Residential aged care services need accreditation to receive government subsidies.
Accreditation also allows providers to show how they meet the Aged Care Quality Standards.
Our role is to assess providers and issue accreditation. We perform full audits, checking the quality of care that providers deliver.
We also do an audit when providers apply for accreditation.
The accreditation process
The key steps in the process are:
- The provider self-assesses their service against the Quality Standards.
- They apply for accreditation (or reaccreditation).
- We assess the provider and write a performance report.
- We approve the accreditation and issue a certificate to the provider.
- We publish the performance report and accreditation decision on this website.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2018 outlines the accreditation process.
The Aged Care Act 1997 also applies.
For more on the process, see the following pages:
Assessing providers
We visit providers and collect evidence to see how they meet the Quality Standards.
This includes (but is not limited to):
- reviewing procedure documents
- observing practices at the service
- looking at resident records and other documents
- checking incident reports, care plans and complaints registers.
We also speak with people receiving aged care or their representatives.
Have your say
Feedback from people receiving aged care plays a significant role in the accreditation of a service.
When assessing a provider, we interview at least 10% of residents or their representatives.
Providers must tell residents about the assessment. This is so the residents can meet us and share their experiences.
You can contact us anytime about the quality of care or any aspect of a provider's service.
You can also subscribe to our newsletter for updates.
