Reviewing the Quality Standards
The Final Report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recommended an urgent review of the Quality Standards.
To complete the review of the Quality Standards in 2021, we worked with the:
- Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC)
- Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC).
The review included extensive consultation with:
- the aged care sector
- older people, their families and carers
- providers
- workers
- advocates
- experts.
Read the outcomes of the review in the:
Our consultation process
Based on the findings of the review in 2022, we revised the Quality Standards and tested a draft of these strengthened Quality Standards through public consultation.
Read the Revised Aged Care Quality Standards or the Revised Aged Care Quality Standards summary shared during the public consultation in 2022.
Read about what we heard and how we responded to the feedback from the public consultations.
In 2023, we worked with the ACQSC and the ACSQHC to pilot the draft strengthened Quality Standards to understand how the strengthened Quality Standards would work in practice. The pilot considered whether they were fit-for-purpose with a sample of 40 providers with diverse:
- service types
- sizes
- locations
- people accessing aged care.
Read about the ACQSC’s strengthened Quality Standards pilot program.
The findings of the pilot highlighted some areas where the strengthened Quality Standards could be enhanced to improve usability, auditability and understanding.
Based on feedback received from older people, aged care providers and other stakeholders, and the findings from the pilot, we made changes to the way the standards were written to make them clearer, reduce duplication and simplify the language.
This work resulted in the final draft strengthened Quality Standards.
Who we work with
We are responsible for:
- drafting and revision of the Quality Standards non-clinical parts
- establishing the overall architecture and format of the Quality Standards
- ensuring the Quality Standards are clear, measurable and easy to understand.
We consult on the strengthened Quality Standards with:
- older people, their families and carers
- providers
- workers
- peak organisations.
We are working collaboratively to develop communication and guidance materials to support implementation of the Quality Standards with the ACQSC and the ACSQHC.
Role of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission
All aged care services need accreditation to receive Australian Government funding. The accreditation process requires providers to show how they meet the Quality Standards.
As the national regulator of aged care services in Australia, the ACQSC assesses providers and issues accreditation. The ACQSC performs full audits, checking the quality of care that providers deliver, including against the Quality Standards. The outcomes of assessments are published to provide transparency regarding provider performance.
The ACQSC will continue this role as part of the provider registration process under the regulatory model in the new Aged Care Act.
Read about the Commission’s Stronger Standards, Better Aged Care Program.
Role of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
The ACSQHC’s role regarding the Quality Standards is to:
- set the clinical care components of the Quality Standards
- provide information, publications and resources about clinical care components of the Quality Standards.
As part of the work to strengthen the Quality Standards, the ACSQHC drafted the clinical care (strengthened Quality Standard 5).
In collaboration with us and the ACQSC, the ACSQHC has also developed guidance for the clinical care standard (strengthened Quality Standard 5). This information is available for providers and workers via a draft digital guidance tool.