Updated quality standards up for sector consultation

The revised version of the Aged Care Quality Standards are up for public consultation from Monday 17 October.

In March 2021, the Australian Government – in response to a royal commission recommendation – called for an urgent review of the quality standards.

The quality standards offer providers, people working in the sector, older Australians and their families a shared understanding of what is expected in aged care.

The revised standards, which were discussed at Aged & Community Care Providers Association national conference, are based on feedback provided by stakeholders across the aged care sector with a desire for the Aged Care Quality Standards to be:

• easier to understand
• relevant to more aged care services
• more measurable
• easier to implement.

Further input is now being sought on the revised standards, with a range of consultations taking place during October and November 2022. Including:

• release of consultation papers together with a submission process
• a survey
• public forums
• online focus groups.

The focus group sessions will be conducted by the Department of Health and Aged Care, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and health and social services sector consulting specialists, MP Consulting.

Online focus groups

The first of these online focus groups – aimed at older Australians, carers and families, aged care workers, providers and peaks – is a webinar on Monday 17 October, 1:00-3:00pm AEDT.

Entitled Launch of the Aged Care Quality Standards Review Consultation, topics include:

• residential care
• home care
• workforce
• governance
• diversity and inclusion
• regulation and legislation.

The webinar will provide an overview of:

• why the department is undertaking an urgent review of the quality standards, including findings of the royal commission
• the review process to date
• the strengthened quality standards and what changes have been made.

There will also be a Q&A panel, allowing participants to submit questions during the webinar.

For those unable to participate on the day, a recording will be available shortly following the webcast.

You can register for the webinar and access the full list of upcoming focus groups here.

Consultation paper released

The government released the Consultation Paper – Detailed Aged Care Quality Standards Review on 14 October. The 25-page document provides information to support providing feedback through the planned activities above.

This story has been updated with new information

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