27 October 2022

Yesterday, Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson met with members of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s Consumers and Families Panel.

Established in August 2022 and now with over 280 members, the Consumers and Families Panel is helping the Commission to improve the way it regulates aged care services and resolves complaints about services. The panel is also assisting in making sure that the information the Commission produces is fit for purpose and easy to understand for everyone.

At yesterday’s meeting, Ms Anderson spoke directly to aged care consumers and their families about the work of the national aged care regulator, and then answered as many of their questions as possible during the session.

Questions submitted by panel members for the webinar indicated strong interest in learning more about the way the Commission audits aged care services, and also in the reforms that commence on 1 December 2022. These were among the topics covered during the webinar.

Meetings with the Commissioner are one of a range of different opportunities made available to panel members to contribute to the work of the Commission. Ms Anderson said that she really valued these meetings as a way of engaging directly with aged care consumers and their representatives and getting a clear picture of what they wanted to learn more about.

“The experience of people receiving aged care is central to the Commission’s purpose - ensuring their wellbeing underpins all of our efforts, and hearing their feedback and ideas is so important,” Ms Anderson said.

“The panel has only been operating for a couple of months but it is already providing valuable insights for the Commission and helping us to better understand what’s important to people who use aged care services,” Ms Anderson said.

A key part of the panel’s success is that it reflects the diversity of people who access aged care across Australia.

“It is so important that the panel is as diverse as the people who use Australian Government funded aged care,” Ms Anderson said.

Anyone living in a residential aged care service, receiving home care or using Commonwealth-funded aged care services in the community is able to join the panel to share their ideas and opinions. The Commission is also interested in hearing from family members and carers of aged care recipients, and people who are considering using aged care services within the next 12 months.

Panel members have the opportunity to share their thoughts and views about things such as:

• issues that are of most concern to people receiving care that the Commission should know about
• how the Commission can reach people better
• how people can be better supported to interact with the Commission
• videos or other resources prepared by the Commission.

Participation in Consumers and Families Panel activities is voluntary, and members of the panel are given the opportunity to provide input and engage with the Commission through the panel in different ways, including by email, mail or telephone, or by taking part in online or in-person meetings.

People wanting to be part of the Commission’s Consumers and Families Panel can register their interest via the Commission’s website at www.agedcarequality.gov.au/consumer-panel or by calling the Commission on 1800 951 822.

For more information about the Commission and its work, please visit the Commission’s website at: www.agedcarequality.gov.au.

Media enquiries: media@agedcarequality.gov.au

Download the PDF version of this media release