PLEASE NOTE: From 1 July 2019, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (Commission) began assessing and monitoring quality of care and services against the new Aged Care Quality Standards (Quality Standards).
To support care providers to implement the Quality Standards, please visit our Transitioning to the Quality Standards page.
The Quality Standards apply to all aged care services including residential care, home care, flexible care, short-term restorative care, as well as services under the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme.
On this page you will find information about the previous Standards against which aged care providers were assessed. This information is retained to assist with the transitional arrangements relating to:
- decisions finalising an assessment process that began before 1 July 2019; and
- assessments at the end of a timetable for improvement set before 1 July 2019. These were assessing a provider’s performance against applicable old Standards.
The old Standards comprised of:
Accreditation Standards
The four Accreditation Standards were detailed in the Quality of Care Principles 2014:
Standard One: Management systems, staffing and organisational development;
Standard Two: Health and personal care;
Standard Three: Care recipient lifestyle; and
Standard Four: Physical environment and safe systems.
Each Standard consists of a principle and several expected outcomes. Standard One also has an ‘intention’ which indicates it acts as the umbrella for the other three Standards.
There are 44 expected outcomes across the four Standards.
Click here for the Accreditation Standards
Home Care Standards
The Home Care Standards were also detailed in the Quality of Care Principles 2014. There are three standards:
Standard One: Effective management;
Standard Two: Appropriate access and service delivery; and
Standard Three: Service user rights and responsibilities.
Each standard consists of a principle and several expected outcomes. There are 18 expected outcomes across the three Standards.
Click here for the Home Care Standards
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program Quality Standards
These Standards include two standards and nine expected outcomes:
Standard One: Care delivery and information; and
Standard Two: Management and accountability.
There are two overarching principles which are incorporated into all aspects of the Standards:
- Cultural safety, which is about recognising, respecting and nurturing the unique cultural identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and meeting their needs and expectations; and
- Continuous quality improvement, which is about always working to improve services and outcomes for people. It means looking for better ways to do things.
Flexible Care Standards for short-term restorative care
If short-term restorative care is provided in a residential care service, the Flexible Care Standards are the detailed in the Quality of Care Principles 2014.
If short-term restorative care is provided in a home care setting, the Flexible Care Standards are detailed in the Quality of Care Principles 2014.