With the federal election frenzy kicking off, the issue of aged care law reform is about to become even more confusing. Is it now mandatory for residential aged care homes to provide 24/7 registered nursing care? When do the new governance and public reporting requirements commence? Today we separate the spin from the reality and set out what you need to know.

Is it Mandatory for Residential Aged Care Homes to Provide 24/7 Registered Nursing Care?

As at 12 April 2022, no. This is a proposed law that has not been passed by Parliament.

Details of the Proposed Mandate for 24/7 Nurses in Aged Care

Under this proposed law, residential care providers would have to “ensure at least one registered nurse is on duty at all times in a residential facility to provide care to care recipients and supervise the provision of care to care recipients”.

This proposal is part of the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response No. 2) Bill 2021 (Cth). This Bill was originally introduced to the House of Representatives on 1 September 2021. It eventually passed the House and went to the Senate. The Senate added the 24/7 nurses requirement to the Bill on 30 March 2022, and then the Bill went back to the House for more debate.

When Will This Proposed Law Become Actual Law?

The proposed 24/7 nursing requirement cannot become law until it is passed by Parliament. Parliamentary business is now on hold until the election on 21 May 2022. So, the soonest the proposal could become law is when Parliament gets back to its regular work, probably sometime in June 2022.

However, there is also a chance that the proposal will never become law. The Coalition has not expressed strong support for the 24/7 nursing requirement. Labor initially pushed for a strict 24/7 requirement but later acknowledged that some flexibility should be allowed to ensure that providers who can’t find sufficient staff aren’t unfairly penalised for failing to meet the requirement.

So, depending on the outcome of the election, the proposed law may never happen, or it may happen in an amended form. ACE will monitor the situation and provide updates via the Weekly Wrap.

Other Reforms That Are Now On Hold

The 24/7 nurses proposal is not the only reform that is now on hold due to the election. Many other reforms have been proposed by the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response No. 2) Bill 2021 (Cth). Most of these are less controversial than the 24/7 nurses proposal, and will likely commence later in 2022, regardless of who wins the election. So it is important for aged care providers to keep these upcoming reforms in mind.

In summary, the reforms will:

• introduce the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC), to replace the Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) as the residential aged care subsidy calculation model
• set up a nationally consistent pre-employment screening for aged care workers of approved providers to replace existing police checking obligations
• enable the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner to make and enforce a Code of Conduct that will apply to approved providers and their workers, including governing persons
• extend the SIRS to apply to home care and flexible care
• give the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission more power to deal with incidents that are reported by Commonwealth grant funded aged care service providers, and authorise these providers to collect, use and disclose SIRS information for the purposes of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
• amend laws to improve the governance of approved providers of aged care
• introduce new reporting responsibilities for aged care providers, including to provide an annual statement on their operations that will be made publicly available
• improve information sharing between government agencies that deal with disability and veterans’ affairs
• give the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission more power to get information about what providers are doing with refundable accommodation deposits, and give the Commission power to issue an infringement notice for a borrower who fails to comply with a Commission request
• expand the powers of the Health Pricing Authority.

Stay Up To Date

Stay up to date with the latest aged care law reforms in our latest Weekly Wrap.