As you get older, daily activities like showering, dressing, shaving, and managing medication or wound management can become difficult to do on your own. If you are looking at aged care homes because you need more support, it’s important to know that a home will provide you with enough care from Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses, Personal Care Workers, and Assistants in Nursing.
This page explains the different types of staffing, how it is measured, and how you can check the amount of nursing and personal care each aged care home provides.
Types of care staff
The type of staff a resident receives care from depends on their care needs. Knowing what each role involves can help you make more informed decisions when choosing an aged care home.
The difference between Registered Nurses and Enrolled Nurses is their level of education and experience. These two factors define what their responsibilities include.
Residents may also receive support from Personal Care Workers and Assistants in Nursing with daily living and activities.
How nursing and personal care time are measured
Since October 2022, all aged care homes have been required to record and report the amount of care that was provided to their residents by these care staff.
This includes time spent on help with daily tasks and other care activities such as updating care plans and arranging medical appointments. This is known as ‘care minutes’.
This information is reported to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing on a quarterly basis through the Quarterly Financial Report.
Providers have a target for the overall minutes of care and a separate target for the minutes of Registered Nurse care that they need to provide to residents, on average, at each aged care home. They are also required to have at least one Registered Nurse on-site and on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Staffing rating
Star Ratings provide simple information about the quality of care an aged care home delivers and how they compare to others.
Staffing is one of the 4 key areas of performance that make up the Overall Star Rating. The Staffing rating is assigned based on whether the aged care home has met or exceeded their targets for:
- the total amount of nursing and personal care time a resident receives from Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses, Personal Care Workers and Assistants in Nursing, and
- the care time a resident receives from Registered Nurses, which may include up to 10% of the Registered Nurse target provided by Enrolled Nurses.
Providers that deliver care to their residents over and above their care minutes targets will have a better Staffing rating.
The Staffing rating algorithm is based on whether aged care homes meet or exceed their care minute targets. The Staffing rating uses a rules-based matrix incorporating the total care minutes and Registered Nurse care minutes separately to determine the rating (see below table).
From 1 October 2025, the way the Staffing rating is calculated has changed. Aged care homes now need to meet both of their care minute targets to achieve a Staffing rating of 3 stars or more. The thresholds for ratings have also changed. Thresholds determine a provider’s Staffing rating based on how well they met both care minute targets using percentages.
This change was reflected in Star Ratings published on the My Aged Care website from the May 2026 Star Ratings update onwards.
| Overall Care Minutes Target | |||||
| Well below target (<90%) | Below target (90-<100%) | Meets target (100-<105%) | Above target (105-<110%) | Well above target (>110%) | |
| Registered Nurse Care Minutes Target | |||||
| Well below target (<90%) |  | |  | | |
| Below target (90-<100%) | | | | | |
| Meets target (100-<105%) | | |  | |  |
| Above target (105-<110%) | | | | |  |
| Well above target (>110%) | | | | | |
| Overall Care Minutes Target | |||||
| Well below target (<90%) Below target (90-<100%) Meets target (100-<105%) Above target (105-<110%) Well above target (>110%) | |||||
| Registered Nurse Care Minutes Target | |||||
| Well below target (<90%) | |||||
| Below target (90-<100%) | |||||
| Meets target (100-<105%) | |||||
| Above target (105-<110%) | |||||
| Well above target (>110%) | |||||
The Staffing rating is updated every 3 months using care minutes information reported by the aged care home.
Under certain circumstances, some providers may not display a Staffing rating. Learn more about why a rating may not be shown.
The table below displays the different rating levels and the number of homes nationwide that have received each rating.
| Staffing rating | How many homes in Australia currently have this rating? | |
| Excellent | 20% |
| Good | 19% |
| Acceptable | 34% |
| Improvement needed | 21% |
| Significant improvement needed | 6% |
| Staffing rating How many homes in Australia currently have this rating? | ||
Excellent 20% | ||
Good 19% | ||
Acceptable 34% | ||
Improvement needed 21% | ||
Significant improvement needed 6% | ||
* Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.
Where can I find more information?
You can read more about care minutes on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website.