About the Quality Standards

The Aged Care Quality Standards (the Quality Standards) ensure that the care and services a provider delivers are:

safe
high quality, and
meet the needs and preferences of the people under their care.

Australian Government-funded aged care providers must show that they meet the Quality Standards.

How they demonstrate this may depend on factors such as the size and structure of the service.

The Quality Standards

There are 8 Quality Standards:

Each Quality Standard covers the:

outcomes people should expect from their care and services
expectations that providers must meet
requirements that show providers have met the standards.

Download our Quality Standards poster to learn about what each standard means.

We also have translated versions of our Quality Standards posters.

Working with people receiving aged care

Providers must work with people receiving aged care to ensure that the service meets their needs and preferences. This is known as person-centred care.

Person-centred care supports people to be active partners in their care. It allows them to work with providers to:

set goals
be involved in decisions about their care
understand what matters most to them (or is important to them), and
support them to live the life they choose.

Dignity of risk

Dignity of risk is another way of saying that people have the right to live the life they choose. This applies even if their choices involve some risks.

Providers should support and work with people receiving aged care to:

explain
understand, and
manage risks so they can live their best life.

Concerns about care

If people have concerns about the care they receive, they can raise them with their provider.

Raising concerns isn’t being difficult. In fact, it's a normal and important part of service delivery.

If the provider isn't helpful or the person raising the concern doesn't feel comfortable with their provider, they can:

talk to an advocate at the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) for support
contact us to give feedback, raise concerns or make a complaint about care or services.

Guidance for providers

We've put together guidance materials to help providers implement and meet the Quality Standards.

These resources help providers and care teams to:

understand the Quality Standards
understand what might be expected of them when their performance is assessed
reflect on day-to-day practices and areas for improvement
know when the Quality Standards are being met
continue to review their performance against the Quality Standards.

The guidance materials include the following for each standard:

background information
intent
how the standard supports people who receive aged care and services
useful resources
related legislation
reflective questions providers can use in day-to-day practices
examples of evidence providers can use to prove they are meeting the Quality Standards
case studies.

Read the Aged Care Quality Standards guidance materials.

Please note: these materials aren't legal documents.

Providers can also visit our Self-assessment page to test how they're meeting the Quality Standards.

Our Aged Care Quality Standards video explains more about how providers can meet the standards.

Assessing performance

We assess whether the care that providers deliver is safe, high quality and meet people's needs and preferences. If we find that a service isn't providing high quality care, we make them take action.

For each standard, our Quality Assessors will check if providers can show they:

understand the requirements
deliver care in accordance with the requirement
monitor how they apply the requirements as part of delivering care
review outcomes and adjust practices based on these reviews.

There are some things that might affect how a service is assessed. These include the:

size and type of service
relevance of the requirements to the service.

It's important to note that any services subcontracted by the provider are also included in these assessments. This is because providers are responsible for ensuring any care delivered on their behalf is high quality and safe.

Non-compliance with the Quality Standards

During a performance assessment, an Assessment Team might find a provider hasn't complied with the Quality Standards.

Our response to non-compliance is risk-based and proportionate. This ensures the service returns to compliance. It also addresses any risks to the safety, health and wellbeing of people under their care.

For more on how we respond and manage non-compliance, refer to our Continuous improvement page.

More information

Our Quality Standards resources are updated regularly. They include:

Find more on the Quality Standards in our Resource library.

Educational images

We have high-quality images that can be used for educating staff and providers about the standards.

Add your details below to access the images.

Terms of use

The Australian Government owns the copyright to the images.

You can use these images only:

to educate or inform others about the Quality Standards
for non-commercial use: you can't sell or use the images in a commercial production or for commercial gain
in an unaltered form: you can't replicate the images using an altered design, or cut the Standards wheel into separate Standards;
if you acknowledge the source of the images when they're republished (use: Source: Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission website agedcarequality.gov.au)
if you acknowledge that your use of the images doesn't constitute an endorsement by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.