About the tools
The Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) is the assessment tool that assists independent assessors to conduct aged care needs assessments for older Australians who are seeking to access government-subsidised aged care services.
The AN-ACC Assessment Tool is used to conduct residential aged care funding assessments. This assessment is undertaken to determine an older person’s AN-ACC classification after they settle into their aged care home. The assessor is independent of the residential aged care facility.
Why the tools are important
The IAT assists assessors to collect detailed and consistent information about the older person once and ensure service recommendations and referrals are tailored to their current needs.
The AN-ACC Assessment Tool is designed to be robust and concise to identify the level of an older person’s needs in residential aged care.
Integrated Assessment Tool
The IAT assists assessors in both home support and comprehensive assessments. It helps the assessor determine a person’s eligibility for:
- in-home aged care
- flexible aged care programs
- residential respite
- entry to residential aged care.
Benefits of the IAT include:
- one dynamic tool for all aged care needs assessment types
- flexibility to adjust questions based on various factors, such as background, previous answers and whether the assessor is clinical or non-clinical
- nested questions to tailor assessments, only diving deeper into areas where needed, ensuring a proportionate assessment process
- threshold questions that trigger extra questions for clinical assessors, allowing more in-depth exploration of flagged concerns
- integration of validated tools for an assessment with depth and clinical rigour
- pre-population of relevant information from triage and screening, so older people will only have to tell their story once.
The IAT was developed in three stages, involving extensive consultation and engagement with external stakeholders and expert groups including geriatricians, clinical assessors, peak bodies and older people. Throughout each stage of the IAT’s development these stakeholders provided input on the suitability of the questions, responses and the validated screening tools embedded within the IAT. Read the IAT live trial report 2023.
Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) User Guide
AN-ACC Assessment Tool
The AN-ACC Assessment Tool was developed in consultation with clinical experts in health and aged care.
The AN-ACC Assessment Tool focuses on independently capturing the core attributes of an older person’s care needs that inform costs in residential aged care. These include:
- mobility
- personal care
- cognition
- special individualised support.
To learn more, read about residential aged care funding assessments.
AN-ACC Reference Manual and AN-ACC Assessment Tool
Assessor resources
- My Aged Care – Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) User Guide
- Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT) Offline Form
- My Aged Care Assessment Manual
- Residential aged care funding assessments
- AN-ACC Reference Manual and AN-ACC Assessment Tool.
More information
Find more information at Single Assessment System resources.
If you are an older person thinking of getting assessed for aged care, you can visit the My Aged Care website to learn more.