Under the Aged Care Act 2024 (new Aged Care Act), to provide Australian Government-funded aged care services (aged care services), providers must be registered by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (Commission).

Our Provider Registration Policy explains our process and principles for registering providers of aged care services.

When we make a registration decision, we give the organisation, person or provider (the ‘affected entity’) a Notice of Decision. We record and update provider registration details and decisions in the Provider Register. Some registration decisions are reviewable decisions. This means that affected entities can ask us to reconsider (rethink) the decision we made.

Section 556 of the new Aged Care Act lists the types of reviewable decisions. You can also find a list of reviewable decisions and affected entities below. 

We reconsider reviewable decisions for free. However, we do recover costs for some registration services. For example, adding a new registration category or doing a quality audit for providers who want to register or renew their registration in categories 4 to 6. You can find more information about fees in our Cost Recovery Implementation Statement 2025 – 2026 . 

This guidance document describes how we reconsider decisions, and how to complete the online request for reconsideration form. You can find more information about the reconsideration process in our Regulatory Bulletin on Reviewable Decisions . If you want to talk to us about reviewing a decision, you can contact us at reconsideration@agedcarequality.gov.au

Internal decision reviewers (reviewers) in our Reviews and Reconsiderations team do all the reconsiderations work at the Commission. They’re a separate and independent team from the original decision makers and occupy a position at the same level as, or higher than, the original decision maker.

The reviewers will ‘stand in the shoes of the original decision-maker’ using the same laws and policies as the original decision-makers to make their own decision. This is called a merits review. 

As part of the reconsideration process, they also consider:

• new information you’ve provided as part of your reconsideration request
• other information they think is relevant. For example, information or intelligence we’ve collected from:
  • routine reporting
  • notifications
  • complaints
  • risk-based reporting
  • compliance actions.

The reconsideration is not limited to the information that was available to the original decision maker and can include information received until they make their decision. If they think there is new and relevant information that will affect the decision in a way you might find unfavourable, they will give you an opportunity to comment before they decide.

You must submit your request no later than 28 days after you receive your Notification of Decision if you want us to reconsider a reviewable decision. In limited cases, we can give you more time. For example, if:

• there’s a natural disaster in your area
• there’s an infectious disease outbreak in your aged care service
• a key responsible person isn’t available because they’re unwell. 

The reviewer has 90 days after receiving your request for reconsideration to make their decision and notify you of the outcome.

It’s your responsibility to provide all supporting documents and evidence. Sometimes we might ask you for more information. If so, we’ll give you between 7 and 28 days to respond to our request. 

If you don’t provide the requested information in the time given, and don’t contact us to explain why or ask for more time, we may make our decision without the requested information. 

There are 3 possible decisions from a reconsideration:

1. Affirm (agree with) the original decision.
2. Vary (change) the decision.
3. Make a new decision.

Affirm the original decision

After examining the available information, if the reviewer decides that the original decision is correct or preferable to any other decision, they will affirm the original decision.

Deemed affirmation: If the reviewer does not notify you of the reconsideration decision within 90 days of submitting your request, you can assume that they have affirmed the original decision. We call this a deemed affirmation.

Vary the decision

The reviewer can decide to vary the original decision. For example, after considering all the information, they might decide that a shorter or longer period of registration is more appropriate. 

The reviewer isn’t bound by the original decision. This means that they could vary the decision in a way that you like less than the original decision, if they think it’s the correct or preferable decision.

Make a new decision

The reviewer can also set aside the original decision and make a new one. For example, they could: 

• set aside a decision not to register an entity as a registered provider and
• make a new decision to register the entity. 

We don’t charge a fee to review a decision. However, in cases like the above example, you might need to pay for the steps that come next, such as registering for categories. You can find information about fees on our website or contact us at reconsideration@agedcarequality.gov.au to ask about your situation. 

The Commission makes registration decisions about:

• providers who are already registered
• entities (organisations, people and providers) who are applying to be registered.

If the original registration decision was about a registered provider, then a responsible person must make the reconsideration request. The responsible person must be someone who can legally act on behalf of the registered provider. You must provide your registration details in the Request for reconsideration of a reviewable decision form. 

If the decision was about an entity that isn’t a registered provider, one of the people identified in the application as a responsible person must make the reconsideration request. The details of your business name, ABN, address and contact information must match the details you provided on your original application. 

You can find information about who can request a reconsideration of each decision type below or in the table in section 556 of the Aged Care Act .

To apply for a reconsideration, you must first complete the Request for reconsideration of a reviewable decision form. 

A responsible person must sign the declaration on the form to confirm that all the information and supporting documentation you have provided is true and correct.  

In section 3 of the form, you need to select the type of registration decision you want us to reconsider. You can find information about the types of registration, and the decisions that relate to them, in Table 1. The next form you will need to complete will depend on the type of registration decision you choose. 

You can select more than one type if you need to. For example, you might want us to reconsider:

• a decision not to register your organisation for a specific category, and
• a decision to impose conditions on your registration in another category. 

In this case, you will need to complete 2 more forms.

Registration decision types

In each subsequent form, you need to enter the right identification or reference number. For example, the:

• application for registration number
• renewal form ID number
• Notice of Decision reference number.

The form asks you for ‘your grounds for requesting a reconsideration’. This means, why you think the decision the Commission made was wrong. Your grounds need to be more than telling us it wasn’t the decision you wanted. You need to explain why you think our decision was wrong. 

Some examples of grounds for reconsideration are:

• There’s important new information that wasn’t available to the original decision-maker. You think the information is likely to change the decision. For example, you might have hired someone with extensive clinical experience in aged care who will be a leader and responsible person in your organisation.
• You think the original decision-maker didn’t consider all of the available information. And you think that if they had, their decision would have been different.
• There’s a change of circumstances in your organisation. It’s a change that you think fixes the original decision-maker’s concerns. 

The form also has a section for you to say why you think we should change our decision. When you complete this section, you should:

• give your reasons, explain them, and be specific
• describe your supporting evidence
• link your supporting evidence to your reasons (say which part of your reasoning the supporting evidence relates to). 

You should not submit a revised application form or revised policies without clearly explaining how the revisions are relevant to the decision you’re asking us to reconsider. 

When you submit your form, you can upload supporting documents. If there isn’t enough space to explain your reasoning in the form, you can also upload a detailed explanation in a separate document. The documents you upload must clearly relate to:

• your reconsideration request
• the reasons you’ve given for why the Commission should change its decision. 

We might ask you for more information to help us understand something. However, it’s your responsibility to make sure you provide all the right evidence to support your request. Don’t rely on the reviewer to ask you for evidence you haven’t provided. 

You have the right to withdraw your request for reconsideration at any time before we’ve made the reconsideration decision. If you’d like to withdraw your request, please contact us at reconsideration@agedcarequality.gov.au.

You have the right to appeal to the ART after you’ve received notice of the reconsideration decision. You might need to pay a fee for this service. 

You can find information about your right to appeal in your reconsideration notice. You can also find more information at www.art.gov.au.