The assessment process

Application submission

Digital Governing Body Determination forms can’t be submitted unless all mandatory fields are complete. All supporting documents must also be uploaded.

Before submitting a form, check that:

all responses are clear and sufficiently detailed
all supporting documents contain information to substantiate your responses and are relevant to your organisation’s governance arrangements.

This will help remove potential delays resulting from invalid or incomplete applications.

The digital form contains built-in validation checks, but we’ll still check that your responses are comprehensive enough to start assessment.

You can track the progress of your application on the Government Provider Management System (GPMS). Your governing person will review and approve the determination request digitally through GPMS. For more information on using the digital form and for technical support, go to the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website.

If you have questions about the content of the form, email us at GoverningBodyApplications@agedcarequality.gov.au.

Word-based application forms

Applications submitted before 30 September 2024 using the Word-based form will need to be checked manually by us before being progressed.

The validation process will take longer for forms completed in Word, as we must manually check the application meets the requirements of 63-1E of the Aged Care Act 1997.

We’ll contact you by phone or email if your application form is invalid or if we need further information.

Assessment

At this stage, we assess the following as listed in section 63-1E(4) of the Act:

the number of aged care services where you provide aged care
the location of those services
the annual turnover of your key personnel
the membership of your governing body
any arrangements that you have made, or will make, to help:
the members of your governing body to act objectively and independently in the best interests of your organisation, or
your governing body seek, when is necessary to do so, advice from a person with experience in the provision of clinical care
any other matter detailed in the Accountability Principles.

We will also make enquiries with other areas of the Commission. These internal enquiries can determine whether a determination may pose a risk to older Australians under your care.

We review:

your compliance with the Aged Care Quality Standards as they relate to clinical care, decision making and governance
your compliance with regards to the Financial and Prudential Standards if you are a residential aged care provider
complaints made to the Commission about your delivery of aged care and services
your compliance history including recent non-compliance or sanctions
whether reports made under the Serious Incident and Risk Scheme have identified areas of concern

A risk assessment is completed and a rating of low or high risk is applied. The rating will depend on the assessment of the information you have provided, and information held by the Commission.

This information is also assessed against the matters set out under section 63-1E(4) of the Aged Care Act.

If needed, we will request further information and explain the reasons why we need it to progress your determination request.

We will maintain contact with you throughout the assessment process. This might be via email or telephone.