The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Registrar makes sure that only suitable, capable and committed providers work in aged care. This contributes to the quality and safety of aged care.
This Service Charter explains how we will work with you, when you apply to:
- become a registered provider
- renew your registration
- vary your registration.
It doesn't replace legislative (legal) requirements or our statutory powers.
Our commitment
We will work with you in a fair, balanced, effective and efficient way.
- Fair - we are objective, unbiased, and transparent in how we make our decisions and engage with applicants
- Balanced - our decisions and actions are in proportion to the risks to older people
- Effective - in everything we do, we focus on improving services and each older person's experience of aged care
- Efficient - we use our resources wisely to make sure our processes are timely and to be accountable to you and to older people for the quality of our service.
What you can expect from us
Submitting your application
When you submit your application, you can expect us to:
- let you know that we received it within 5 business days. We will also tell you what will happen next and how to contact us
- tell you if your application is unlikely to succeed and help you understand the steps you need to take to improve it
- give you the chance to send us more information if there are small gaps in your application
- tell you if there are large gaps in your application and let you update and resubmit it
- meet with you if your application needs significant improvement and give you feedback so you can work on it before you pay fees.
Assessing your application
When we assess and make a decision about your application, you can expect us to:
- give you the name of the officer assessing your application and tell you how to contact them
- update you on the progress of your application
- ask you for more information if we need it to make a decision
- when we have all the information we need and you’ve paid the fee (if there is one), make a decision on your application within 90 calendar days. If we need to do an audit, the 90 days starts from when we receive the final audit report from your audit
- work with you to make quick decisions on urgent variation applications if you let us know that you’re working to meet a critical date
- tell you if we think we aren’t going to approve your application and why, and give you a chance to respond before we make a final decision
- give you clear information about why we made the final decision on your application and how you can ask us to reconsider it if you're not happy.
At all times
You can always expect us to:
- follow our values and be impartial, committed to providing quality service, accountable, respectful and ethical in how we work with you and handle your application. (This is in line with the Australian Public Service Values and Code of Conduct)
- provide information that is easy to understand
- help you understand the application process and how to submit a good application by providing:
- plain language guidance on our website
- regular engagement sessions where you can learn about the application process and ask questions
- opportunities to talk with us through our Contact Centre Team (1800 951 822) during normal business hours or by email (info@agedcarequality.gov.au)
- opportunities to meet with us if your application is complicated
- the chance to give us feedback about our application process.
First Nations applicants
First Nations applicants can expect us to:
- work in a way that is respectful and culturally safe
- provide guidance and support that we created in partnership with First Nations Peoples
- give you information in different formats, like plain language, storyboards or other formats that you ask for
- offer different ways that you can show your experience and capability, including by storytelling and yarning
- be flexible in our timeframes when we assess your application, recognising important family and community commitments, such as NAIDOC week.
Feedback
If you're not happy with our services, please let us know. We welcome all feedback and use it to improve how we work. You can give feedback or make a complaint about us:
- on our Feedback about the Commission webpage
- by calling 1800 951 822
- by completing the Complaints About Us form.