Aged Care Quality Standards

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Whether you’re receiving care at home or in an aged care home, the Aged Care Quality Standards define what good care should look like.

All government-funded aged care providers are required to comply with eight Aged Care Quality Standards. The standards reflect the level of care and services the community expects from aged care providers.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is responsible for assessing and monitoring government-funded aged care services against the Quality Standards. On this page, you can find out more about:

The Aged Care Quality Standards

The new Aged Care Quality Standards commenced on 1 July 2019. There are eight standards that aged care providers must meet - no matter what type of aged care services you receive.

1. Consumer dignity and choice

What this means for you
I am treated with dignity and respect, and can maintain my identity. I can make informed choices about my care and services, and live the life I choose.

2. Ongoing assessment and planning

What this means for you
I am a partner in ongoing assessment and planning that helps me get the care and services I need for my health and well-being.

3. Personal care and clinical care

What this means for you
I get personal care, clinical care, or both personal care and clinical care, that is safe and right for me.

4. Services and supports for daily living

What this means for you
I get the services and supports for daily living that are important for my health and well-being and that enable me to do the things I want to do.

5. Organisation’s service environment

What this means for you
I feel I belong and I am safe and comfortable in the organisation’s service environment.

6. Feedback and complaints

What this means for you
I feel safe and am encouraged and supported to give feedback and make complaints. I am engaged in processes to address my feedback and complaints, and appropriate action is taken.

7. Human resources

What this means for you
I get quality care and services when I need them from people who are knowledgeable, capable and caring.

8. Organisational governance

What this means for you
I am confident the organisation is well run. I am a partner in improving the delivery of care and services.

Quality Standards performance for aged care homes

From July 2020, an aged care home’s performance against the Quality Standards will be easier to see and compare.

Based on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s assessment, their performance against each Quality Standard is rated using four bars.

If an aged care home meets all the requirements within a Standard, it will have four bars (see image below). This decreases if there are areas for improvement.

If a service has less than 4 bars for any Standard, they will also have a compliance action. See the Compliance page for more information.

Where no bars are shown, the provider has not been assessed against this Standard yet.

Where can I find an aged care home’s performance against the Quality Standards?

When you use the Find a provider tool to search for aged care homes, you can see their performance against the Quality Standards. Select an aged care home in your search results, and go to the Quality section of their profile.

Here you can:

  • view their performance against each Standard
  • see a list of the requirements considered for each Standard
  • download or print the results in a Summary Assessment Report
  • compare the bars across different aged care services

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 are the Standards assessed?

You can read about how providers are assessed on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission website.

What the Aged Care Quality Standards mean for you

Watch to see what the Quality Standards mean for you in practice.

ROBYN: Hi, I’m Robyn, and I work as a quality assessor. I visit aged care services and talk to people using these services to see how things are going. There are people just like me working across the country. We work for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and it’s our job to make sure that your care is up to standard.

So, what does ‘up to standard’ mean?
Most of us recognise what quality care is and we want to make sure everyone gets care like this. There are eight Standards the government, services, and the community have all agreed to. Every aged care service has to show that it can meet these Standards.

One of these Standards is about dignity and choice. In practice, this means your aged care service knows you and supports you to live the life you choose. Your aged care service respects your identity, culture and the choices you make.

Other Standards refer to your personal and clinical care. We make sure the service is well run and that there are enough staff with the right skills to provide care that is safe and right for you.

We want to know that staff are kind, caring, and respectful. Do they follow up when you raise things with them?

We make sure your service works with you when planning your care and we look at your everyday needs to ensure that they're being met. When meals are provided, are they suitable for you? Does the menu change? Is there enough food and is it good quality?

We want to understand how well a service communicates with you including when something goes wrong. Are you told about the changes that affect you? For example, does someone let you know if you have a new cleaner, or they're coming at a new time?

Quality assessors like me are hard at work visiting services every day looking at how you are being cared for. If a service doesn’t meet any of the Standards, we identify areas needing improvement and we check these improvements have been made in the time set.

If something about your care doesn't feel right, we can help. If you can, speak to your service first to resolve your concern. You can also call us on 1800 951 822. You can also get help from advocates and interpreter services for free.

The Standards are there to support you. There's also a Charter of Aged Care Rights. You should receive information on your rights and be able to exercise your rights without feeling that it will affect the way you are treated.

More information is available online at www.agedcarequality.gov.au.

The Standards are about working together to make sure everybody gets quality care.

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