for Australian Government subsidised aged care homes may not be feasible in the current environment where consumer choice is limited and where there is no agreed national set of quality indicators in aged care to enable comparisons.

The consumer website for aged care, currently under development, will provide streamlined access to consistent, extensive information on the range of options that are available in aged care, as well as providing information on rights, responsibilities and entitlements. The capacity to match up services against consumer needs is expected to be a feature of the new website, to be launched in the later half of 2006.


In addition, a project to evaluate the impact of accreditation on the delivery of quality of care and quality of life in residential aged care is also due to be completed by the end of 2006. The identification and development of a suite of quality indicators for residential aged care may increase the capacity for homes to be rated against the system in future years.

SANTO SANTORO
Senator for Queensland
Minister for Ageing