The paper states
Aged care quality and safety regulation is intended to protect and enhance the health and wellbeing of care recipients.
This Background Paper summarises the key aspects of quality and safety regulation provided for in the Aged Care Act 1997 (Aged Care Act), the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2018 (Quality and Safety Commission Act) and supporting legislative instruments, including:
- approval of providers, making them eligible to receive government subsidies and supplements to provide aged care
- the responsibilities of approved providers, including in relation to quality of care, user rights and accountability
- accreditation and quality review processes
- enforcement and sanctions
- complaints processes
- advocacy and community visitors.
There are some aged care services that are grant funded and operate outside the legislative framework of the Aged Care Act, namely the Commonwealth Home Support Programme and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program. The arrangements in place to regulate the quality and safety of these programs will also be described in this paper.
The Background Paper does not cover the following aspects of the aged care regulatory framework:
- the allocation of aged care places
- the approval and classification of care recipients
- setting of accommodation payments and accommodation contribution levels
- oversight of refundable deposits and accommodation bonds
- the role of the Aged Care Pricing Commissioner.
The aged care system also interacts with a broad range of regulatory bodies and frameworks. For example: consumer protection issues are regulated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; health practitioner issues are regulated by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency; and each jurisdiction has its own work health and safety regulator. Legislation and regulations relating to local planning, building, fire safety, food safety and public health, among others areas, all apply in the aged care context. This broader regulatory context is not the focus of this paper.
The Background Paper does not provide commentary or a view on the adequacy or effectiveness of the current quality and safety regulatory scheme.
Legislative framework
The Aged Care Act and the Quality and Safety Commission Act provide the legislative framework for the Australian aged care system.
Sitting underneath the Aged Care Act is a suite of principles that contain detail about the operation and regulation of the aged care system. The current principles, which are legislative instruments and can be made and amended by the Minister, are as follows:
- Accountability Principles 2014
- Allocation Principles 2014
- Approval of Care Recipients Principles 2014
- Approved Provider Principles 2014
- Classification Principles 2014
- Committee Principles 2014
- Extra Service Principles 2014
- Fees and Payments Principles 2014 (No 2)
- Grant Principles 2014
- Information Principles 2014
- Prioritised Home Care Recipients Principles 2016
- Quality of Care Principles 2014
- Records Principles 2014
- Sanctions Principles 2014
- Subsidy Principles 2014
- User Rights Principles 2014.
Other legislative instruments made under the Aged Care Act are Aged Care Determinations, including a determination by the Secretary under section 14–6 of conditions that apply to all allocations of places and to allocations of certain flexible care places1F and a determination by the Minister setting the amount of subsidies and supplements payable to approved providers of aged care services.
Sitting underneath the Quality and Safety Commission Act are the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Rules 2018 (Quality and Safety Commission Rules), which contain much of the detail relating to the functions and operation of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
