Resource library

This fact sheet provides information about the revised incident management obligations within Standard 8 for home services providing aged care.

This booklet aims to give guidance on how to:

• create an effective, resolution focused complaints system in aged care services and how to enhance existing processes
• maintain compliance with Standard 6
• encourage a positive, blame-free culture around complaints handling in aged care services by fostering an understanding of the complaints process and how it affects the people involved, and setting out the essential elements for the effective management of complaints within a service including skills, procedures and policies.

The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) is a new initiative to help prevent and reduce the risk of incidents of abuse and neglect in residential aged care services subsidised by the Australian Government. The SIRS requires residential services to have an effective incident management system or IMS.

An IMS is key to a provider’s ability to effectively identify, respond to, and mitigate the impact of an incident, and enables providers to analyse and identify risks and trends to inform preventative measures.

This fact sheet describes how incidents should be recorded in your IMS to meet your obligations under SIRS and provide safe care to your residents.

This poster outlines the 6 essential elements of effective incident management systems.

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The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) launched on 1 April 2021. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is helping the aged care sector to prepare for the introduction of the scheme with information and resources and is hosting a series of webinars about the scheme. This second webinar discussed the importance of an effective Incident Management System under the SIRS.

This guidance provides information for providers to help them to develop and embed a best practice incident management system which enables them to respond to and manage specific incidents and near misses by assessing:

The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) launched on 1 April 2021. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is helping the aged care sector to prepare for the introduction of the scheme with information and resources and is hosting a series of webinars about the scheme. This first webinar provides an introduction to SIRS and the importance of incident management systems.

This fact sheet provides guidance to providers of aged care on an effective incident management system, the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS). The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) is a new initiative to help prevent and reduce the risk of incidents of abuse and neglect in residential aged care services subsidised by the Australian Government.

On Thursday 10 December 2020, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson hosted a webinar on the recently released new outbreak management planning in aged care guide for aged care providers.

This short video explains how to assist residential aged care providers to support their workers, care recipients, families and visitors to prevent, prepare for and manage outbreaks of COVID-19.

The Commissioner wrote to approved providers on 7 December 2020 about visitor access in a COVID-normal world

In the event of an outbreak of COVID-19 at a residential service, the service’s Outbreak Management Team and key personnel at the service will be working in close co-operation with public health authorities and other parties to ensure an effective emergency response.  A key personnel template has been developed to assist providers in identifying key personnel of the service and their contact details to support this response. 

Six steps for safe prescribing antipsychotics and benzodiazepines in residential aged care.

If you’re thinking of prescribing these medicines to manage the behaviours and psychological symptoms of dementia, follow these 6 steps.

What are psychotropic medications? 

Psychotropic medications are ‘any drug capable of affecting the mind, emotions and behaviour'

The three main classes of psychotropics prescribed are antidepressants, anxiolytic/hypnotics (mostly benzodiazepines to manage anxiety and insomnia) and antipsychotics. Other psychotropic classes include anticonvulsants and stimulants. 

Under the Aged Care Quality Standards, the organisation’s governing body is accountable for the delivery of safe and quality care and services. This includes consideration of leadership, organisational culture, consumer engagement, organisation wide governance, risk management and clinical governance.

This webinar will help you to understand your regulatory and legislative obligations.

Key documents and information to be available at commencement of performance assessment

Every performance assessment at a service’s premises begins with an entry meeting between the person in charge at the service and the Assessment Team. The Assessment Team will request certain key documents during the entry meeting at site audits, review audits and assessment contacts where performance against the Aged Care Quality Standards (Quality Standards) is being assessed.

A practical guide developed by the Working Group on Influenza Outbreaks in Residential Care Facilities on behalf of the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia. The purpose of the document is to assist residential care services and carers by providing best practice information for the prevention and management of influenza outbreaks in residential care facilities.

To assist aged care providers, the Commission has identified some of the very useful information and resources produced by Commonwealth and State Departments of Health.

RB 2019-04 (Rescinded)- This Regulatory Bulletin outlines how the Commission will respond to and manage non-compliance with the Aged Care Quality Standards.

A fact sheet outlining the key changes impacting providers under the new Commission Rules, relating to the Aged Care Quality Standards (Quality Standards).