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The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission invites your feedback on their draft guidance resources for providers and workers on the new strengthened Quality Standards. Feedback closes 30 April 2024.

We encourage you to view these documents so that you can provide feedback, but also so you can start preparing for the new Quality Standards.

The Commission are consulting on their draft guidance resources to help providers, aged care workers and other stakeholders to understand the new strengthened Quality Standards and their roles and responsibilities in meeting them. Further draft resources will be available shortly that are specifically for older people receiving care and their representatives.

Along with the new Aged Care Act, the strengthened Quality Standards are expected to be introduced from 1 July 2024.

The Commission welcomes responses from providers, aged care workers, older people and their representatives, and other stakeholders. Your responses will help them to produce resources that are fit-for-purpose, easy-to-understand and support the delivery of quality, person-centred aged care.

They are particularly interested to hear about any information you think is missing or that needs further explanation. The draft resources aim to provide the information a provider needs to meet the Quality Standards while providing safe, quality aged care. If this is not the case, let them know what improvements they can make.

Before submitting your feedback, please download and read the:

• Draft guidance for providers:
  • Introduction | This introduction provides an overview of the guidance documentation supporting the strengthened Quality Standards.
  • Standard 1 - The Person | Outlines the way that providers and workers are expected to treat older people.
  • Standard 2 - The Organisation | Sets out the expectations of the governing body to meet the requirements of the strengthened Quality Standards
  • Standard 3 - The Care and Services | Describes the way providers must deliver care and services for all types of services being delivered
  • Standard 4 - The Environment | Ensures that older people receive care and services in a physical environment that is safe, supportive and meets their needs.
  • Standard 5 - Clinical Care | Supports providers to improve the quality and safety of clinical care delivered through Commonwealth subsidised aged care services.
  • Standard 6 - Food and Nutrition | Supports providers in delivering food services in line with the needs, goals and preferences of older people.
  • Standard 7 - The Residential Community | Ensures older people feel safe and at home in the residential community, have opportunities and are supported to maintain connections.

• Draft audit methodology - Provides insight into the guidance and framework used to assess provider performance against the strengthened Quality Standards.
• Draft evidence framework - Gives insight into the evidence gathering processes, by providing a standardised set of targeted questions and examples of evidence.
• Draft guidance for aged care workers - Supports workers in the delivery or person-centred quality care and outcomes. It also aims to promote best practice in service provision.
• Draft pre-audit preparation tool - Supports providers to prepare for upcoming audits or can be used as a plan for continuous improvement. It was suggested at a recent webinar that providers use this tool if they are currently auditing their service.
• Draft request for Information template - category 4 & 5 - Gives insight into the information, documents and records that will be requested from a Category 4 and 5 provider prior and during an audit against the strengthened Quality Standard.
• Draft request for Information template - category 6 - Ensures older people feel safe and at home in the residential community, have opportunities and are supported to maintain connections.
• Glossary - supports the draft strengthened Quality Standards Guidance documentation by explaining key terms.
• Framework analysis (Provided for information, not for review) - The purpose of this document is to show providers how the Quality Standards have been strengthened. This analysis is current as at 10 January 2024 and based on the draft strengthened Quality Standards as at 14 December 2023.

Submit feedack via the survey.

Further information:

• The strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards – Final draft
• Stronger Standards, Better Aged Care