Your response to these questions helps us to understand your business structure.  

If you become a registered provider, an associated provider is an entity that you have an arrangement with to deliver funded aged care services on your behalf. This includes an entity that is also a registered provider themselves.  

You will be legally responsible for the conduct of your associated provider in the delivery of funded aged care services. This means that you can be found to have not complied with the Aged Care Act 2024 based on the conduct of your associated provider, even if they are a registered provider themselves.

Your response to these questions helps us to understand whether you have certain legal relationships with your associated provider. This includes, but is not limited to:

• you both being subsidiaries of the same parent or holding company

• you being the parent or holding company of your associated provider.

Your response to these questions helps us to understand how funded aged care services will be delivered under the arrangement between you and your associated provider.  

No additional guidance is provided for this question. Refer to the application form for instructions.

Your response to these questions helps us to understand the broader aspects of your relationship with your associated provider and how this may affect their delivery of the service types that you specified in Section 5: Service delivery.

The types of relationships that should be described here include, but are not limited to:

• joint ventures

• partnership arrangements

• supplier relationships

• strategic alliances.

Your response to this question helps us to understand what systems you have, or will have, to manage your associated provider so that funded aged care services are delivered in accordance with the Aged Care Act 2024. This is because, as a registered provider, you will be responsible for ensuring your associated provider complies with relevant obligations, even if they are a registered provider themselves.

The relevant obligations that these management systems will relate to depends on the types of services that your associated provider will deliver on your behalf which you specified in Section 5: Service delivery. This may include, but is not limited to, ensuring your associated provider: 

• acts compatibly with the Statement of Rights

• complies with the Aged Care Quality Standards 

• complies with the Code of Conduct for Aged Care 

• gives effect to the Statement of Principles

• follows worker screening requirements

• understands the Serious Incident Response Scheme and how to use it

• acts compatibly with your statutory duty of care.

Your response to these questions helps us to understand whether your associated provider is also one your responsible persons and the impact this may have on your management, executive decision-making, and governance.