News
29 March, 2025
Action against care shortfalls
THE Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is taking regulatory action against residential aged care providers that have persistently failed to meet their mandatory care minutes targets.
Mandatory care minutes ensure that older people in residential aged care homes receive the dedicated direct care time, including from a registered nurse, that they need. Since 1 October 2023, residential aged care homes have had to deliver mandatory care minutes, increasing to a sector average of 215 care minutes per resident per day on 1 October 2024. This includes 44 minutes of registered nurse care.
Enforceable Undertakings are now in place with 11 providers operating 27 individual residential aged care homes that have fallen well short of delivering their care minutes targets across successive quarters. The Commission’s initial action has focused on services in metropolitan locations where surrounding services have much smaller – or no – care minutes shortfalls.
An Enforceable Undertaking is legally binding and sets out agreed actions that the provider will take to meet their care minutes requirements. Examples of actions that providers have agreed to take include immediate recruitment of more nursing and care staff.
Use of an Enforceable Undertaking by the Commission depends on a provider’s acknowledgement that there is a problem to be fixed, and the likely effectiveness and timeliness of the action/s proposed by the provider to address the problem. The Commission can take the provider to court for failing to implement its Enforceable Undertaking. Sanctions and financial penalties can be imposed.
Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner, Janet Anderson, said the Commission is being “firm and fair” with these providers and are using their regulatory powers to hold them to account. The Commission’s key focus is on making sure that the needs of people receiving aged care are met and their wellbeing is supported.
