Why Australian aged care providers are being revealed as non-compliant

$21.6 million will be invested into the aged care auditing workforce in 2022-23 by the Department of Health, with the aim of increasing quality and safety assessments at aged care sites. 

According to the most recent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) report, 264 Aged Care provider site visits were conducted, in which 97 services were found to be non-compliant against at-least one of ACQSC’s Quality Standards. In an industry as critical as Aged Care, a failure rate of over 36% is concerning to both clients and providers.

Image Source: ACQSC Sector Performance Report October – December 2021

Where did Aged Care providers fall down?

The ACQSC observes several Quality Standards in various areas, including:  

  • Human resources, 
  • Organisational governance, 
  • Personal care and clinical care, and 
  • Organisation’s service environment 

The graph below shows the degree to which each Quality Standard was behind the non-compliance. 

Image Source: ACQSC Sector Performance Report October – December 2021

What happens to non-compliant providers? 

  • Aged Care providers who don’t meet compliance requirements face various types of regulatory action. These can take the form of notices, sanctions and notices to agree among others. Compliance Notices – This Notice compels the provider to address actual or possible non-compliance within a reasonable time period. 
  • Non-Compliance Notice – This notice signals to the provider the Commission’s intention to impose sanctions, sets out actions the provider is required to take to remedy the problem, and gives the provider the opportunity to make submissions prior to final ruling 
  • Notices to Agree (NTA) – In cases of severe breach, an NTA sets out actions for the provider to take (including necessary timeframes). Should a provider fail to agree, their approval to provide Australian Government subsidised aged care may be revoked. 
  • Sanctions – If the Commission is not satisfied with the provider’s response to a Non-Compliance Notice or where there is immediate and severe risk, the Commission may also issue a Notice of Decision to Impose Sanctions, which make the provider ineligible for funding for new consumers. 
  • Revocation decisions – This level of regulation reflects a complete lack of trust in the provider’s suitability to provide care. A Revocations decision revokes accreditation of a residential aged care service and/or approval to provide aged care.

Image Source: ACQSC Sector Performance Report October – December 2021

Platforms like Cited make avoiding regulatory action like the above easier by providing businesses with real-time end-to-end workforce compliance. For example, renowned NDIS support worker provider, Hireup, recently started using Cited’s software, and in doing so, is now able to efficiently manage and track workforce onboarding, verification and compliance to reduce the risk of non-compliance. 

Interested in making your workforce 100% compliant 100% of the time? Learn more about the Cited platform by getting in touch with our team today.