Whether you’re receiving aged care services at home or in a residential aged care home, the Aged Care Quality Standards define what quality care looks like.
The Aged Care Quality Standards (Quality Standards) are designed to improve your care outcomes and set clear expectations for providers in delivering quality aged care. Registered providers of government-funded aged care homes are required to meet the Quality Standards.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (the Commission) is responsible for monitoring how providers of aged care homes meet the requirements of the Quality Standards.
This page outlines what the Quality Standards are, what they mean for you, and how you can use them to see the quality of care a provider offers.
About the Quality Standards
The Quality Standards have been strengthened to improve the quality of care you receive.
This includes:
- placing older people at the centre of aged care
- better supporting people living with dementia
- being more inclusive of people from diverse backgrounds
- stronger requirements for clinical care, food and nutrition
- more protections for you.
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Providers must involve you in delivering your aged care services
Aged care providers must give you choice in how your care is delivered. They must meet your care needs, goals and preferences. Your rights must also be respected under the new Statement of Rights.
Transition period for the auditing of aged care homes
Over the next 3 years, aged care homes will be audited against the Quality Standards which took effect on 1 November 2025. Until those homes are audited against the Quality Standards, they will still have results against the previous Quality Standards which can be found later on this page. You can find out if a provider has been graded against Quality Standards if they are listed on their profile in the Find a provider tool.
The 7 Quality Standards
The 7 Quality Standards in effect from 1 November 2025 are as follows.
Understanding how aged care homes are performing under the Quality Standards
The way aged care homes are being audited against the Quality Standards has changed.
The Commission will audit providers of aged care homes giving them a graded assessment against each Quality Standard. The graded assessments will result in the following grades:
- Conformance
- Minor non-conformance
- Major non-conformance
An exceeding grade will be given to aged care homes that meet additional criteria set by the Commission.
This grade can only be given if the home has already met all the Quality Standards. An aged care home’s graded assessment outcomes will also affect the home’s Star Rating. The Star Rating is shown on the Find a provider tool.
The previous Quality Standards
The previous Quality Standards were in effect until 30 June 2025. My Aged Care will continue to show the audit results of aged care homes against the previous Quality Standards until they are audited against the current Quality Standards.
The 8 previous Quality Standards are:
Understanding how aged care homes performed under the previous Quality Standards
To learn about how an aged care home performed against the previous Quality Standards, each audit by the Commission is displayed using a 4-bar rating.
If an aged care home meets all the requirements within a Quality Standard, it will have 4 bars (see image below). If their performance is rated at less 4 bars, the aged care home has areas that require improvement, which may be subject to a compliance action. Learn more about compliance.
Where no bars are shown, the aged care home was not assessed against the Quality Standard.
Where can I find an aged care home’s performance against the previous Quality Standards?
When you use the Find a provider tool to search for an aged care home, you can find information on their previous Quality Standards performance under the Compliance section of their profile.
Here you can:
- view their performance against each previous Quality Standard
- see a list of the requirements considered for each previous Quality Standard
- download or print the results in a Summary Assessment Report.
When you are looking to choose an aged care home, this information can help with your shortlisting. It also provides information on what to look for and consider when you visit an aged care service.
How were the previous Quality Standards audited?
You can read about how providers were assessed on the Commission’s website.
What the previous Quality Standards mean for you
Watch to see what the previous Quality Standards mean for you in practice.