Resource library

Serious Incident Response Scheme - Residential aged care provider readiness checklist

Residential aged care providers are encouraged to work through the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) readiness checklist.

The Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) launched on 1 April 2021. The 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 third webinar discussed reporting incidents to the Commission under the SIRS.

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.

This resource is not available to order.

The Commission has produced a glossary of common terms to aid understanding of the aged care services sector. The list is not intended to be exhaustive and is provided as general information only. 

A web version of the glossary is also available.

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.

These scenarios cover a range of examples to help providers understand issues around the use of restrictive practices. They are intended to be illustrative only, and should not be relied upon as authority.

Includes Aged Care Quality Standards Self-Assessment Tool Template (available in DOCX and XLSX), as well as Guidance on Self-Assessment.

This resource is not available to order.

The Notice of collection provides information on how we may collect, use and disclose personal information, for the purpose of our legislative functions. It is available in 24 languages.

Information for consumers of aged care services, their families, carers and representatives about the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
This resource is available in 25 different languages.