Aged Care Quality Bulletin #4-2026

Commissioner’s message

This month I’m pleased to share that we’ve launched a public information program to support older people, their families and supporters to understand their strengthened rights and protections in aged care, and the pathways available to raise concerns and give feedback.

It’s informed by recent market research for the Commission, which provided valuable insights into older people’s understanding of their rights in aged care, the Statement of Rights and any barriers to raising concerns.

What particularly resonated with me about the research findings was the importance of translating rights into everyday language and experiences. It’s something we can apply more broadly across the Commission in our interactions with older people.

All registered providers have been sent information kits, and I encourage you to use the resources as part of our collective efforts to reassure older people and their supporters that it is OK to speak up.

This week all board chairs of residential aged care providers received a joint letter from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and the Commission about getting ready for winter. Boards are asked to ensure their organisation provides timely, free access to all recommended vaccinations for residents and workers and actively promotes their importance.

This edition, I’d also like to remind providers about complying with the Financial and Prudential Standards as a condition of your registration. This includes meeting the minimum liquidity requirements. You can read more about this in our full article below.

In other news, we’ve sent out invitations to all registered providers for our National Aged Care Provider Conference 2026 being held in October in Brisbane. Registration is now open for this year’s conference program, which includes a rich mix of sessions as we explore ‘Rights and choice, every day: one year in’.

We continue to review and update our provider forms to improve the registration process. To make sure you use the most up-to-date form, and to find out more, please read the article on Improving provider forms.

Our Food, Nutrition and Dining unit is running free workshops on eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties. Sessions are for general managers, clinical managers, educators, policy leaders and other responsible persons. You can find out more in the Food and nutrition section.

Lastly, did you know that falls are the leading cause of hospital admissions due to injury in people aged over 65? Falls are such an important topic in aged care. We’re supporting April Falls Month to raise awareness and promote the latest best practice strategies to prevent falls. Our Falls awareness month article shares more.

Aged care reform update

Public information program

As the national regulator of government funded aged care services, one of our key functions is to listen to the experiences of older people and keep them informed of their rights when accessing aged care. We also support and educate providers and workers about those rights and their obligations in meeting them.

We are running a public information program to support older people, their families and supporters to understand their rights under the new Aged Care Act 2024 (Aged Care Act) and Statement of Rights, and the pathways available to raise concerns or give feedback. This video explains the purpose of the program.

We have distributed information kits to all registered providers and key stakeholders, and we encourage you to support the program, through promotion of the available resources with your services, workforce and older people in your care.

Over the coming weeks our key message ‘Choice, dignity, respect – your rights in aged care’ will feature nationally across print, radio and digital media channels. It will include targeted content for First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse audiences.

The program is informed by market research for the Commission which found that while most older people and supporters would first raise any issues with their provider, concerns about doing so include not knowing who to speak to, a lack of confidence they would be listened to and fear of reprisals.

The program will feature prominently on our website with a dedicated landing page for more information and a suite of supporting resources.

Preparing for the Financial and Prudential Standards – Insights report

We’ve published a new insights report on how category 6 providers were preparing to meet the new Financial and Prudential Standards ahead of the implementation of the Aged Care Act.

In September 2025, we reviewed 175 providers across Australia to:

understand how they were preparing for the new Financial and Prudential Standards
offer them support.

We found that most providers were confident about meeting their prudential responsibilities under the new Act. They were preparing in different ways, such as:

training staff on the Aged Care Act
sharing Commission resources, like webinars and guides
getting advice from legal and accounting specialists so they could understand and meet their obligations.

Some providers weren’t prepared to meet their prudential responsibilities. They needed:

more time to complete their policies
their governing body to approve their new and updated policies.

Some providers didn’t know about their obligations under the new Financial and Prudential Standards and hadn’t started to prepare. We worked with these providers to help them understand their responsibilities.

Providers told us the review was a valuable opportunity to learn about financial and prudential topics.

For us, it was a way to build relationships with providers and work with them on financial and prudential matters.

We’ll continue to do targeted reviews to help providers meet their responsibilities. We might also do surveys to check if:

they understand the Financial and Prudential Standards better
preparing helped them to comply.

You can find more information about financial and prudential reviews on our website or email us at f&p.reviews&audits@agedcarequality.gov.au.

Meeting the minimum liquidity requirements

Providers need to comply with the Financial and Prudential Standards as a condition of their registration. That includes meeting the minimum liquidity requirements.

Under the new Liquidity Standard, each quarter you need to:

calculate 2 minimum liquidity amounts (MLAs):
- a default MLA
- an evaluated MLA
decide which MLA you’ll meet
get your governing body to review and sign off the MLAs
include the MLAs in your Quarterly Financial Report (QFR).

To calculate the default MLA, you need to use our liquidity calculator and add amounts from your QFR.

The evaluated MLA can be equal to, higher or lower than the default MLA. If you choose to use the evaluated MLA, you must submit an evaluated MLA notification form.

You must always have enough liquidity (cash or assets you can easily convert to cash) to meet your financial obligations. This includes your operating expenses and refundable deposits. The liquidity requirement makes sure there's no risk to older people or to their continuity of care.

If your liquidity drops, or you expect it to drop, below your chosen MLA, you must submit a Change in circumstances notification form. You can find more information on the Changes to financial and prudential matters webpage.

You can find more information about QFRs on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website.

Provider registration sector snapshot now available

Under the Aged Care Act, all providers of government funded aged care must be registered in one or more of 6 registration categories, based on the services they deliver.

Our first Provider registration sector snapshot shows the types of services providers were registered to deliver on day one of the Act, 1 November 2025.

The snapshot shows:

2,127 providers were registered to deliver aged care
1,715 providers were registered in categories 4, 5 or 6. This means we’ll audit them to assess if they can conform with the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards
most providers were registered in more than one category.

The numbers give us a starting point for understanding the sector under the new registration model.

Over time, this information will support future reporting and show us where to focus regulation.

You can download the Provider registration: Sector snapshot from 1 November 2025 from our website.

If you have suggestions about the types of information you’d like to see in future snapshots, you can email sectorperformancereports@agedcarequality.gov.au.

Improving provider forms

We continue to review and update our provider forms to improve the registration process.

Recently we’ve added instructions, new questions and clearer guidance to our registration, variation and change in circumstances forms.

To make sure you use the most up-to-date form, download it from Applications requests and notifications.

If you use an old form, we might contact you for more information.

You can give us feedback on our forms by emailing info@agedcarequality.gov.au.

Learn more on our provider registration webpage.

Food and nutrition

Workshops on eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties – express your interest

The Food, Nutrition and Dining Unit is running free workshops on eating, drinking and swallowing (EDS) difficulties. This is part of a new targeted education program to help registered providers improve the quality of their services. The program will provide:

practical education
advice and guidance
resources to promote best practice care.

Our clinicians will deliver the half-day EDS workshop at your aged care service. It’s for:

general managers
clinical managers
educators
policy leaders
other responsible persons.

The workshop will help your leaders understand EDS difficulties. This includes how to:

identify, manage, monitor and respond to EDS risk
make sure clinical governance supports you to identify and manage EDS difficulties
use a rights-based approach to support people with EDS difficulties
recognise good practice in managing EDS difficulties and opportunities to improve.

If you’re interested

To take part in the program, complete the expression of interest form.

If you have questions or concerns about food, nutrition and dining, you can:

call the Food Nutrition and Dining Hotline on 1800 844 044
email info@agedcarequality.gov.au.

Clinical update

Falls Awareness month

This April we supported the April Falls campaign: ‘Let’s Talk About Falls – Staying Safe Starts with a Chat’. April Falls Month raises awareness about falls and promotes the latest best practice strategies to prevent falls.

Fall facts:

In Australia, around one in 4 people over 65 have at least one fall a year.
Falls are the leading cause of injury resulting in hospital admissions in this age group. They are also the leading cause of injury-related death.
Research shows that many falls in older people are preventable.
Preventing falls is complex. There are usually multiple risk factors that increase an older person’s risk of falling. So, it takes multiple targeted interventions (actions or strategies) to reduce their falls risk.

Aged care providers are responsible for identifying and responding to falls. Providers need to make sure that when an older person has had a fall, they care for them in a responsive and timely way. They should tailor this care to the older person’s needs, goals and preferences.

You can read more about falls and how to help prevent them in our full article.

A-PRECISE model – a new IPC strategy

The A-PRECISE model (Australia – PReventing infECtions In reSidential agEd care) is an infection prevention and control (IPC) strategy for residential aged care.

Researchers from Monash University worked with residents, families and staff in residential care to design the model. The work was part of the National Centre for Healthy Ageing Living Labs program.

The model provides clear strategies for creating an environment where IPC practices can thrive.

It includes resources for residents, their supporters, visitors, staff and providers. These help people understand and practise IPC and help providers use the model. Resources include:

IPC education resources for residents, families and staff, such as videos, posters, audio messages and interactive learning tools
an electronic infection surveillance tool to monitor infections
the A-PRECISE implementation handbook.

Webinars

Open disclosure – the essentials

14 May 2026, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm AEST (12:00 pm to 1:00 pm WA, 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm NT and SA)

Join us for our upcoming webinar where we’ll discuss the essentials of open disclosure, including:

what is it?
what does it include?
when must it be practised?

Commissioner Liz Hefren-Webb will be joined by:

Treasure Jennings, Complaints Commissioner
Dr Mandy Callary, Chief Clinical Advisor
David Pezzanite, Assistant Commissioner, Intake and Complaints
Kyle Sheldrick, Assistant Commissioner, Serious Incident Response Scheme, Provider Performance and Insights.

Open disclosure helps older people feel heard, safe and cared for, especially in vulnerable moments where care doesn’t go according to plan. Registered aged care providers must have appropriate policies, systems, and training in place to facilitate open disclosure in response to feedback, complaints, and serious incidents.

We invite providers and workers to hear about:

open disclosure obligations
good open disclosure practice, including the importance of apology
example scenarios where open disclosure must be practised.

We’ll also answer some of the commonly asked questions. This webinar is for providers, workers and older people receiving care, their family and other supporters.

Register now on our website.

Navigating aged care complaints – OPAN webinar

26 May 2026, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm AEST (11:00 am to 12:00 pm WA, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm NT and SA)

Every older person has the right to quality aged care – and the right to speak up when they're not getting it. In this OPAN webinar, a panel of experts including Aged Care Complaints Commissioner Treasure Jennings will discuss the aged care complaints process. Including what's changed under the new Act, the role of mediation in resolving complaints, what to do if your rights have been breached, and how to seek a review of a decision.

For further information and to register on OPAN's website.

Recording available – Risk-based monitoring and inspections

The recording and slides are available for the Commission’s sector webinar, which focused on risk-based monitoring and inspections. This webinar was held on 21 April 2026.

Get involved

Join our panels to have your say

Are you interested in taking part in consultations, workshops and other opportunities to give your feedback?

Provider and workers engagement register

The Provider and workers engagement register is a way for providers and workers to share their expertise and experience to help improve aged care.

You can take part as a provider representative, aged care staff member, or both.

As a member of the engagement register, you can:

share your views
help shape processes and resources
contribute to improving how we regulate aged care.

If you would like to join this panel, you can register online.

For more information about how to get involved visit our Consultation and Engagement Hub or email engagement@agedcarequality.gov.au.

Consumers and Families Panel

The Consumers and Families Panel help improve aged care through feedback. Members include people who currently use, or are thinking about using, aged care services, family members and supporters.

As a panel member, you can:

share what matters to you
provide feedback on aged care projects, resources and services
help improve how we regulate aged care.

Panel members can take part in different ways, including by email, over the phone, or in meetings (online or in person). If you want to join the panel, you can:

Administration expenses cost study – expressions of interest

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is consulting with residential aged care providers to understand how they allocate administration costs.

The department invites providers to meet with them in a one-on-one 45-minute interview. They’ll ask you how you allocate and report your administration costs across the care, hotelling and accommodation parts of your Aged Care Financial Report.

Your feedback will help the department understand administration costs and make decisions about reporting and policy.

To have an interview, you need to submit an expression of interest by 21 May 2026.

If you have questions, email QFRACFRHelp@health.gov.au.

Training and resources

Recognising and reducing ageism – new Alis module

Ageism can affect the safety, wellbeing and quality of life of older people. It can influence the way people provide care, often in small ways. Addressing ageism helps make sure care is:

fair
respectful
focuses on what matters most to each older person.

New Alis module

We’ve published a new Alis module about understanding and addressing ageism in aged care.

The module is for registered providers, aged care workers, responsible persons and others. It includes a self-reflection activity and supports you to:

reflect on attitudes and behaviours and recognise ageist assumptions
strengthen the way you provide safe, respectful and rights-based, person-centred care
think about how your assumptions can affect your everyday practice.

Recognising and reducing ageism in aged care is available on Alis now.

You can find out more or register for Alis on our website.

Online live learning

Places are available for our upcoming live learning sessions in May. Each month, we deliver live learning for people working in the aged care sector. These sessions offer practical tips to support learners to understand how to meet their obligations in their service. Commission facilitators deliver our live learning sessions.

Our workshop topic for May is the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards.

Places are limited, so head to our Live learning page to learn more or register today.