New resources support reform initiatives
New from the Department of Health and Aged Care this month are guides to support the better understanding of care minutes, Support at Home and star ratings.
The Department of Health and Aged Care has launched two new guides for residential aged care providers about their mandatory care minute and 24/7 registered nurse responsibilities.
Both launched on 8 October, the first guide, Care minutes responsibility, covers the activities that can qualify as care minutes, provider reporting obligations and the categories of workers who can deliver care minutes.
The 43-page guide also provides detail on care minute targets and how they are calculated. The topics covered include :
- care workers
- direct care activities
- care minutes targets
- reporting and quality assurance
- regulation of care minutes.
The second guide, 24/7 registered nurse responsibility, details the requirements of approved providers who offer residential care to residents in a residential facility.
Over 34 pages, the 24/7 RN responsibility aims to offer information about:
- legislative responsibility in relation to the provision of 24/7 RN care
- 24/7 RN supplement
- exemption arrangements
- reporting obligations
- regulation and compliance with the responsibility.
New Support at Home resources
Published on 3 October, the Support at Home program handbook aims to help Home Care Packages Program and Short-Term Restorative Care Program providers prepare to transition to Support at Home.
The handbook outlines the core components of the Support at Home program design and arrangements from 1 July 2025.
The program arrangements covered in the handbook include:
- assessment for services
- accessing a service provider
- service list with capped prices
- quarterly budgets for ongoing services
- participant contributions
- access to care management services
- assistive technology and home modifications scheme
- short-term support
- provider payment arrangements
- the regulatory model
- arrangements for existing home care recipients
- trails to further develop design
Star ratings campaign launched
The department is encouraging residential aged care providers to educate staff on the Star Ratings system in light of a new campaign targeting consumers.
The campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the Star Ratings feature, includes advertising running until 28 December nationally across free-to-air television, digital video, digital search and in medical centres and pharmacies.
The campaign aims to encourage older people to use Star Ratings to research and compare aged care homes to support planning their aged care journey.
“Now is a great time to educate your staff about your home’s Star Rating in preparation for conversations generated from the campaign,” the department told providers in its weekly newsletter.
Available Star Ratings resources for providers include branding guidelines and design files.
Under the Star Rating system, aged-care homes get an overall star rating from 1 to 5, as well as against four sub-categories:
- residents’ experience
- compliance
- staffing
- quality measures.
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