Aged Care Law Monitor: A Tool to Help you Stay Up to Date with Legal Changes

In our recent survey of Infection Control and Outbreak Management Preparedness, 64% of respondents said they found it difficult to keep policies and procedures up to date.

When asked “What would assist you in ensuring the currency of your infection prevention and control program?” many respondents said they wanted an easy way to keep track of changes in the law. As one respondent put it, the most helpful thing would be “Easy access to updated legislation and policies that can be adapted to suit the facility”.

Aged Care Law Monitor, published by CompliSpace, is a free tool designed to provide exactly this kind of assistance to aged care providers.

It is a quarterly report for boards and executives that summarises key legal, regulatory and compliance changes that affect the residential aged care industry. It helps aged care providers ensure that their policies and procedures comply with current legislative and regulatory requirements and reflect best practice, as required by Aged Care Quality Standards 3(3)(a) and 8.

Click here to download your copy of the latest Aged Care Law Monitor. 

Keep reading for a summary of how Aged Care Law Monitor works and what it offers.

What Legal Changes are Covered by Aged Care Law Monitor?

Aged Care Law Monitor covers recent and upcoming legal and regulatory changes that affect the aged care industry in all Australian jurisdictions. This means it covers everything from Tasmanian aged care entry restrictions to national paid parental leave entitlements for workers. It also has a special section for COVID-19 laws and regulations.

What Period of Time is Covered by Aged Care Law Monitor?

Aged Care Law Monitor is released quarterly, so it tells you about all the relevant legal changes that happened within that three-month period.

The latest version of Aged Care Law Monitor covers the period 20 April 2020 to 20 July 2020.

Does Aged Care Law Monitor Tell Me Which Legal Changes are the Most Important?

Yes. Aged Care Law Monitor uses a colour-coded “traffic light” system so that you can see at a glance whether each legal change requires you to:

  •  Check and Update your policies and procedures

  •  Watch and Prepare for further developments that haven’t happened yet; or

  •  Make Note of the change without having to take any specific action.

Other Ways to Stay Up to Date

Due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, industry guidelines and legislative changes are being published on a weekly basis in some jurisdictions. So, while you’re waiting for the next issue of Aged Care Law Monitor, here are some resources to help you find out what’s happening with the law right now:

• ACE Weekly Wrap: a weekly summary of aged care news, including a section on legislative developments.
• Department of Health’s Aged Care News.
• State and Territory Aged Care Entry Restrictions:
  • Australian Capital Territory: Public Health (Residential Aged Care Facilities) Emergency Direction (ACT) – scroll down until you see the latest “Public Health (Residential Aged Care Facilities) Emergency Direction”.
  • New South Wales: Public Health (COVID-19 Residential Aged Care Facilities) Order (NSW) – this page is a summary of the direction with FAQs and a link to the full text of the direction.
  • Northern Territory: COVID-19 Directions for Aged Care Facilities (NT) – scroll down until you see the “CHO Directions – Directions for Aged Care Facilities”.
  • Queensland: Aged Care Direction (Qld).
  • South Australia: Emergency Management (Residential Aged Care Facilities) (COVID-19) Direction 2020 (SA)
  • Tasmania: Direction Under Section 16 – Residential Aged Care Facilities (Tas) – scroll all the way down to the “Public Health Act 1997” and find the direction marked “Direction Under Section 16 – Residential Aged Care Facilities”.
  • Victoria: Directions – Care facilities – scroll down to “Directions issued by Victoria’s Chief Health Officer” and click the drop down menu marked “Care facilities”.
  • Western Australia: Visitors to Residential Aged Care Facilities Directions (WA) – scroll down to the drop down menu marked “Aged Care” and click on the “Visitors to Residential Aged Care Facilities Directions”.