From 1 December 2022, aged care providers must meet new requirements relating to governance structure, reporting and record-keeping.

This article will provide an overview of these changes and the actions providers will need to take to meet their obligations.

Source of the Changes

These changes were first made under the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Act 2022 (Cth), which passed the Parliament on 2 August 2022. This Act specifies that the changes will become law on 1 December 2022. Further detail about how the changes will operate will be provided by the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Governance and Reporting for Approved Providers) Principles 2022 (Cth).

Some of these changes apply from 1 December 2022 while others come into effect for some categories of providers from 1 December 2023. Further details are set out below.

Changes to Governing Bodies and Reporting

Membership of the Governing Body

Providers will need to ensure that:

• a majority of the members of the governing body are independent non-executive members
• at least one member of the governing body has experience in the provision of clinical care.

These requirements do not apply to small aged care homes (with fewer than five board members and fewer than 40 residents) or to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. For existing providers, these requirements will not apply until 1 December 2023, to give providers a chance to change their existing governing bodies; for providers who are approved after 1 December 2022, the requirements will apply immediately. (Note: the Commission has indicated that providers who submitted their application for approval prior to 1 December may be considered “approved prior to 1 December 2022”).

Reporting on Operation

Providers of residential and home care will be required to report to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (Commission) on a number of new matters relating to their governing body, these include:

• details of feedback and complaints received by the provider and improvements made to the delivery of care and services and information about the diversity of the governing body
• initiatives that the provider has taken to promote a diverse and inclusive environment for care recipients and staff members
• whether the provider complied with the responsibilities described above regarding membership of the governing body
• the names of non-executive members of the governing body, and of those with clinical care experience.

Reporting Flexible Care as Transition Care

For providers who provide flexible care as transition care, the following matters must be reported on:

• details of feedback and complaints received by the provider
• details of improvements made by the provider in relation to these complaints.

Statements of Compliance

Providers of residential or home care must prepare a statement stating that they are meeting their obligations or, if they have failed to comply with certain responsibilities, the actions they have taken to rectify the non-compliance. This information will be published on My Aged Care and be updated annually. This statement must be signed by a member of the governing body on behalf of all members of the body and be provided within four months of the end of the relevant reporting period for the provider.

Staff Qualifications and Experience

The governing body of an aged care provider must ensure that staff have the appropriate qualifications, skills or experience to provide care and services and that they are given the opportunity to access professional development. Records must be kept about how the provider promotes professional development and ensures that staff have the appropriate skills and qualifications.

New Responsibilities in Relation to Advisory Bodies

Quality Care Advisory Body

Providers will be required to set up, and maintain records about, a quality care advisory body.

The body will oversee the quality of care at the home and must include:

• a member who is one of the key personnel of the provider and has appropriate experience in the provision of aged care
• a member who is directly involved in the delivery of aged care, or if the provider delivers clinical care – the provision of clinical care
• a member who represents the interests of care recipients, e.g. a person who is a care recipient, a member of an organised consumer advisory service/body or a consumer advocate.

The quality care advisory body must give the governing body a written report about the quality of care and services that the provider provides through an aged care service. The report must be considered by the governing body of the provider when making decisions about care and service delivery, and the advisory body must be informed about how their advice was considered. This report must be provided at least every six months and include information about:

• feedback from care recipients and staff members
• complaints received by the provider and any action they have taken in response to these complaints
• any concerns the advisory body has about the quality of care being provided
• any action taken by the Commission against the provider
• details of progress made under the provider’s plan for continuous improvement
• performance reports given to the provider by the Commission
• staffing arrangements
• details of reportable incidents and action taken by the provider
• if the service is a residential aged care service, feedback from residents about food, changes in the quality of food provided and menu assessments conducted by an accredited practising dietitian.

Consumer Advisory Body

The new reforms also require providers to give their care recipients and the care recipients’ representatives the opportunity to form a consumer advisory body. Providers must provide this opportunity at least every 12 months and keep a record of each offer. The consumer advisory body would be able to give the provider feedback on the quality of its service and the care provided. If such a body is established, the governing body of the provider is obliged to consider the body’s feedback when making decisions about the quality of care and inform the body of this consideration. If a consumer advisory body is formed, records must be kept about its composition. The changes relating to consumer advisory bodies and quality care advisory bodies come into effect from 1 December 2023 for existing providers. For providers who are approved after 1 December 2022, the requirements will apply immediately.

Suitability of Key Personnel

Providers will be required to consider certain matters relating to “key personnel” within the organisation. Key personnel include people who:

• are responsible for the executive decisions of the provider
• have authority, responsibility, or authority over the activities of the provider
• have responsibility for nursing services and hold a recognised qualification in nursing
• are responsible for day-to-day operations.

Providers will have new responsibilities relating to key personnel, including responsibility to:

• ensure that key personnel are suitable to be involved in aged care
• consider all key personnel against certain suitability matters at least once every 12 months and be reasonably satisfied that the person is suitable
• keep records of the matters considered when assessing suitability.

If there are changes in the suitability of the key personnel, they leave the organisation, or any other circumstance arises that may materially affect the suitability of the provider to deliver care and services, the Commission must be told within 14 days. This requirement will apply from 1 December 2022, any matters that arise before this date must be reported to the Commission within 28 days. Approved providers can notify the Commission of these changes using this form.

Constitutions of Providers

There are also new requirements related to aged care providers who are a wholly-owned subsidiary of another body corporate that is not an aged care provider. To ensure that the interests of consumers are always placed first and foremost, a provider cannot allow their constitution to authorise a director of the provider to act in the best interests of the holding company. This change applies to existing providers from 1 December 2023; for providers who are approved after 1 December 2022, it will apply immediately.

Additional Resources

These new laws that become operational from 1 December 2022 bring about considerable changes that will affect the way governing bodies of aged care providers must operate and report their operations. The Commission has provided a number of supporting resources as well as webinars regarding these upcoming changes that can be found in their resource library.