Care minutes and 24/7 RNs

24/7 registered nurse responsibility

From 1 July 2023, at least one registered nurse must be on-site and on duty at all times at each residential facility.

About the 24/7 RN responsibility

From 1 July 2023 approved providers must have at least one RN on-site and on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at each residential facility they operate.

For sector-level information on 24/7 RN coverage, updated monthly, see Registered nurse coverage in residential aged care dashboard.

For facility-level information on 24/7 RN coverage, see Registered nurse coverage in residential aged care by facility.

For information about what is a residential facility, see Section 1.5 of the Care minutes and 24/7 registered nurse responsibility guide.

Why it is important

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety identified that staffing levels are critical to the quality of residential care, and recommended at least one RN be on-site at all times at each residential facility. See recommendation 86 of the final report for more information.

The 24/7 RN responsibility reduces the risk of resident harm by ensuring qualified and experienced care staff are always available to identify and address potential risks.

The responsibility also gives residents better access to care in facilities, and:

  • allows RNs to manage some issues as first responders
  • improves resident safety
  • prevents unnecessary trips to hospital emergency rooms.

For detailed information, see the Care minutes and 24/7 registered nurse responsibility guide.

Exemption arrangements from 1 July 2023

For more information on exemption arrangements, including eligibility and how to apply, see

Reporting arrangements from 1 July 2023

For more information on reporting, see:

Funding supplement from 1 July 2023

Residential aged care facilities with, on average, 60 residents or fewer per day (based on occupied bed days) may be eligible for a funding supplement to meet the cost of delivering 24/7 RN care.

Facilities with more than 60 residents will not receive the supplement, because their existing AN-ACC funding is sufficient to provide for 24/7 RN care.

For more information on the supplement, see 24/7 registered nurse supplement for residential aged care.

Future work on the 24/7 RN responsibility

The government is undertaking work to further develop and refine the 24/7 RN responsibility. This includes:

  • modelling aged care RN workforce shortages by region
  • developing clinically appropriate alternative models of care, through the University of Wollongong, to ensure safe and quality care is delivered when an RN is not available due to workforce shortages. This project will finish in the second half of 2023.
  • including the 24/7 RN responsibility in Star Ratings.

We will undertake targeted consultation with a range of stakeholders over 2023-24 to inform this work.

Support for aged care workforce

A range of programs are available to support growing, skilling and enabling of the aged care workforce. For more information, see: 

Information about 24/7 registered nurses for older persons

For more information for older persons, their families and carers see the 24/7 registered nurses in aged care homes fact sheet.

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