Most services meeting compliance requirements

Four in five residential aged care providers are complying with all Aged Care Quality Standards (81 per cent), the latest sector performance report from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission shows.

The 2024-25 Q3 results are worse than Q2 (87 per cent) but close to the 82 per cent result in Q1 and on par with the fourth quarter of last year.

Providers were found to be achieving the lowest compliance rate in personal care and clinical care – quality standard 2 – and organisational governance – quality standard 8.

There has been consistent low compliance in these areas for the residential care sector.

Compliance varied slightly depending on the size of providers.

The commission categorises a small provider as operating one or two residential care services, a medium provider as operating between three and 10, and a large provider as operating 11 or more.

There was a 75 per cent compliance rate for small providers, down from 85 per cent in quarter two but up from 68 per cent in Q1. Similar results were seen for medium sized providers, with a compliance rate of 78 per cent, down from 88 per cent in Q2 and down from 82 per cent in Q1.

Large providers had consistently high compliance rates, with an 86 per cent compliance rate in Q3, 88 per cent in Q2 and 90 per cent in Q1.

Compliance rates also varied between provider types.

For-profit providers had a compliance rate of 80 per cent in Q3, down from 87 per cent in Q2 and 92 per cent in Q1. While not-for-profit providers also had lower compliance in Q3 compared to Q2 – down to 83 per cent from 87 per cent – they were up from 77 per cent in Q1.

Not enough government providers were audited to ensure they could not be identified. As a result, the commission did not include their Q3 compliance rate. However, government providers had the highest compliance rate in Q2, 89 per cent.

Home care compliance improving

Compliance in the home care sector remains lower than in residential aged care, with less than two-thirds of audited services providers found to be fully compliant (64 per cent). But the sector has improved since Q2 (40 per cent). The commission noted the Q3 figure is not a complete representation of the sector as it made 22 decisions during the quarter.

The lowest compliance rate was for ongoing assessment and planning with people receiving care – quality standard 2 – and human resources quality standard 7.

Other findings

The commission also contacted 562 residential care providers and 36 home care providers for risk-based assessments on care minute targets, food, nutrition and dining and Covid-19.

The commission visited 88 residential sites to monitor the food and dining experience of people receiving care, finding incorrect preparation or provision of texture-modified food and thickened fluids to be the most common issues.

Additionally, 306 services were contacted by the commission to monitor compliance to mandatory care minute targets, with a focus on services with large gaps. The commission noted it had increased its supervision of 14 providers operating 76 services.

Also, 22 providers were contacted about low reported Covid-19 vaccination rates and the commission found nearly all lacked the administrative and planning needed for eligible residents to access the Covid-19 vaccine.

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