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The Commonwealth Government’s establishment of the Aged
Care Quality and Safety Commission (Commission)
from 1 January 2019 represents significant reform in the regulation
of aged care providers. As part of its two-year agenda, the
Commission’s objectives are to strengthen and enhance aged
care regulation to assure the delivery of quality aged care.
In making the announcement, the Minister for Aged Care, the Hon
Ken Wyatt AM, MP said the establishment of the Commission marks the
first upgrade of standards in 20 years. The Commission will be led
by a statutory appointed Commissioner, Janet Anderson, who will be
assisted by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Advisory Council.
Why is it important?
An independent review of national aged care quality and
regulatory processes (Review) examined the
perceived systemic and longstanding failures of aged care and
identified the necessary improvements to the regulatory system.
As the Commonwealth Government’s primary response to the
Review, the Commission will combine all regulatory functions into
one entity to provide a more accessible platform for information
and to assist with identifying the failures in delivering quality
aged care.
Key changes
The Commission replaces the existing Australian Aged
Care Quality Agency and Aged Care Complaints Commissioner.
The new Commission will provide a single regulatory agency for aged
care consumers and providers in relation to their accreditation,
quality monitoring and compliance requirements;
The Commission will implement the Aged Care Quality
Standards from 1 July 2019 replacing the Accreditation
Standards, Home Care Standards, Transition Care Standards and
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care
Program Quality Framework Standards; and
Providers will continue to be assessed against the
current standards until 30 June 2019.
We encourage providers to use this transition period to identify
and address areas where action needs to be taken to meet the new
Standards, to assist staff, care recipients and their families to
understand the changes, and to integrate and streamline their
policies and practices in line with the Commission’s
expectations.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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The scope of matters for the Commission to inquire into is very wide - almost the entire aged care sector in Australia.
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