[Opening visual of slide with text saying ‘Australian Government with Crest (logo)’, ‘Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’, ‘Aged Care Provider Requirements Search tool’, ‘health.gov.au/regulatory-model’, ‘16 September 2025’]
[The visuals during this webinar are of each speaker presenting in turn via video, with reference to the content of a PowerPoint presentation being played on screen]
Naomi Lavithis:
Good afternoon and welcome to today’s webinar on provider requirements and the Aged Care Provider Requirements Search Tool. My name is Naomi Lavithis and I am Acting Assistant Secretary in the Legislative Reform Branch at the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. It’s a pleasure to be with you today.
I’d first like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the many lands on which we meet today and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. I would like to extend that acknowledgment and respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples joining us today.
Some quick housekeeping points before we get started. I’m sure many of you will have questions which is always great to see at sessions like this. You can submit questions using Slido on the right hand side of your screen.
[00:00:50 – 00:03:21 video frozen here]
Simon Christopher:
- - - in Slido for people to use. Under the current Aged Care Act 1997 aged care providers delivering Government subsidised aged care services must meet hundreds of responsibilities spread across several pieces of legislation. This range of requirements have been developed over 30 years sometimes in response to specific issues that have arisen. These responsibilities relate to governance, fees and payments, reporting and care and services. This approach will change under the new Act. The new Regulatory Model aims to have clear and targeted requirements for all providers delivering services.
The new Aged Care Act has three types of requirements for registered providers. Conditions of registration. These include a wide range of expectations of a registered aged care provider. They operationalise engagement with requirements such as the Aged Care Code of Conduct, Statement of Rights, delivery of funded services, financial and prudential standards, aged care worker screening, access to information, governance requirements, incident and complaints management and the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards. Most conditions of registration within the Act have more detailed expectations within the supporting Rules. While some conditions are applicable to all providers others are prescribed by the Act itself to what’s classed as a provider of a kind within the Rules and providing that further clarity.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner can also apply a condition to an individual provider’s registration, for example to address a specific risk or area of non-compliance that’s been identified through their activities.
Obligations are another requirement that provide some specific expectations either for all providers or again for a specific provider of a kind. Here again some requirements are further defined and explained by the Rules. Obligations covering things like reporting requirements, suitability of responsible person, aged care worker requirements to comply with the Code of Conduct and also refundable deposits.
Finally we have statutory duties. All providers must ensure that their actions or inactions do not result in harm or injury to the person receiving care to the extent possible. Responsible persons need to exercise due diligence to ensure their organisation meets this duty. The conditions of registration and obligations are designed to help providers meet their statutory duties. All providers must meet conditions, obligations and duties even if those services are subcontracted or delivered by an associated provider. This means you can’t contract out your regulatory obligations. If your organisation receives the subsidy for a service directly from Government you as a registered provider are responsible for meeting the relevant requirements even if you engage another organisation to assist in the delivery.
We want to help you understand the Rules and how they relate to your specific service provision and the work you deliver. The Rules will specify that the condition or obligation will only apply to providers in certain registration categories however the Rules may also specify kinds or cohorts of providers as I mentioned earlier other than by registration category. For example providers who are Government entities, this is what is meant by providers of a kind which you can see in the orange box.
I’ll use a few examples here to help demonstrate. All registered providers must comply with the requirements in the Act on the Code of Conduct under section 145 or cooperating with any person who is performing functions or exercising powers under the Act, section 177 of the Act. Section 153 of the Act covers vaccination requirements and section 153-5 of the draft Rules states that the purpose of subsection 153 of the Act, it applies to registered providers in category six, ie residential care only.
Complaints management is another similar example where the requirements are on all providers with more detail on what is required for providers set out in the Rules. The Aged Care Quality Standards is another example of where the requirements apply to only some providers. In this case though it’s delivering services under registration categories four, five and six.
Let’s now take a look at requirements that apply to all registered providers. As mentioned there are requirements that apply to all registered providers as they do now, like the Code of Conduct and worker screening requirements. Requirements are listed under conditions of registration, obligations and statutory duties as you can see in this table. The list of requirements on the slide is not exhaustive but provides useful examples including the condition relating to rights and principles. All providers need to be able to demonstrate their understanding of the rights of individuals under the Statement of Rights within the Act. They must also have in place practices to ensure services are delivered compatibly with the Statement of Rights. Other conditions include worker screening requirements, complaints and whistleblower system requirements and access to records of the individual by supporters and independent aged care advocates.
Obligations including the reporting of changes in circumstances to the Commission, the protection of personal information, suitability of responsible persons and cooperation with persons performing functions or exercising powers under the Act and who provide facilities and assistance to those persons. There are also reporting obligations. Reporting will be variably applicable dependent on the service the provider delivers and the kind of provider they are. For example specific expectations relate to residential care providers relating to quality indicator reporting data, financial and prudential matters and workforce vaccination status and care minute recording.
Other reports will be required in response to incidents. These are managed as reportable incidents under the Serious Incident Response Scheme managed by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. A registered provider also has a statutory duty to ensure so far as reasonably practicable that their conduct when delivering services does not cause adverse effects to the health and safety of individuals.
To help providers familiarise themselves with the Act and Rules and understand what’s required the Department has put together a comprehensive package of resources to make the process easier. By scanning the QR code on the top right hand side of this slide you can access important resources relating to the Statement of Rights, Code of Conduct for aged care, worker screening and the Aged Care Quality Standards just to name a few. The Aged Care regulatory governance roles of the Department are also included there alongside those of the Commission which can be located using the QR code at the bottom right of the slide. The Department is developing some short videos on provider requirements that are progressively being released and they’ll be added to the series of videos on the elements of the Regulatory Model as they become available.
I’d like to now introduce you to the Aged Care Provider Requirements Search Tool and take you through a demonstration of how the search tool works.
At this point in the webinar before we get to that I’m hopeful that we’ve started to unpack some of the complexities of how to navigate the conditions of registration, obligations and duties relevant to your registration and services you provide. To support you to understand these requirements on commencement of the Act and to assist parties interested in becoming providers as well as responsible persons the Department has built an interactive online web tool that compiles the requirements from the Act and the Rules in one place. When we use the term ‘requirements’ in this context we’re using it to reference the conditions of registration, obligations and statutory duties under the new Act and Rules that we’ve just been talking through.
You’ll be able to navigate the search tool using filters and specific search criteria to produce a list of the requirements relevant to your individual circumstances and download that output for later use. Similar to a website where you can request to get a quote based on your selections the search tool will ask the user to choose from the list of options and the relevant requirements will be shown dependent on which options are selected. With the introduction of the six registration categories a key filter will be registration category and service types to help return the applicable requirements. The user will also be able to select by program type or funding type such as Commonwealth Home Support Program or Support at Home to see any requirements based on that particular funding stream.
There will be links referencing the Act and Rules to the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments allowing the user to validate their findings against the original source information. The search tool houses a resource page which includes educational and guidance material as well as web pages. So without further ado we might launch into it.
Okay. Everyone should hopefully be able to see the search tool. So this is the home page of the search tool and it’s available on the Department’s website. We’ll be putting the link into the chat through the course of the webinar. Now let’s take a closer look at the Aged Care Provider Requirements Search Tool in action and how it works.
For the purposes of this demonstration I’m demoing the tool in a different environment. So if you do see a URL at the top of the screen please don’t try and pick it up and utilise it because it won’t take you to where you need to get to. So as mentioned the search tool is designed primarily for registered aged care providers or those interested in becoming a registered provider. It aims to help identify the conditions, obligations and duties that must be met under the Act. The search tool is also useful and provides requirements for aged care workers, responsible persons, digital platform operators to understand their particular requirements. And it will also be useful for older people, carers, peak bodies and community members who want to understand what providers are required to do when delivering care.
It’s important to note that the search tool does not provide information on how to apply to become a registered provider. That information is available on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s website and the search tool will link to their site so that if you wish to apply you can. Also the search tool doesn’t contain requirements that the system governor and the Commissioner must meet or penalty provisions as such. The information provided in the search tool is intended as a summary only and is not a substitute for the Act or the associated Rules. We have this message repeated a few times throughout the web page including in the banner at the top.
When you land at the home page you’ll see a few ways to get started. You can begin by answering the guided questions to generate the list of requirements. I’ll show you these in a moment. If I scroll to the bottom alternatively you can explore topics. These requirements are grouped together by a common topic or theme such as reporting and notifications, governance requirements, complaints and feedback. By clicking on one of these boxes you will be taken directly to a list of requirements related to that topic. This is especially useful if you’re looking for requirements for a specific area such as complaints and feedback. If a provider has a complaint and wants to refresh on the requirements they could click here easily. Just a note that not all requirements in this tool are aligned to one of these five topics.
If we go back to the top and we’ll go to the About page. And that provides a clear overview of the search tool’s purpose and scope. It explains who the search tool is for. It’s a great place to get started for new users.
We also have – sorry if I’m making people dizzy with the scrolling – how the tool works. This page explains the logic behind the tool. It outlines how the responses to the registration category questions, service types and program funding related questions are used to filter and display relevant requirements. This is helpful for understanding the structure of the search tool and how it aligns with the legislation. While I’m on this page I’ll show you an example of how the requirements are displayed which we got a sneak peek in the last screen. And I’ll also make it a bit bigger for you.
Testing my technical capabilities here but that looks like it’s probably the right size.
So each card includes the legislative reference. At the top you’ll see the Act subdivision name and the section that the requirement comes from. We have in blue the web link to the Act. This allows you to view the full legislative decks directly. In the white box is the extract from the Act. This is a direct quote from the legislation so you can see the exact wording. Below we have a high level summary of the rules. This is written to help understand what’s required. Under that is a green box that shows which registration category the requirement applies to. So it can easily show if it’s relevant to that provider.
Okay. I’ll just make that a bit smaller again.
Right. And I also mentioned the Resources page which we have a lot of information on this page to help you navigate the new regulatory landscape, links to key documents including the legislation, guidance materials, program related information for funding streams, instructional videos and links to the Commission along with a lot of other information we published over the time.
Excuse me. I was clearly not moving enough. So let’s hop into it. So if we go back to that home page we can click on the ‘Start’ button. And for the first run through I’ll click on ‘Registered provider’ which is one of the three options and select ‘Next’. And you’ll see the bar comes up at the top asking where you’re located.
I will click ACT is where I am located. It’s also as we work through this worth noting that any provider that’s currently funded will automatically be deemed as a registered provider on commencement of the new Act on the 1st of November. So this run through will be really useful for the providers to understand what those requirements will be.
So now we’re on the registration categories page. We’ll go with residential care but I think the thing to point out here for other users is if you click on the ‘Information’ icon it will show you all of those services that sit under the particular service types of each registration category. So it’s a good useful reckoner of what’s actually derived from the service list detail.
So we’ll click for the example residential care and then funded via residential aged care. So this is where you would be able to identify if you’re funded through a specialist aged care program such as Multi-Purpose Service Program or Transition Care Program as an example. So we’ll click through there again.
And then we have a question around are you a Government entity. There are some differing requirements between non-Government entities and Government entities so it’s an important question to answer. And then we get to the results page. So the sentence at the top summarises the information you have selected through those steps to get to this stage. If you want to change you could start over by selecting ‘Edit details’ here which would take you back and allow you to change those registration categories or how you’ve responded to those questions.
On the left hand side there’s a series of filters you can see here and you can choose to filter by conditions of registration, obligations or duties and then that will just return a result that lists those duties.
You can also filter down the side to show the subdivision name. So you can search for the subdivision name here or you could return it under the particular conditions relating to aged care workers. There are some dropdowns under each of those particular filters. So once you’ve found what you’re looking for or the complete list you can actually then export those results, save it as a PDF or copy the link and share it in an email. This will always have a date to show when it was saved or printed which I think is a really important point to just reflect that this will be iterated. We do have the draft Rules currently incorporated into this tool. Any final minor changes to those would be incorporated into this tool as quickly as possible. And that’s why the dates will be really important when you’re using it.
Another option that is available across our staffing page – if I just go back to the start – ‘I work with or for a registered provider’ tile. And there’s information here for aged care workers, digital platform operators and responsible persons and also some information around associated providers. I’ll select aged care workers and then that will provide like the previous journey the results card. And this can be saved and linked directly to an email, copy and pasted. Everything we’ve done here today is also Smartphone friendly.
And that is the end of my demonstration today. Thanks very much. I’ll hand back to you now Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon and thanks for that great demonstration. There will be an opportunity towards the end of this webinar for attendees to ask further questions about the tool.
Continuing along the theme of resources being developed by the Department I’d now like to hand over to my colleague Zosh Pawlaczek to talk to you about education and training material that her team has developed for the new Aged Care Act to support providers and the workforces to understand the changes and embed best practice in the aged care system.
Zosh Pawlaczek:
[Visual of slide with text saying ‘New Aged Care Act 2024’, ‘Education and Training’]
Thank you Naomi. Hello everyone. My name is Zosh as Naomi has said and it’s lovely to be with all of you here today. So the Department has developed four Modules that transition the Act’s implementation. So that’s Modules 1 and 2. And then move into supporting the sector to embed best practice through continuous improvement. And so those are Modules 3 and 4.
So the first two Modules, they are already published so you can access those on the ‘Prepare for the New Act’ page on the Department’s website. On the next slide we’ll share those details with you. So the first two Modules focus on understanding, adapting and aligning to the changes and there are three varied approaches, so three audiences that have been catered for with the Modules. So provider, workforce and the older person. One of the key resources for the Module is a facilitated guide as well which supports providers and the workforce to facilitate sessions with older people on the changes and of course their families and carers too. And that sort of is the overarching design of the education and training.
With Module 3 we’ve taken a slightly different delivery approach and we will do the same for Module 4. So Module 3 will be delivered in staged micro e-learning releases. The focus for the Module is about embedding best practice in the aged care system. And so Release 1 which is due imminently, it’s a toolkit style package for providers which includes a workforce training plan – it’s a template that you can populate and there’s a sort of step by step walkthrough in that – education and training catalogue which curates all of the Department’s resources that allows you to choose how you might want to include that in your training plans, and there’s a guide to navigating and adapting to change.
Release 2 and 3 will be in a similar format with dedicated e-learning modules and accompanying tools and resources for providers and workers. Release 2 will also include some practical resources for older people and so there will be things in there such as wallet cards, checklists and reflection sheets that you can use with the older person and their supporters and family.
So how do you access the Modules? So here’s the QR code. Training is available on the Department’s website and you can access that directly through here or you can go your usual route. For older people, their families and carers the e-learning modules are also hosted by OPAN and the modules are also available as face to face facilitated packs to support providers delivering sessions on the changes that impact older people. For aged care providers and workers and volunteers the Modules are also available on the Commission’s Alis platform. Providers are also able to request the Modules for their own learning management system through the Commission’s SCORM sharing initiative that they have which is again on our list which you can access there.
So you can visit the Department’s website which will direct you to all the relevant Modules and also as we release the ones that are yet to be published. And appreciate that that’s a very short presentation and so handing back to Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Zosh for sharing those resources. And this slide here has a number of contact points you can use to direct your questions to the Department.
I can kick us off with some questions. And I think a question that has come up a number of times in a few different forms is around the Rules and whether or not the Rules are finalised and why they might say Exposure Draft on the website that we’ve I think shared in response to one of the questions. So in relation to the finalisation of the Aged Care Rules with the passage by the Australian Parliament of the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Bill the first week of September – I think it was the 4th of 5th of September – the Rules are being readied for making by the Minister and registering on the Federal Register of Legislation ahead of the 1 November commencement. And that’s as soon as possible basically from our point of view. And so while the editorial adjustments and corrections were made to the Rules because that was an Exposure Draft we don’t anticipate significant changes now that the Amendment Bills have passed the Parliament.
And I think there was additional questions in relation to further delays in relation to the Act and I can say that both Minister Rae and Minister Butler have been very clear in public commentary that the Act will commence on 1 November 2025.
We’ve also had a number of questions that have come through in the pre-submitted questions ahead of this webinar. So we’ll address some of those before we move to those that have come through Slido.
So the first question here is:
Q: Will contactless meals providers like Lite n’ Easy need to train their staff in the Code of Conduct and whistleblower protections to comply with the Act?
Over to you Simon.
Simon Christopher:
Thanks Naomi. All registered providers will need to comply with the Code of Conduct and ensure that staff delivering services on their behalf are also complying with the Code of Conduct and also the whistleblower protections. If a registered provider is subcontracting out service delivery this subcontractor will be effectively referred to as an associated provider. The registered provider still remains responsible for them meeting the requirements under the Act. This may mean they consider what procedures and policies they want their associated providers to follow and reflect in any applicable contracts. Thanks Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon for that one. I think that the next question is also in relation to the tool. And it says:
Q: Will this also be tailored to support transition care program providers?
Simon Christopher:
Thank you. Yes. Hopefully you saw in the demonstration that the funding stream, so the program types are actually reflected so that any of the nuance requirements that apply based on a particular program is incorporated into the tool. Thanks Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. Another one in relation to the tool and then I might move onto the Slido questions.
Q: How will this tool change how providers understand and engage with their requirements?
I know you’ve probably covered a little bit off but I’ll hand back to you just in case.
Simon Christopher:
Yeah. Thank you. Well hopefully what we’re really trying to make with the tool is to make the engagement with what are a complex set of interactions between primary legislation and rules much more easily navigated by providers. So to support current and future providers by bringing these requirements together including the conditions, the obligations and statutory duties and then linking back to that source documentation so that if you need to investigate it further it can help support and build your capability and support your understanding and future compliance with the Act. Thanks Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. I have another question.
Q: What evidence will be required to verify staff competency? Is this in addition to undertaking mandatory education?
Simon Christopher:
Look I think we might kind of take that on notice. So there are some expectations within the Quality Standards around training but it will depend on the level of competency or the services that are being delivered as to what that competency looks like. We can probably have – it’s probably a broader answer than just one for me.
Naomi Lavithis:
Yeah. I was going to say Simon as well Zosh if you have anything to add to that one.
Zosh Pawlaczek:
I do. Yeah. I do. Thank you very much. So we can provide you with the link. The Minister has written an open letter to strongly recommend which training needs to be undertaken. There’s guidance in there around how to manage that aspect. As you will appreciate there is no mandatory training coming from the Department. There are invariably requirements as per the legislation which is part of your normal engagement with the Commission. But we can provide you with the link to the open letter so that you can see precisely what has been recommended particularly from a minimum learning perspective with the new Aged Care Act.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Zosh. I have another one for I think you Simon.
Q: The Department expects providers to upload third party organisations to GPMS by 17th of October. Do they have to upload details of all organisations or only those delivering services in Categories 4, 5 and 6? Can this be completed after transition where there is a large number of associated providers?
Simon Christopher:
Thanks for that question. I’ll have to join up the dots on that one a little bit and we can undertake to answer that question in our Q&As. I know there has been a lot of activity into ensuring that the data holdings in GPMS are accurate and reflecting the third parties required.
Yeah. So let me just – one of my colleagues just dropped me a note with a response. And providers are not required to upload third parties in GPMS. After commencement the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will collect information on associated providers during the registration and renewal process and for providers in Categories 4, 5 and 6 they’ll need to submit change in circumstances notification if there are changes to those associated provider relationships.
Thank you. Hopefully that’s answered that question Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
No worries. Thanks Simon. I just found another in the pre-submitted that we might go to.
Q: When will providers find out when their provider registration renewal date will be?
Simon Christopher:
Thank you. That’s another one for me. We will be notifying all providers shortly after the 1st of November. They will have seen their – I’ve just got to remember the name – the provider registration preview that we went out with in between April and June. So we will be notifying all providers of their registration record, what those registration categories are again and also that renewal date shortly after the 1st of November. For those who are calendar watchers the 1st is actually a Saturday so it would be shortly after that date.
Also worth noting that there’s no immediate renewal dates within the first few months of commencement of the Act. Thanks Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. Another one here from Slido.
Q: Does the tool differentiate between State Governments and non-Government providers given some requirements don’t apply to State Government providers?
Simon Christopher:
Yeah. Thanks Naomi. It’s a question that’s come up a bit of recent times. The new Act defines a Government as the body politic, so at the State level rather than a Local Government. A Local Government wouldn’t be considered a Government provider but some of the other local health networks etcetera which are part of that State Government body politic would be still considered Government.
Thanks Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. Just have another pre-submitted question here.
Q: Can I only apply for Categories 1, 2 and 3 and become a registered provider for Support at Home or must I register in Category 4 to be able to do care management to be able to have a participant directly?
Simon Christopher:
Yeah. Thanks Naomi. Again another question we get a bit of. To deliver under Support at Home you will need to deliver care management in Category 4 and the other services that any older person’s needing as part of their care.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. I’m just going to have a look. Sorry.
There’s another question on the Rules. I think I’ve answered that one.
Apologies all. Just trying to find some more questions.
I think this might be one that’s come up a little bit Simon and again another one for you.
Q: If an applicant applies for multiple categories of registration but does not clear the audit for only one category would the whole application be rejected or will they be registered in the categories they are suitable for?
Simon Christopher:
Yeah. So the new Act provides a lot of flexibility for the Commission. And I don’t want to pre‑empt how the Commission would engage with a provider’s meeting of the application requirements but where they weren’t able to demonstrate that they were suitable to deliver a particular registration category the Commission could make a decision that they would approve them without that particular registration category. So there is a lot more flexibility in this model for the Commission to be able to make sure that the service offering is suitable for the provider that’s presenting to deliver it.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. I have another one and it’s probably one for you and Zosh.
Q: Is the tool and information including the email addresses expected to be an ongoing resource/contacts or are these resources available for a finite time to assist with the rollout of the new Act?
Zosh Pawlaczek:
I can go first if you like. We are engaging with the sector to understand how long we will need to provide the support for education and training and resources. So for the foreseeable future they will be there and they will be maintained and we will take our steer from our engagements across a number of fora that we engage with to seek your views on that. So for the time being yes with a view to maintaining and then understanding when we stop the resources.
Naomi Lavithis:
Anything to add to that Simon or you agree with Zosh?
Simon Christopher:
I 100 percent agree with Zosh. Thanks Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
Excellent. Another one for you Simon.
Q: How do we get additional beds at a facility recognised? If we add additional beds to a facility what do we need to do before we can start admitting residents?
Simon Christopher:
Yeah. So this is an application that would need to be lodged with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to vary the residential care home’s approval to increase the total number of beds. So that will be the trigger. There will be some on and off, so operational, non-operational that may be within that total number of beds. So that may fluctuate over time. But where a provider wants to increase that total number of beds they’d need to apply to the Commission to vary the approval for that home to then allow for an increase in those beds. And again the Commission would be looking to make sure that there’s no risk to that service delivery within that home because of the increase in the number of beds.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. And I have another one for you.
Q: Does or can a registered nurse need to register or do they stay as a subcontractor for registered providers?
Simon Christopher:
So that’s a really good question and it kind of comes to an issue that I think is a bit confusing on a whole. A registered nurse would largely be operating as a worker or an associated provider of a registered provider rather than registering in their own right. So depending on how that nurse engages with the provider they may be either directly contracted by the provider, they may come through an agency, which would effectively make them part of the registered provider’s workforce and therefore an aged care worker that they would need to ensure has the understandings of how quality and safe care is delivered via that particular provider. But they wouldn’t need to – they may then also be an associated provider that contracts directly with their own ABN to a provider. Again whilst they’re contracting into a provider they would effectively be seen as an aged care worker.
Probably it hanks Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. That was a very thorough answer. There’s a question here that says:
Q: Residential care. Do providers need to own facilities before they can apply?
Simon Christopher:
No. I’m taking that one as me again. I’m popular on the questions. No. They don’t. But I think if the enquirer wanted to take a look at the Commission’s website. They would be – and I’m fairly certain there’s some forms that they can look at. They’d need to be able to evidence that the tenure they hold over that site has agreed or is aware that the provider intends to deliver residential care from that location.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. There’s another question. I think there’s a clarification question in relation to the previous enquiry around GPMS if you’re happy for me to ask you this one.
Q: The Commission was going to provide guidance on the associated providers. When can we expect this, if you know or if Zosh knows, and also can you please clarify the verbal response just read out, we don’t need to upload third parties to GPMS?
Simon Christopher:
Yes. So I’ll start with the first part. The Commission in collaboration with ourselves is working to provide some greater level of guidance particularly around associated providers and responsible persons to help clarify some of these intersections that we’re touching on today. In relation to the GPMS advice we’re not aware that there’s a requirement to upload third parties in GPMS but the model going forward from 1st of November – and we can make sure that that’s accurate – but the model going forward from the 1st of November would be that the associated provider information is captured via the Commission’s registration and renewal process and then also those providers in registration Categories 4, 5 and 6 would notify of any changes.
So I think the really good example in that space is where a provider has a particular organisation that’s actually running a home on their behalf. That would absolutely be an associated provider the Commission would want to be aware of. I mean I think that’s the most obvious example of where the care is being delivered on behalf of the registered provider and that would be an associated provider notification the Commission would want to be aware of through the registration process as I referred to. But then if that changed through the course of registration that that was also notified. And there would be some further guidance on that that’s coming out of the Commission in relation to those change in circumstances notifications but also in the application processes for registration.
Thanks Naomi.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. There’s another question here. I think this one would be for Zosh. Give you a break Simon.
Q: Please clarify the extent of competencies highlighted in outcome 2.9, for example emergencies, dementia, trauma informed care. Does a quiz at the end of a training session suffice?
Zosh Pawlaczek:
I’m going to take that one on notice because I’m not sure if that one’s relating to our Modules or if that’s quoting from legislation. So I’m very happy to answer that when I’m clear on what that means. So we can follow up.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Zosh. I have another question. Simon I think it’s for you. It could be for both.
Q: Do contactless frozen delivered meals providers need to adhere to the same Code of Conduct training requirements as meals that are delivered face to face?
Simon Christopher:
Yeah. Thanks Naomi. I think it’s a good question and I’ll kind of go to a sidestep on it in respect of that there are some specific requirements within the Rules that relate to meal delivery services. So I encourage the enquirer to use the tool and look specifically at those requirements that relate to meal services. I think when we talk about the Code of Conduct expectation I encourage the enquirer again to look at the Code and understand what it is that it’s setting an expectation for. And I think that’s really around how the system interacts with itself and that if it’s a contactless meal deliverer who arrives at a home and finds an older person who’s taken a fall in the front yard how they would be expected to respond and ensure that there’s a response to that. I mean I think understanding your obligations under a Code of Conduct is not a significant ask for a workforce that is with a vulnerable cohort of people.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. There’s a question here around:
Q: Regarding residential aged care I cannot find details on the grandfathering rules available to residents for their fees, charges and means testing. Are they there?
This is probably not for either of you but I’m happy to take this question. So in relation to grandfathering residential care fees there were amendments to the Aged Care Act which recently passed with Parliament which cement the no worse off principle, so it’s called, by creating alternative calculators for person-centred and provider-based subsidy for resi care providers to ensure continuity between current and new frameworks.
And so these amendments gave the power for the Rules to replicate the existing subsidy and contribution structure for individuals who were already in residential aged care at transition time or approved for home care on or before the 12th of September 2024. The change also allows the Rules to substitute different subsidy and contribution method statements for those individuals instead of the provisions set out in the new Act, the 2024 Act, which will apply to individuals approved for resi care after transition time or again for home care after 12th of September last year. And so this ensures the Government’s no worse off policy is implemented and working correctly. So I just thought I’d have another chat. Been a little while.
Another question from someone.
Q: I see there is a fee on the learning website Alis. Do associate providers also need to pay to do the learning modules?
Zosh Pawlaczek:
Thank you Naomi. Yes. So we have invariably the training loaded into the Commission’s learning management system as it is a much easier one stop shop for everybody. But providers can also get the same resources from the Department’s ‘Prepare for the New Act’ page. And if you would like to receive the SCORM package you can actually contact us directly as well so we can provide an email where you can make that contact with us and we can do that for you too. So the SCORM package is for those of you who have learning management systems yourselves.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Zosh. I have another question here. Simon I think this one might be for you.
Q: As a Support at Home Program applicant can I use an enrolled nurse instead of a registered nurse as my responsible person in my application? Can they also act as my clinical governance manager? Thank you for your time.
Simon Christopher:
Thank you. That’s a really good question and a pretty detailed one. So I think my initial – look I think we’ll take it on notice and make sure we get you the right answer in our Q&As. But the proposition doesn’t sound unreasonable to me but I don’t want to say that it is the case. So we’ll take that one away if we can and come back to you with the accurate information.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. There’s another question here.
Q: Is there now no room for one off purchases and anything we buy and intend to pay for with the package needs to be listed as an associated provider?
I think that this one might need an answer from the perspective of the service list Simon.
Simon Christopher:
Yeah. Look and I think that’s right Naomi. The service list and the program manuals particularly will talk to what services you can provide and some of those in a transactional nature – this is part of the work that we’re trying to differentiate between an associated provider with the requirement to notify of that associated provider, so the transactional nature of some of those one off purchases versus the ongoing delivery of care or particular services to an older person.
So we’ll continue to make sure that the information that comes out around associated providers goes to some of that additional information for you. But we can take that one on as a Q&A as well I think Naomi just to make sure it’s there for the audience to look at.
Naomi Lavithis:
Yes. For sure. And that might be also the case for this similar question. Similarly related.
Q: Do we need to have agreements with goods providers such as a chemist or Big W or Kmart or the physio store etcetera?
Is that something Simon that sort of comes off of that as well?
Simon Christopher:
Yeah. It does Naomi. It’s part of how we’re looking to clarify around sort of that transactional goods if you like purchase versus those that are delivering care on someone’s behalf. On a provider’s behalf I should say.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. Another one for you.
Q: Are screening requirements for workers still postponed until 2026?
Simon Christopher:
So again we can put some better words than perhaps what I’ll use but the screening requirements are in. It’s just that what is occurring at a later point is the commencement of the worker screening clearance check as opposed – there are worker clearance requirements as there are now that will occur post the commencement of the Act but the actual worker screening clearance checks will come in at a later period of time. There’s plenty of information on the Department’s website about that approach and the Rules again should actually start to talk to some of these things. So again I encourage you to navigate the tool and see if you can find that answer for yourself. I think it is within there and if not absolutely on the Department’s website there’s good information. So clearance requirements are still evident. It’s just that the worker screening check comes in at a later point.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. We’re looking to move towards wrapping up given there’s just a couple of minutes left. I do have one question while we’re moving to that wrap up. And Zosh this might be one for you.
Q: Does the Department intend on releasing more tools like this?
Zosh Pawlaczek:
It might be Simon’s.
Simon Christopher:
Look I think the Department’s been really active in this space to try and put out calculators in particular spaces that relate to policy initiatives. We were really eager to create this tool to help providers navigate a new regulatory environment. So I think the Department’s always alive to trying to create tools that are useful and helpful to help navigate.
Naomi Lavithis:
Thanks Simon. And so thank you everyone again for your time and questions. And just to let you know some of the questions we may not have got to just because we were really trying to stick to what was relevant for today. But we will try to address any other questions through our frequently asked questions process. So as a reminder you can find more information about the new Regulatory Model at our website at health.gov.au/regulatory-model. As part of our Regulatory Model video series we are developing dedicated videos on provider requirements and how to use the Provider Requirements Search Tool. For more information do feel free to contact us at agedcareregmodel@health.gov.au and check out the frequently asked questions and our web pages. As a reminder you can subscribe to our newsletters to keep up to date on the latest aged care news.
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This now concludes our presentation. Thank you everyone and I hope you have a lovely afternoon.
[Closing visual of slide with text saying ‘health.gov.au/regulatory-model’, ‘Phone 1800 100 422’, ‘(My Aged Care’s free call phone line)’]
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