The Australian Government is introducing a range of practical measures to improve accountability and transparency in the aged care sector.
The new Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Act 2022 establishes new requirements for aged care providers and expands the role, powers and functions of the Commission.
It implements 9 measures and responds to 17 recommendations from the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Act provides a useful summary of the new requirements for approved providers.
Reform measures introduced under the Act
We have developed the following fact sheets about the reforms:
- Aged care reforms – an overview: Sets out each of the reform measures and what it means for approved providers and services.
- Aged care reforms – a regulatory perspective: Provides an overview of key aged care reforms to help you prepare your service to meet new regulatory obligations.
Of the 9 measures implemented under the Act, 4 are directly relevant to the regulation of aged care, as outlined below:
Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) expansion into home services
The SIRS will be extended from residential aged care to home care and flexible care delivered in a home or community setting.
As more information becomes available, we will continue to update our SIRS webpage.
Code of Conduct for Aged Care
A new Code of Conduct will be introduced for aged care providers, their workers and governing persons. We also have a webpage that explains what the Code will mean for people who receive aged care.
Provider governance
The reforms will introduce new governance responsibilities for approved providers, including requirements regarding:
- membership of governing bodies
- the establishment of new consumer and clinical advisory bodies
- measures to improve leadership and culture.
For more information, visit our Provider governance webpage.
Restrictive practices and consent
New consent arrangements will be introduced around restrictive practices. These will more clearly set out who can give consent in situations where restrictive practices are necessary for a person who is unable to provide consent themselves.
For more information, visit our Minimising restrictive practices webpages for providers and people who receive aged care.
Public consultation on the new Code of Conduct for Aged Care
The Department of Health and Aged Care (the Department) has released a draft of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Amendment (Code of Conduct and Banning Orders) Rules 2022 for public review and consultation.
As one of the measures included under the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Act 2022, the Code aims to improve the safety, health, wellbeing and quality of life for people receiving aged care and to boost trust in services.
The exposure draft of the Code legislation is available on the Department’s website and the public consultation can be accessed from 4 October on the Department’s Get involved – Ageing and Aged Care Engagement Hub.
Support from the Commission
We will actively support providers to understand and prepare for the new obligations. This will include publishing guidance resources, as well as offering education on what is expected of providers under the new provisions.
We will also be supporting older Australians, their families and carers to understand the changes and what they can expect from them.
We will continue to publish updates on the reforms in this section of our website.
Stay up to date with our updates on the reforms, including new resources and activities, by regularly visiting our website and subscribing to the monthly Aged Care Quality Bulletin. You can also follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for regular updates about the aged care sector reforms.
Reform webinars
We are hosting a webinar series on the aged care reforms from a regulatory perspective.
Please check this page regularly for:
- updated information and registration links to attend the webinars
- links to the webinar recordings, together with Q&As that could not be addressed in the live webinars due to time constraints.
Webinar Q&As
We are developing document with responses to questions asked during our aged care reform webinars that, due to time constraints, we could not address during the sessions. This document will be regularly updated.
Webinar Q&As as at 28 September 2022.
Webinar recordings
Introduction to aged care sector reforms – a regulatory perspective
View the recordings of this live webinar. (Note the content of the live webinar held on 13 September was the same as that covered in the 8 September webinar.)
- Thursday 8 September recording
- Tuesday 13 September recording (repeat live webinar of the above).
Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) for home services
- Introduction to the SIRS: Incident management systems. Watch the recording and view the presentation slides from this webinar, which was held on 26 September 2022
Upcoming webinars
Registration for these webinars will open one week before the event.
Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) for home services
- Tuesday 18 October / 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm AEDT: SIRS reportable incidents
- Monday 7 November / 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm AEDT: Reporting under the SIRS
Code of Conduct for Aged Care
- Friday 7 October / 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm AEDT (for approved providers). Register to attend the session.
- Friday 11 November / 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm AEDT (for aged care workers)
Strengthening provider governance
- Thursday 27 October / 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm AEDT
Submit a question
Questions relating to regulatory requirements of the reforms can be submitted to agedcarereform@agedcarequality.gov.au.
Responses to de-identified questions will be added to this page and updated regularly.
More information
You can also read more about the government’s aged care reform initiatives on the Department of Health and Aged Care's website.