Aged care news highlights from the fortnight ending 8 November 2024, aggregated by Ideagen.

The information in the ACE Wrap is aggregated from other news sources to provide you with news that is relevant to the aged care sector across Australia and worldwide. Each paragraph is a summary of the subject matter covered in the particular news article. The information does not necessarily reflect the views of Ideagen.

Residential Care and General Aged Care News

"Several shortcomings:" Inquiry proposes Aged Care Bill amendment

According to Aged Care Insite, a Senate inquiry recommends passing the Aged Care Bill 2024 but with significant amendments to address perceived shortcomings. Recommendations include improved waitlist transparency, education campaigns, and flexibility in mandated care minutes.

How will the new Aged Care Bill affect aged care approved providers?

Lexology outline the Bill’s key changes for aged care providers, particularly how they will affect compliance, duties and obligations.

The Star Rating Scandal: Commonwealth Ombudsman Calls for Urgent Reform in Aged Care

According to HelloCare, Australia’s aged care star rating system has faced criticism for being misleading. The Commonwealth Ombudsman highlights issues with transparency and accuracy, noting that high-rated facilities have failed standards, creating distrust among families. An urgent review aims to improve this system, making ratings more reliable and reflective of actual care quality.

Death, stress and low wages: Covid Inquiry on aged care

According to Aged Care Insite, an inquiry found aged care residents suffered disproportionately during Covid-19, with over 75% of deaths in 2020 in this sector. The pandemic exposed underprepared facilities, worsened worker stress, and highlighted low wages, prompting recommendations for structural reforms and stronger pandemic response measures.

Review of COVID response finds Australians unlikely to accept lockdowns again

According to ABC News, a review of Australia's COVID-19 response hails "courageous decisions" and "decisive" action early in the pandemic, but says social licence has been eroded by lengthy restrictions that were poorly communicated. The review makes recommendations for "the next pandemic", including better preparedness and clear delineation of responsibilities between federal, state and territory governments.

$251m for Australian Centre for Disease Control

According to Aged Care Insite, the Australian government has committed $251.7 million to establish a permanent Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to improve future pandemic response. The CDC, set to launch in 2026, aims to restore public trust through transparency, regular pandemic preparedness reviews, and enhanced data and surveillance systems.

New Quality Indicators for staffing coming in 2025

According to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, from 1 April 2025, residential aged care providers will collect data on 3 new staffing quality indicators under the National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program (QI Program). The Department of Health and Aged Care is expanding the QI Program. The 3 new staffing quality indicators are:

• enrolled nursing
• allied health
• lifestyle officers.

This will increase the number of quality indicators from 11 to 14. Residential aged care providers will:

• collect the new data from 1 April 2025 (quarter 4, 2024–25)
• report the new data for quarter 4, 2024–25, though GPMS by 21 July 2025.

Complaints Report – Year in review 2023–24

According to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, the Commission has published our latest complaints report –  Complaints about aged care services – Year in review (July 2023 to June 2024). This is our second full year report exploring complaints that the Commission receives about aged care services. In this report, we draw attention to clear patterns and trends in the complaints made about residential care and home services for 2023–24. 

Complaints about care and communication rise, reports show

According to Aged Care Insite, complaints about aged care services in Australia have surged, particularly around poor communication. The Older Persons Advocacy Network reports a 20% increase in demand for support, while the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission notes “lack of communication” as a frequent complaint, underscoring an urgent need for improved transparency and responsiveness in aged care.

Collaborative Arrangement laws abolished, more nurses to work to full scope

According to Aged Care Insite, new legislation abolishing Collaborative Arrangement laws now allows nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to operate independently. This reform aims to increase healthcare accessibility, particularly in rural areas, by enabling more autonomous service delivery and expanding Medicare coverage for nurse-led care.

ACCPA announces new brand – Ageing Australia – and expanded mission to represent retirement villages and social housing

According to The Weekly Source, ACCPA launched its new brand, "Ageing Australia," to better represent members offering retirement living and social housing.

Aged care ENs and RNs on track for double-figure wage rises: FWC "provisional view"

According to The Weekly Source, the Fair Work Commission proposes phased wage increases for aged care nurses, with rises from 11.8% to 17.6% for Enrolled Nurses and up to 16.1% for Registered Nurses. These increases aim to address historical undervaluation and the complexity of nursing roles.

"Improve vaccination rates" in aged care immediately: COVID-19 Response Inquiry

According to The Weekly Source, the COVID-19 Response Inquiry highlights low vaccination rates in aged care as a key vulnerability. With only 53% of residents fully vaccinated, the report recommends a national strategy to increase coverage, address “vaccination fatigue,” and boost pandemic readiness in care facilities.

Changing aged care for the better – new website section

According to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, as part of our support to get the sector ready to get the for the anticipated new Aged Care Act, we have published a new section on our website, Changing aged care for the better. This section, which can be easily accessed from the homepage, provides information on the regulatory changes proposed under the new Aged Care Act for older people, for providers and for aged care workers.

Webinar: Aged care award wage rise implementation

According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, we are hosting a webinar to support providers with the implementation of the Fair Work Commission Stage 3 aged care award wage increase. When: Monday 18 November, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm (AEDT). Register now.

Quarterly Financial Report due soon

According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, a reminder to providers to submit their Quarterly Financial Report for Quarter 1 2024–2025 (1 July to 30 September). Please complete by 4 November through the Government Provider Management System (GPMS). For technical support, please call the My Aged Care service provider and assessor helpline on 1800 836 799 and select option 5. More information is available on the Quarterly Financial Report and GPMS resources pages.

Reporting residents’ refundable deposit balances

According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, we are changing how we collect and check aged care residents’ financial information as part of the Aged Care Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 before Parliament. Under these changes, from 1 January 2025, you will need to report individual residents’ refundable deposit balances in your monthly claim form. 

Falls QI stubbornly steady

According to Australian Ageing Agenda, Australia’s aged care facilities have seen limited improvement in reducing fall rates, though other quality indicators have shown progress. Experts suggest enhanced fall prevention, such as increased physiotherapy, could improve outcomes.

Home Care News

76,000 older Australians now waiting for home care: Aged Care Bill Senate Inquiry

According to The Weekly Source, a Senate Inquiry revealed that 76,000 older Australians are on a waitlist for necessary home care. The report highlights an urgent need to reduce these wait times, as older adults can face significant delays before receiving assessed levels of care, with plans to cut this to an average of three months by 2027.

Legislation

Aged Care Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 [CTH] – second reading debate 7 Nov 2024

The purpose of the Aged Care Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 (the Bill) is to enable the Secretary to conduct residential care data assurance reviews with respect to specified residential care data, to mitigate the risk of future breaches of section 83 of the Constitution and better provide for voluntary moves within a residential aged care service. These proposed amendments aim to assure the completeness, accuracy and reliability of specified residential aged care data and ensure the financial information of care recipients that is relied on by the Commonwealth when making aged care subsidy payments are up to date and able to be updated efficiently.

The proposed amendments will support care recipients, by enabling an income and assets determination to be varied, in addition to the determination being set and revoked. Amendments to align the income and assets determination processes have also been made, where it is appropriate to do so, for consistency and to reduce administrative burden.