Provider governance obligations

Providers must meet provider governance obligations under the new Aged Care Act 2024 (new Aged Care Act). These include independent oversight and advisory bodies that support safe, quality care for older people.

About these obligations

Effective governing bodies set the tone and culture of their organisations. They make sure staff have the right skills, qualifications and support to deliver safe, quality care.

This page provides an overview of the provider governance obligations and links to tools and guidance to help you understand what is required so you meet them. Strong governance is a legal responsibility. The new Aged Care Act 2024 (new Aged Care Act) requires providers to act in line with upholding the rights of older people, as written in the Statement of Rights. Registered providers must make sure their actions are consistent with delivering care and services in a way that upholds the Statement of Rights.

This includes making sure older people:

make decisions and be supported to take personal risks
can exercise freedom of choice
have fair access to services
receive safe, quality care
have their privacy respected and personal information protected
receive clear, person-centred communication
can raise concerns without fear
are treated with dignity and respect
have access to and are supported by advocates
stay connected to significant persons in the individual’s life, their pets and social connections.

To put these principles into practice, providers must have governance arrangements that enable them to:

deliver safe, quality care
engage meaningfully with older people about what matters to them
comply with the new Aged Care Act and Aged Care Rules 2025.

Resources

Governing for Reform in Aged Care Program – supports governing body members, leaders and emerging leaders to strengthen corporate and clinical governance capabilities
Provider governance policy - outlines our expectations of providers and guiding principles of good governance
Regulatory bulletin – explains the governance obligations that registered providers, and their governing bodies must comply with under the new Aged Care Act and the Aged Care Rules 2025

Membership of governing body obligations

Good governance provides the foundation for safe, quality care. This means:

being accountable, open and honest
having a clear purpose for your organisation
having clear outcomes for older people
actively including older people in your decision-making processes
working towards the outcomes that older people want
prioritising the quality and safety of the care you deliver
building and promoting a strong governance culture having a board with diverse skills (where applicable).

Providers registered in Category 5 – Nursing and transition care and Category 6 – Residential care (including respite) must make sure their governing body:

has a majority of independent non-executive members
includes at least one member with clinical care experience.

It can be hard for providers in rural or remote areas to attract and keep skilled governing body members, especially people with clinical care experience.

If you are a provider in a rural or remote area, think about:

how you could use technology to engage members from neighbouring towns or medical practices remotely
working with other registered providers who are in the same situation. You might be able to work together to find a solution that works for both of you
asking for expressions of interest through local organisations and professional bodies.

If you have tried all these options without success, you can apply for a determination that one or both requirements don’t apply.

Exemptions

The following providers do not have to meet the governing body requirements:

government entities or local government authorities
providers who deliver Category 1 – Home and community services, Category 2 – Assistive technology and home modifications, and Category 3 – Advisory and support services
registered providers who:
deliver funded aged care services to fewer than 40 older people; and
have a governing body with fewer than 5 members
providers who are an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation
providers who have a determination in force under section 159 of the new Aged Care Act stating that they do not need to meet one or both of the governing body requirements.

Providers who are a body registered as a co-operative under the Co-operatives National Law (or the Co-operatives Act 2009 (WA)) with certain clauses in its rules, specifically don’t have to meet the independent non-executive members requirement.

Quality care advisory body

As a condition of registration, providers in Category 5 – Nursing and transition care and Category 6 – Residential care (including respite) must have a quality care advisory body. The advisory body must:

meet the membership requirements
provide a written report to the governing body at least once every 6 months, on the quality care and services the provider has delivered
be able to give feedback to the governing body about the quality of the aged care services the provider is delivering at any time.

A quality care advisory body must include:

a responsible person with appropriate experience in delivering funded aged care services
a person who is directly involved in delivering residential care (this applies to providers who are registered in Category 6 – Residential care (including respite))
a person who is directly involved in delivering nursing care (this applies to providers who are registered in Category 5 – Nursing and transition care)
a person who represents the interests of older people.

Providers must make sure that their governing body:

considers all reports and feedback from the quality care advisory body when making decisions about the quality of the services they provide
tells the quality care advisory body, in writing, how they considered the report or feedback.

If asked, providers must also give the quality care advisory body information about the quality of the services delivered.

Exemptions

The following providers don’t have to meet the advisory body requirements:

government entities
local government authorities

Consumer advisory bodies

Consumer advisory bodies give older people a voice. They give older people the opportunity to have a say in how you deliver their care and services. They also give your governing body valuable feedback.

Registered providers in Category 5 – Nursing and transition care, and Category 6 – Residential care (including respite) must meet their consumer advisory body obligations.

Providers must write to the people who receive your services at least once every 12 months to offer to set up one or more consumer advisory bodies. The size and structure of your consumer advisory body should reflect the people receiving the care you provide.

You can have multiple consumer advisory bodies, depending on the interests of the people in your care and the needs of your organisation. If you have one or more consumer advisory bodies, your governing body must consider all feedback from these bodies when they make decisions about the care and services you provide. The governing body must write to the consumer advisory bodies to explain how they considered the feedback.

Providers should make sure their consumer advisory bodies:

include people who are receiving care and their supporters
represent the different backgrounds of older people receiving care
support people who might find it hard to participate – this could mean providing translators and interpreters, and supporting people who are hearing and vision impaired
have opportunities to give feedback to the governing body on the quality of aged care provided
have representatives from the different services and types of care you offer.

Taking part in consumer advisory bodies is voluntary. If older people aren’t getting involved, try to find out what’s stopping them.

Watch this video to hear from Maggie, Jo and Jan from a consumer advisory body at Queen Victoria Care in Tasmania. They share their experiences working with their governing body to design their care.

Transcript for 'Queen Victoria Care Residential Advisory Committee experiences'

Exemptions

The following providers don’t have to meet the consumer advisory body requirements:

government entities
local government authorities.

Resources

Suitability of responsible persons

Section 13 of the new Aged Care Act sets out the suitability matters. Providers are responsible for making sure they:

comply with the worker screening requirements applicable to responsible persons prescribed by the Aged Care Rules 2025
assess the suitability of responsible persons at least once a year, and notify the Commission of any changes
have processes to make sure responsible persons report changes in their circumstances relating to the suitability matters.

Under section 12 of the new Aged Care Act, a responsible person of a registered provider includes:

if the provider is not a government entity:
- any person who is responsible for executive decisions
- any other person with authority or responsibility for, or significant influence over, planning, directing or controlling the activities of the provider
for all registered providers:
- any person who is a registered nurse and is responsible for the overall management of nursing services delivered by the provider, or provided at an approved residential care home
- any person who is responsible for the day-to-day running of an approved residential care home or service delivery branch.

Members of governing bodies are also responsible persons, as they are responsible for the executive decisions of a provider.

Examples of responsible persons include:

director of nursing or nurse manager
the executive management team
the chief executive officer
board members
company directors (including de facto or shadow directors)
service and facility managers.

For further information visit the Change in circumstances webpage.

Notifying the Commission of a change in circumstances

You need to notify us of:

changes or an event that affects your suitability to be a registered provider
changes the affect the suitability of any of your responsible persons
changes in who your responsible persons are
significant changes to your organisation or governance arrangements
significant changes in the scale of the aged care services you provide
changes in the types of service you provide
specific changes to your associated providers
specific changes to an approved residential care home
specific financial and prudential matters.

You must notify us within 14 days of becoming aware of the change. If you don’t, we will take regulatory actions proportionate to the level of risk faced by older people in your care.

For further information visit the Change in circumstances webpage.

Staff qualifications, skills, and experience

Meeting workforce and aged care worker requirements is a condition of registration.

The workforce refers to aged care workers and responsible persons (including volunteers and contractors). They can be employed or otherwise engaged by:

the provider
an associated provider delivering funded aged care services on behalf of the provider
a digital platform operator.

Providers must make sure that:

they comply with the worker screening requirements
their aged care workers and responsible persons comply with the worker screening requirements
their aged care workers meet qualifications and training requirements
they give aged care workers opportunities to develop their skills
their aged care workers meet any other requirements prescribed by the new Aged Care Rules.

As a condition of registration, providers must also:

comply with the Aged Care Code of Conduct (Code), and
take reasonable steps to ensure their aged care workers and responsible persons comply with the Code

Before engaging a person to work as an aged care worker or responsible person, providers must also check to make sure they are not engaging the person in contravention of a banning order.

Constitution

This requirement only applies to providers and services that are wholly-owned subsidiaries. That means they are owned by another corporate body called a holding company. These holding companies have a constitution.

A constitution is a legally binding set of rules that governs organisational operations. It explains the obligations and powers of:

directors
governing bodies
managers
members.

It also describes the primary services and objectives of the provider.

If you are a registered provider (including registered providers who are an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation) and you are a wholly-owned subsidiary of a holding company that is not a registered provider, your constitution must not authorise your directors to act in the best interests of that holding company.

Financial and Prudential Standards

The Financial and Prudential Standards set out the minimum requirements for good financial and prudential management (careful and responsible management of finances) of registered providers.

There are three Financial and Prudential Standards:

The Financial and Prudential Management Standard applies to providers registered in the following categories:

Category 4 – Personal care and care support in the home or community (including respite)
Category 5 – Nursing and transition care
Category 6 – Residential care (including respite), excluding government entities or local government authorities.

The Investment Standard and Liquidity Standard both apply to providers who are registered as Category 6 – Residential care (including respite), excluding government entities, local government authorities and National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program (NATSIFAC) providers.

The Investment Standard and Liquidity Standard applies even if you don’t hold refundable deposits.

For further information visit the Financial and Prudential Standards webpage.