What Are the Standards in Aged Care?

What Are the Aged Care Quality Standards?

The Aged Care Quality Standards are a collection of regulations and rules that aged care providers must meet. These standards intend to guarantee that older Australians receive the personalised, high-quality, safe aged care they deserve.

All approved aged care providers must meet these aged care quality standards. Any government-funded aged care home must have its standards assessed by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to receive accreditation.

Ensuring your aged care provider upholds these standards is crucial for getting you or your loved one dignified care that meets your individual preferences.

You can learn more about the current standards here: Quality Standards | Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

And the new act here: About the new rights-based Aged Care Act

What Are the Current 8 Standards of Aged Care?

Standard 1: Consumer Dignity and Choice

Standard 1 focuses on consumer-centered care that recognises an individual’s strengths. Under this standard, individuals are to be treated with respect and dignity. Each resident’s individuality should be recognised, including personal, cultural, and spiritual preferences. Promoting dignity and individual choice aims to help individuals maintain autonomy and identity.

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Standard 2: Ongoing Assessment and Planning

Standard 2 focuses on proper planning and regular assessment of the care received. I always stress to my clients that aged care needs are always evolving. Ongoing care assessments are key for ensuring these evolving needs are recognised and met

Standard 3: Personal Care and Clinical Care

The Personal and Clinical Care Standard mandates safe and effective care from providers. This car must meet a resident’s psychological, emotional, and physical needs. This ensures aged care services provide a comprehensive approach to wellness.

Standard 4: Service and Support for Daily Life

A common misconception I notice in this industry is that aged care is only about medical support. Aged care is far more complex than providing adequate medical support or meeting physical needs.

Standard 5: Organisation’s Service Environment

Standard 5 pertains to the physical service environment in residential care, day therapy centres, and respite care. This standard’s purpose is to promote facilities that are reliably maintained, welcoming, and always safe and clean.

Standard 6: Feedback and Complaints

Standard 6 requires providers to create and maintain an environment where residents are comfortable sharing suggestions or voicing concerns. Facilities should accept all forms of complaints or feedback, whether formal, informal, written, or verbal. Complaints can also be lodged with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

Standard 7: Human Resources

The purpose of the human resources standard is to:

Focus on recruitment, training, and ongoing development of all staff
Ensure all staff members are adequately trained, skilled, and qualified to deliver high-quality, consumer-focused care
Provide opportunities for professional development
Foster a positive workplace culture, including positive relationships between consumers and staff
Regularly review the staff to ensure they are performing well and meeting the care needs of the consumers
Regularly invest in the workforce to continually enhance the quality of care

Standard 8: Organisational Governance

The eighth standard, organisational governance, requires clear procedures and policies to be put in place by providers. A solid government structure can help promote transparency, accountability, and ethical practices in aged care facilities and organisations.

What are the new Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards?

The new aged care quality stands will be implemented on 1st November 2025.

The revised standards will:

Streamline from eight to seven standards, focusing on key areas of care delivery and organisational governance .
Introduce new expectations and clarify existing ones, with a significant portion of expectations being new or clarified .
Emphasise person-centred care, ensuring that services are tailored to individual needs and preferences.

Standard 1: The person

Standard 1 defines the way providers and workers should treat older people which is reflected in the new Statement of Rights Statement of Rights | Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and is relevant to all Quality Standards.

It defines:

dignity and respect
individuality and diversity
independence
choice and control
culturally safe care
dignity of risk – meaning older people have the right to live how they choose, even if their choices involve some risk.

Standard 2: The organisation

This Standard sets the expectations regarding the quality of care and services that a provider’s governing body must meet.The governing body directs the organisation’s strategic priorities and promotes a culture of safety and quality.

Standard 3: The care and services

This Quality Standard describes the way care and services must be delivered by service providers for all service types. This includes how the workforce are supported to ensure effective assessment, planning, communication and coordination.

Standard 4: The environment

This Quality Standard ensures the physical environment in which older people receive care and services is safe and supportive and meets their individual needs.

Standard 5: Clinical care

Standard 5 outlines the provider responsibilities to deliver safe and quality clinical care to meet individual care needs

Standard 6: Food and nutrition

Standard 5 emphasises the obligation of residential aged care providers to provide adequate food and nutrition to each care recipient. There is an emphasis on the promotion of personal choice and preference in dining experience which has an enormous impact on a person’s quality of life.

Standard 7: The residential community

Standard 7 focuses on community being central to the lives of aged care residents. Aged Care providers must ensure care recipients feel safe, have opportunities to do meaningful things and keep connections with people while living in a residential community.

Why These Aged Care Standards Matter

The Aged Care Quality Standards ensure safety, dignity, and trust for individuals receiving aged care services.

These are not just some policies written down on a page. These standards make an immeasurable difference in people’s lives. It is vital that people be treated with respect, dignity, and genuine empathy — no matter their age or health condition.

The Aged Care Quality Standards aim to ensure:

Resident safety and choice
Personalised care
Continuous improvements in a facility’s care, quality, and policies
That individuals are treated with respect and dignity
Appropriate staffing
Empower older individuals to maintain as much independence as possible

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How I Help Families Understand and Navigate These Standards

I take immense pride in advocating for families and ensuring their loved ones find the aged care solution that meets their needs.

At Care Match, we apply these standards when helping clients choose the right provider. My mission is to ensure you or your loved one gains access to the best quality care possible.

If you’re trying to make sense of the aged care system and what these standards mean for your family, I’d be happy to help — you don’t have to do this on your own. Learn more about how an aged care consultant can help or get in touch with us with questions.

Grace Conboy is a Registered Nurse with over 15 years of experience in the aged care sector. For the past decade, she has dedicated herself to helping families access home care services and residential aged care.