Volunteers in aged care

Volunteers play an important role in aged care and support older people to improve their quality of life.

Volunteers can provide support to older people through:

• residential aged care homes
• respite care
• Support at Home
• the Commonwealth Home Support Program

The Role of the Commission

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is the national regulator of Australian Government-funded aged care services. Our purpose is to protect and improve the safety, health, wellbeing and quality of life of older people receiving aged care. 

We do this by:

• registering providers to deliver aged care
• monitoring how well providers perform against the Aged Care Quality Standards
• dealing with complaints and feedback.

As part of their role in aged care, volunteers must:

• follow the Aged Care Code of Conduct (the Code)
• know what to do if an older person has a concern about their care
• know what to do if a ‘serious incident’ happens.

The Commission, along with the Older Persons Advocacy Network has created a suite of resources for volunteers and their managers that provide an overview of the Code, supporting older people to raise a concern and the Serious Incident Response Scheme.

Aged Care Code of Conduct (the Code)

The Code describes how registered providers, responsible persons and aged care workers (including volunteers) must behave and treat people receiving aged care. It outlines 8 behaviours expected of all aged care workers, and helps ensure that older people receive safe, quality care.

The code:

• supports a person’s right to personal choice, dignity, and respect
• promotes kind, honest and respectful behaviour
• keeps people receiving aged care safe from harm.

Resources:

• Aged Care Code of Conduct - Fact sheet for volunteers
• Aged Care Code of Conduct - Fact sheet for volunteer managers
• Aged Care Code of Conduct - Video volunteers and volunteer managers

Diversity and Inclusion

Recognising the importance of diversity is key to delivering safe, quality care to older people. This means that those providing care, including volunteers, need to be inclusive. Older people have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and this includes having their identity, culture, spirituality and diversity valued.

Resources:

• Information flyer – Diversity and inclusion for volunteers
• Learning module – Diversity and inclusion for volunteers (coming soon)

Supporting older people to raise a concern

Older people and their supporters have the right to raise a concern about their care or the services they receive. Anyone can raise a concern with the provider or with us, including:

• older people receiving aged care
• family, friends, carers and supporters of people who receive aged care
• aged care workers and volunteers
• health and medical professionals.

As a volunteer, an older person may ask you who to contact or where they can find information about raising a concern.

You can help them to understand their right to raise a concern, the process and the support available. Remind them that it’s always okay to speak up. If you see something that concerns you, talk to your volunteer manager or the provider, or contact us.

Resources:

• Supporting older people to raise a concern – Fact sheet for volunteers
• Supporting older people to raise a concern – Fact sheet for Volunteer Managersfor volunteer managers
• Supporting older people to raise a concern – Video for volunteers
• Supporting older people to raise a concern – Learning module for volunteers (coming soon)

Elder Abuse and Advocacy Pathways

Older people have the right to feel safe and respected. It is important for volunteers in aged care to be aware of what elder abuse is and what advocacy pathways are available for older people.

Resources:

• Elder abuse and advocacy pathways - Fact sheet for volunteers
• Elder abuse and advocacy pathways – Learning module for volunteers (coming soon)

Reportable Incidents and the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS)

The SIRS helps to prevent and reduce the risk of serious harm in aged care. As a volunteer, it’s important for you to understand how to raise or escalate an incident if one occurs. Your direct manager can help you understand these responsibilities.

If an incident happens it’s important for you to:

• Tell a direct care staff member, your manager or another supervisor, or a responsible person of your organisation as soon as you can.
• Support the older person to understand who they can reach out to, such as
• a direct care staff member in your organisation
• the Commission, or
• an advocacy service such as the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN). OPAN’s independent aged care advocates provide free, confidential and independent support to older people to understand and exercise their aged care rights, and provide information to older people experiencing abuse and neglect within the aged care system.

Resources:

• Reportable incidents and the Serious Incidents Response Scheme - Fact sheet for volunteers
• Reportable incidents and the Serious Incident Response Scheme - Fact sheet for Volunteer Managers
• Supporting older people to understand the SIRS – Video for volunteers
• Supporting older people to understand the SIRS – Learning module for volunteers (coming soon)

More information:

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing have a range of resources available for volunteers. Visit Volunteering in aged care for more information.