Responsibilities of residential aged care providers

Provider responsibilities

You must understand and carry out your responsibilities as a registered provider set out in the Aged Care Act 2024 (the new Act). This includes:

• meeting the Aged Care Quality Standards
• using and reporting funds properly
• having an incident management system in place.
• having at least one registered nurse (RN) onsite and on duty at all times
• delivering a certain number of direct care minutes to residents each quarter
• publishing accommodation prices
• seeking approval to charge above the maximum accommodation payment amount.

You also have further responsibilities as a residential aged care provider, such as:

Services you can provide

Residential aged care homes deliver services to residents, including:

• accommodation
• hotel-type services
• care and support.

If the resident agrees, you can also charge for some higher everyday living, additional and extra services.

Care and Services in Aged Care Homes – Information for Approved Providers is a guide for delivering residential care services.

Responsibilities to residents

For each person in your care, you must:

• create an Aged Care Entry Record form
• discuss fees and charges with the resident
• complete a resident agreement, an accommodation agreement and higher everyday living agreement, if needed
• have ongoing care discussions.

You must provide a minimum amount of care time and have a registered nurse (RN) onsite and on duty at all times in your residential aged care home. These obligations are called the care minutes responsibility and the 24/7 RN responsibility.

You are responsible for helping residents understand the fees and charges they will pay for your services.

These fact sheets can help explain fee arrangements to your residents.

Responsibilities to staff

Human resources is a quality standard.

Your workforce must be skilled and qualified to provide safe, respectful and quality care and services.

As a registered provider, you are responsible for supporting staff so they can provide quality care. This includes:

• training and development
• access to vaccinations.

Reporting requirements

All registered providers must meet certain reporting requirements. This includes:

• the Aged Care Financial Report (ACFR), including submitting an  audited Care Minutes Performance Statement and Annual Prudential Compliance Statement
• the Quarterly Financial Report (QFR)
• collect and provide quality indicator data
• monthly 24/7 RN coverage for each residential facility
• report individual refundable deposit balances to Services Australia in monthly claim forms
• notify the Government about some changes (e.g. advising Services Australia when a person enters your service)
• notify the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission of reportable indents under the Serious Incident Response Scheme.

Find out more about reporting for residential aged care.

Flu and COVID-19 vaccination program

Regular vaccinations are the best defence against severe illness, hospitalisation and death. Aged care residents are particularly vulnerable to severe illness from infectious disease. 

You must have processes in place to manage infectious respiratory diseases in aged care. This is a requirement under the Aged Care Quality Standards.

What you need to do

You must take precautions to prevent and control the flu and COVID-19 and minimise infection-related risks.

• Identify and comply with all relevant Commonwealth, state or territory legislation and regulatory requirements.
• Have an effective infection prevention and control program in line with national guidelines.
• Offer free annual flu vaccinations and COVID-19 vaccinations to your staff and volunteers, and keep records of their vaccinations.
• Provide vaccinations in accordance with the Australian Immunisation Handbook.

Monitoring compliance

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) assesses compliance with the flu vaccination program and monitors COVID-19 vaccination rates.

The ACQSC may seek evidence of your infection control practices, including:

• systems in place that support the prevention and management of COVID-19 and flu
• how you have promoted and informed your staff and volunteers about the benefits of vaccination
• the steps you have taken to promote the value of vaccinations to staff, volunteers, family and visitors.

Supported resident ratios

You need to meet the supported resident ratio of the region you are located in.

The following residents count towards the supported resident ratio:

• assisted residents
• concessional residents
• low-means residents
• supported residents.

The ratio does not apply to services or distinct parts of services with extra service status.

Sanctions may apply to services that do not meet their regional ratio.