Resource library

Joint letter from the Chief Medical Officer Professor Anthony Lawler and Commissioner Liz Hefren-Webb to Board Chairs, Residential Aged Care Providers on winter preparedness in residential aged care.

Outbreak management planning is a key part of infection prevention and control. This document supports both the development of a new outbreak management plan (OMP) and the quality assurance of existing plans. It details common OMP sections to get you started as you tailor your OMP to your service.

This resource may refer to information that will be updated from 1 July 2025 to align with the new Aged Care Act and Quality Standards.

Having a comprehensive and organisation-specific outbreak management plan (OMP) helps your organisation to be prepared for the management of infections and outbreaks within your service. A key part of this readiness is ensuring that your OMP is fit-for-purpose and that everyone across the organisation can implement it if required. One way to maintain readiness and support continuous improvement of your OMP is to run regular drills, or stress tests, of your plan.

How to create an environment with strong infection prevention and control practices while continuing to provide a positive experience for people with cognitive decline and dementia.

Letter from the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner, Janet Anderson PSM to support your planning and preparation for the high-risk weather season to ensure the continuity of care and services to older Australians.

Older Australians, particularly those that reside in residential aged care settings or in multigenerational households, are vulnerable to the ongoing risk of contracting and becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 and other highly infectious illnesses such as influenza and gastroenteritis.

This fact sheet outlines your role as a provider in ensuring your staff have the necessary knowledge and skills to support residents’ daily oral health care.

This fact sheet outlines steps you can take to support residents to manage their oral health.

This fact sheet outlines the steps to recognise and respond to signs of poor oral health in residential aged care.

This poster serves as a resource for aged care staff to recognise and respond to signs of oral pain in residents. It provides guidance on identifying mouth and tooth pain and taking appropriate action to address these issues. The poster is available for download and use in residential aged care settings. This resource may refer to information that will be updated from 1 July 2025 to align with the new Aged Care Act and Quality Standards. 

This resource is a goal planning tool designed to support aged care providers in improving food, dining, nutrition, and consumer choice. It helps providers set objectives, track progress, and implement actions to enhance service quality, ensuring that people’s preferences and dietary needs are consistently met​. This resource may refer to information that will be updated from 1 July 2025 to align with the new Aged Care Act and Quality Standards. 

This fact sheet helps aged care residents communicate their food and dining preferences. It includes sections for meal choices, dining preferences, assistance needs, health considerations, cultural or religious customs, and contact information for allied health professionals. It also advises staff to monitor changes in weight and contact a dietitian if needed. 

This resource may refer to information that will be updated from 1 July 2025 to align with the new Aged Care Act and Quality Standards. 

This fact sheet provides practical tips for enhancing dining experiences in residential aged care settings. It offers guidance on food presentation, meal assistance, creating a respectful and enjoyable atmosphere, supporting independence, and providing culturally appropriate dining options. The aim is to improve mealtime satisfaction while maintaining older peoples' dignity and people's preferences. This resource may refer to information that will be updated from 1 July 2025 to align with the new Aged Care Act and Quality Standards. 

This poster is a guide for aged care staff about how to get the dining experience right for residents.

This poster is a guide for aged care staff about get to know residents so you can support them to have meaningful meal time experiences.

This poster for aged care staff sets out the 8 facts you need to know about the residents you support to:

• ensure residents receive nutritious and appealing meals they can eat
• notice early warning signs of decreased appetite and/or weight loss
• act early to prevent malnutrition.

This fact sheet outlines how providers can create an enjoyable dining experience for residents in aged care to support their consumption of meals, reduce risks of malnutrition and dehydration, and to meet the Aged Care Quality Standards.

This fact sheet outlines how residential aged care staff, including cooks, chefs, food service staff and care staff, can create an enjoyable dining experience to support residents to take pleasure in, and consume, their meals.

The spread of COVID-19 is increasing across the community and in residential aged care services. Of all the treatment measures available to services, rapid access to oral antivirals could make the biggest difference to consumers if they become infected with COVID-19.

This provider fact sheet helps ensure services are doing everything possible to prevent, prepare for and reduce the impact of a COVID-19 outbreak. It features links to key resources available from the Commission, the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care and peak bodies.