Aged Care Quality Bulletin #7-2026 | Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

Commissioner’s message

Good communication is at the heart of effective regulation. It builds understanding, strengthens trust and helps ensure that everyone involved in aged care has the information they need to make informed decisions and deliver safe, quality care.

In this edition, communication is a common thread running through many of the topics covered.

Our next sector webinar will address the challenges some providers are experiencing when applying Higher Everyday Living Fees (HELF). The webinar, held on 11 August will discuss providers' obligations when charging HELF in their residential aged care services, including communicating HELF agreements and service prices with the older people in your care. Find out more, including how to register further in this bulletin.

With less than three months to go until the 2026 National Aged Care Provider Conference, I’m looking forward to connect with you and discuss what we’ve learned over the past year under the new Aged Care Act and how we are all putting the rights and choices of older people into practice every day. Places are filling up fast so read on to find out how you can register.

Communicating clearly and working closely with older people to understand their needs and arrange their services is key to providing rights-based, person-centred quality care. Providers delivering Support at Home (SAH) services need to work with older people to prepare and manage their personal budgets, even when older people choose to manage some aspects of their care themselves.

You must communicate in a way that the older person can understand. And you have a responsibility to supervise older peoples’ budgets so you can warn them about the risk of overspending. Read the full article to find out more about supervising budgets under self-management arrangements.

Helping older people communicate is essential to delivering services that meet their needs, goals and preferences. By identifying a person’s communication support needs early, you can find ways to include them in making decisions about their care. This partnership between providers and older people is the foundation of person-centred care and supports dignity and choice. Our article highlights the importance of assessing a person’s communication skills. It also provides a link to find out more about this year’s Speech Pathology Week, which has the theme ‘Communication creates possibility’.

The Aged Care Rules 2025 require providers to make sure service pricing is transparent, clearly communicated and publicly available. In August we will conduct a SaH targeted review to look at how SAH providers are working with older people to make decisions about service agreements and how they are communicating and publishing service pricing. You’ll hear from us in August if we choose to talk to you as part of this review.

Providers also need their reporting to be transparent and accurate. For example, you must report any non-compliance in your Annual Prudential Compliance Statement – even if you’ve fixed the issue.

I’d also like to remind providers about complying with awards. When the Fair Work Commission changes awards, you need to be sure that the changes you make don’t reduce older people’s rights or the quality and safety of their care. Read the full article for examples of practices that are unacceptable under aged care awards.

We’re listening to providers and making processes simpler. We’ve developed a new bulk upload template that you can use to notify us about multiple associated provider changes. Templates are now available from the link in the article.

We’ve also translated 6 aged care rights videos into Auslan. Please share these with older people in your care who use Auslan, and their families, carers and communities.

Lastly, there’s a reminder about the Department’s Residential aged care accommodation census. It gives government accurate information about aged care beds and informs funding and policy. The census is coming up and is compulsory for residential aged care providers.

Liz Hefren-Webb
Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner

Updates and insights

National Aged Care Provider Conference 2026

In less than 3 months we’re coming together at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 13 - 14 October 2026 for the 2026 National Aged Care Provider Conference. If you haven’t yet registered, it’s not too late, but get in quick as registrations are filling up fast.

Registered providers can have 2 representatives attend in person. If you'd like to bring more of your team, you can request additional places, subject to availability. This event is capped at 1,200 in-person delegates so we encourage you to act fast.

We're excited to announce Michael Rowland as Master of Ceremonies to guide us through the event. Michael is one of Australia's most seasoned and respected journalists, best known as recent co-host of ABC News Breakfast. Our conference dinner speaker is Dr Norman Swan, one of Australia's most respected health journalists, best known for hosting ABC Radio National’s Health Report.

We are nearly one year into the new Aged Care Act, and our conference is a chance to look at what we’ve learned over the past year and how we are all putting the rights and choices of older people into practice every day.

Across 2 action packed days you will connect with other providers and hear from sector leaders about what's ahead for aged care in Australia. We’re also offering pre-conference workshops on 12 October for small to medium providers on and for all providers on culturally safe care that still have limited places available.

To see the full program and register your attendance, visit the conference program page.

To express your interest in attending the pre-conference workshops, email agedcare@thinkbusinessevents.com.au

Bulk upload option for associated provider notifications

We’ve changed how providers can notify us about multiple associated provider changes.

You told us that our current process requires multiple forms and is time consuming. In response to this feedback, we’ve developed a new bulk upload template option.

The templates give you another way to notify us about multiple associated provider changes, in a single notification. You can still use the existing forms if you prefer.

Available templates

Templates are available for:

adding associated providers
removing associated providers
updating associated provider arrangement information.

You still need to upload the Change in circumstance baseform with the bulk upload template.

If you use associated providers, you need to notify us when the arrangements start, change or end. The new templates don’t change these notification requirements.

Each template includes instructions to help you complete and submit your notification.

You can find the templates on Applications, requests and notifications.

Targeted review on Support at Home: pricing and transparency

In August 2026, we’ll start a targeted review with selected Support at Home (SAH) providers.

We do targeted reviews to help us assess the sector’s understanding of their financial and prudential obligations. Where we find that a provider isn’t complying with their obligations, we work with them to address the issue.

We’ll do this review to understand:

how you communicate and publish service prices
if you’re meeting your obligations under the Aged Care Rules.

All SAH providers registered in Category 4 and 5 must make sure that:

older people can understand and participate in service agreement decisions including service prices and changes to prices in the future
service pricing is transparent (open and honest), clearly communicated and publicly available. Then older people can make the right choice for their care needs and financial situation.

Which providers we select to review

We may choose you for this review if:

we’ve received complaints that you aren’t meeting your SAH obligations
we think the review would benefit you.

After we complete a review, we report our findings. The report includes common mistakes and issues for providers to think about.

We’ll start contacting selected providers in August.

You can find more information about targeted reviews on our website.

Supervising budgets under self-management arrangements

Complaints about Support at Home services show us that sometimes providers are not properly supervising people's budgets under self-management arrangements.

Self-management is when a person chooses to manage parts of their care themselves, such as managing their budget.

Providers can’t treat self-management as ‘hands-off.’ They ‘re responsible for:

supervising the person’s budget
Making sure you are compliant with your financial reporting obligations supports your accountability and transparency, and your ability to provide quality care to older people.
making sure the budget is transparent (open and accurate)
telling older people about the risk of overspending (spending more than their available budget) and documenting discussions and agreements about this
making sure each person‘s care is in line with their assessed needs and available funding.

Providers need to work with older people to:

select care and services within their available quarterly budget
make sure all items and services they are claiming using Support at Home funding are on the approved service list
manage their budget to avoid overspending and unexpected out-of-pocket costs.

Section 155-50 of the Aged Care Rules 2025 (Aged Care Rules) requires providers to:

prepare the budget with the older person
review the budget when services, costs or the person’s contributions change, or they ask for a review
help the person understand their budget.

Self-management does not remove a provider's responsibility to deliver care management or meet requirements for service agreements, care and service plans, and monthly statements.

If a person’s care needs are more than the available quarterly budget can cover, they can make a private agreement with their provider to pay for extra services. If their care needs change a lot, the provider should arrange a Support Plan Review as soon as possible.

We can take regulatory action if providers are not:

planning or communicating enough about budgets under self-management arrangements
making sure budgets are transparent.

Late financial reporting

We are taking action against providers who repeatedly submit their Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) late.

Financial reporting is a mandatory obligation under the Aged Care Rules 2025. Submitting your QFR after the statutory deadline means you are not complying with your obligations.

We're monitoring reporting data and looking into providers who continue to submit their reports late. If you repeatedly fail to meet your reporting obligations we can take regulatory action, such as:

issuing infringement notices
publishing the names of non-compliant providers.

You need robust financial supervision to meet your reporting deadlines. You can do this by having a strong financial and prudential management system, as the Aged Care Financial and Prudential Standards require.

All providers are encouraged to:

use the Financial and Prudential Management Standard checklist to assess your current practices
check your internal processes immediately and make sure you have governance frameworks that support you to submit your financial reports on time.

Making sure you are complying with your financial reporting obligations supports you to be accountable and transparent and provide quality care.

Your obligations to report non-compliance

Providers must declare any non-compliance in their Annual Prudential Compliance Statement (APCS) submission for the 2025–26 reporting period.

This is an obligation under the Aged Care Act 2024 and Aged Care Rules.

We work with providers through targeted and prudential reviews. If we find compliance issues during these reviews, you must declare the non-compliance in your APCS submission for the reporting period in which it happened. You must do this even if you fixed the issue.

We also encourage governing bodies to check the feedback we give through reviews. This helps you make sure that your:

internal reporting processes are good
APCS reporting is accurate.

Transparent (open and clear) reporting is a core part of your disclosure obligations.

You can get help with prudential compliance and financial reporting obligations by emailing prudential@agedcarequality.gov.au.

Aged care awards change

Over recent years, the Fair Work Commission has changed 3 aged care awards:

Aged Care Award
Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services (SCHADS) Award
Nurses Award.

Most changes have already been made, including several pay rises since 2022. Registered and enrolled nurses covered by the Aged Care Award will receive the final agreed pay increase on 1 August 2026.

Sometimes when awards change, registered providers need to change their business and pricing models. When this happens, providers can’t make changes that have a negative effect on the quality and safety of care and services to older people receiving funded aged care services. Practices that are not acceptable under any aged care award include:

minimum service times, such as 2-hour shifts, in service agreements. You should only provide and charge for services for the time needed. Sometimes 2-hour services are appropriate, but they should not be a standard minimum requirement and must be based on the person’s assessed needs.
charge incorrectly for services that extend across standard and after-hours periods. You must charge for time worked during standard hours at the standard rate, not the higher after-hours rate
use misleading terms and conditions, such as claiming that changes to an award mean you need to apply longer minimum service times. Award changes might affect staffing costs and pricing, but they don’t change the amount of care a person needs. You must always base the care you provide on the older person’s assessed needs, goals and preferences.

If we find providers doing any of these, we will take action to protect older people.

Residential aged care accommodation census

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is doing a nation-wide census of residential aged care.

The census will give the government accurate information about aged care accommodation and the number of beds in Australia. It will help build a national database of bed numbers and home locations and conditions. This will help the government:

make decisions about policy and funding
address care shortages
reduce hospital stays
support Australia’s ageing population.

All residential aged care providers need to complete the accommodation census.

It will take up to 30 minutes to complete and runs from 27 July to 6 September.

Each provider must use their individual link to complete the census.

If you don’t receive the link by 2 August, please email residentialplacesmanagement@health.gov.au.

You can see an example of the census It shows the questions you will need to answer and those that will have prepopulated data for you to check.

The department will publish the key findings on their website later this year.

Auslan videos to help older people understand their rights

We’ve translated 6 key aged care rights videos into Auslan for older people, their families, carers and communities who use Auslan to communicate.

The videos explain:

rights-based and person-centred care
the Statement of Rights
dignity of risk
the Aged Care Code of Conduct
our complaints handling process.

Recent aged care reforms have strengthened the rights and protections of older people, placing them at the centre of their aged care experience.

These resources explain in Auslan:

what older people's rights mean
how to raise concerns about an aged care service
how we can help.

You can watch the videos with Auslan translation on our YouTube channel.

You can find more information about rights in aged care on our website.

Please share the videos with older people in your care who use Auslan to communicate.

Food and nutrition

Communication – key to unlocking person-centred aged care

Providers need to identify an older person’s communication support needs early. This helps you to provide person-centred, quality care and services in line with the older person’s needs, goals and preferences.

When an older person moves into a residential care home, providers should arrange a detailed assessment to identify and understand the person’s communication needs. Regular care reviews to check for changes to communication are also important.

Identifying communication support needs early allows providers to find ways to encourage older people to take part in making decisions about their care. It also helps older people stay connected with family, friends, staff and engage in social activities in their community.

Speech pathologists are communication specialists. They can do detailed assessments and recommend supports for older people. This year’s Speech Pathology Week runs from 23–29 August 2026 and has the theme: ‘Communication creates possibility’.

Read the full article about supporting older people to communicate.

Webinars

Higher Everyday Living Fees (HELF): Ensuring transparency, choice and dignity for older people

11 August 2026, 1.00 pm to 2.00 pm (AEST)

We are committed to protecting the rights of older people by making sure providers comply with their legal obligations. Some providers are experiencing challenges applying Higher Everyday Living Fees (HELF).

To address these challenges, we invite you to join us for our webinar where we’ll discuss the essentials of the Higher Everyday Living Fees including:

providers' obligations when charging HELF in their residential aged care services
communicating HELF agreements, service prices and bundles
risks related to incorrect use of HELF, including financial harm, reduced choice and autonomy for older people.

Commissioner Liz Hefren-Webb will be joined by:

Julia Atkinson, Assistant Secretary, Contributions and Accommodations Reform Branch, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Pat Sparrow, Chief Executive Officer, Council on the Ageing Australia
Gary Rake, Deputy Commissioner Regulatory Operations, Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

You can register to attend now.

Incident reporting in context – what’s changed

18 August 2026, 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm (AEST)

This webinar is designed for aged care providers, workers, older people, their families, and supporters. It offers an opportunity to learn about incident reporting in aged care, with a focus on the key changes introduced under the Aged Care Act 2024.

The session will explore the changes introduced by the new Act and what they mean in practice. Participants will hear a discussion of practical case studies and learn how providers can use their Incident Management System (IMS) to identify, record, manage and respond to incidents while reducing the risk of recurrence.

By attending, participants will gain a better understanding of the updated incident reporting requirements and processes, and how these changes support safe, high-quality aged care services and improved outcomes for older people.

Chair / Panel Members:

Chair: Treasure Jennings, Complaints Commissioner

Panel Member: Felicity Walker, A/g Assistant Commissioner Assessment and Early Remediation

Panel Member: Kyle Sheldrick, A/g Assistant Commissioner Serious Incident Response Scheme Provider Performance and Insights

Panel Member: Julia Durston, Assistant Director Audit

Registrations will open 2 weeks prior via our website