What is the outcome you need to achieve?
The governing body* must lead a culture of quality, safety and inclusion that supports older people receiving aged care services by focussing on continuous improvement*, embracing diversity* and prioritising the safety, health and wellbeing* of older people.
Updates to guidance
An updated version of the strengthened Standards was published by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing on 18 February 2025. Please see here for more information Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards – February 2025 | Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
The Commission is currently updating our guidance content to reflect these changes. Please ensure you check back regularly.
Actions
The governing body leads a positive culture of quality funded aged care services and continuous improvement and demonstrates that this culture exists within the organisation.
In strategic and business planning, the governing body:
- prioritises the physical and psychological safety, health and wellbeing of individuals
- ensures that funded aged care services are accessible to, and appropriate for, individuals with specific needs and diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander persons and individuals living with dementia
- adheres to legislative requirements, and active consideration is given to organisational and operational risks, and the wider organisational environment.
Why is this Outcome important?
Outcome 2.2b explains providers’ obligations to make sure their governing body* leads a culture of quality, safety and inclusion that focuses on continuous improvement*, embracing diversity and supporting older people’s safety, health and wellbeing*.
The governing body* must monitor the care and services you provide through regular reviews. They must actively consider legislative requirements and the wider organisational and operational risks and needs. This helps you to deliver safe and quality care* and services. It includes evaluating:
- how effective your care and services are
- the safety and wellbeing* of older people.
It is important to make sure your strategic and business planning addresses the needs of older people. By reviewing relevant quality and safety data and prioritising the physical and psychological safety*, health and wellbeing* of older people, the governing body* can encourage a culture of quality, safety and inclusion. This includes making sure older people with specific needs and diverse backgrounds can receive care and services that are accessible, appropriate, inclusive and meet their needs. This includes:
- people with specific needs
- people who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
- people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
- people living with dementia*.
This supports you to deliver person-centred care* and helps the governing body* to lead a positive culture of quality care* and services that are accessible and appropriate.
You need to give focus to:
- strategic and business planning
- addressing the needs of older people with specific needs and diverse backgrounds, including:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons
- people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
- people living with dementia*.
Key tasks
Providers
Providers
Report concerns about the organisation’s culture of quality care* and services.
Regularly* report quality performance information and performance monitoring to the governing body* (Outcome 2.3).
Gather and report information about your organisation’s quality, safety and inclusion culture (Outcome 2.3) and provide this to your governing body* to support their strategic and business planning. This information can come from:
- feedback* from older people with specific needs and diverse backgrounds, their supporters, families and carers* (Outcome 2.6b). This can also include feedback* from Consumer Advisory Bodies
- older people’s care and service documents (Outcome 3.1).
Review this information to encourage continuous improvement* in how older people receive care and services in your day-to-day operations.
Report any serious issues or situations where older people have been harmed or were at risk of harm by following the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) process*. For example, situations such as negligence need to be:
- communicated to the relevant Consumer Advisory Bodies
- reported to the governing body*.
Talk with older people to find out their needs for physical and psychological safety*, health and wellbeing*. Prioritise and monitor the safety, health and wellbeing* of the older people you are delivering care and services to. Do this by following the governing body’s* strategic and business plan. For example, identify instances where you haven’t met older people’s health and safety needs. You may find this through feedback* and complaints* from older people, their supporters, family, carers* and others (Outcome 2.6b). Report this to the governing body*.
Resolve issues in a timely* way by using the processes* in your:
- incident management* system* (Outcome 2.5)
- risk management system* (Outcome 2.4)
- feedback* and complaints* management system* (Outcome 2.6b).
