As the aged care industry anticipates the commencement of the Aged Care Act 2024, many aged care providers are concerned about how to implement changes in their organisation in preparation for the new scheme.
Unfortunately, much of the key legislation is yet to be finalised and/or released. This alert provides an overview of the aspects of the new regulatory scheme which have been passed and/or published and those aspects of the scheme which are yet to be released.
Key points
- While the Aged Care Act 2024 has passed with a start date of 1 July 2025, the new Act (like the current Act) leaves many ‘gaps’ to be filled by Rules.
- Although some components of the Rules have been published in draft, a large number of Rules have not yet been released and we do not anticipate seeing the full list of draft Rules (let alone a final version) until at least March 2025.
- Understandably, many providers are anxious to start making changes now to meet the requirements of the new Act but there is a danger in doing so prematurely without knowing the detailed requirements of the new scheme which are currently substantially unknown.
- We are still awaiting the publication of a significant volume of draft legislation to guide the implementation of the new scheme as its commencement approaches in July 2025.
What do we know about the new scheme?
The Aged Care Act 2024 passed both Houses of the Federal Parliament on 25 November 2024. The key changes to be brought about by the new Act include the introduction of the requirement for providers of aged care to register with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (noting that existing providers will generally be deemed as registered providers when the new Act commences), a Statement of Rights that providers must comply with as well as conditions of registration and statutory duties of care which must be complied with.
Like the Aged Care Act 1997, the new Act provides a framework for the legislative scheme but leaves many key details ‘gaps’ to be filled by the Rules. So far, we have seen drafts of the following sections of the Rules:
- Service lists for both Support at Home and residential care; and
- Fees and funding for home care.
To illustrate how much there is to come, it’s worth considering how many pages of law we currently have. The current scheme is comprised of roughly 1,500 pages of legislation. At this stage, only about 700 pages of legislation for the new scheme has been released. Given there is no suggestion that the obligations on providers will be lessened, we anticipate that the new scheme will be at least as big as the current scheme.
What Rules are we waiting for?
We are still awaiting to be provided with draft Rules covering the following:
- Funding for residential aged care;
- Fees for residential care; for example, the Higher Everyday Living fees.
- Details of the conditions that will apply to registered providers including which conditions will apply to which providers. For example:
- What categories of providers will have to have an independent majority on their board?
- The rules governing what needs to go into a client agreement, whether for Support at Home or residential care.
- How will the new whistleblower requirements work?
- Reporting and record keeping requirements.
- Details of the workforce requirements and vaccination requirements.
Rules covering these issues are currently forecasted to be published in further releases for consultation in January, February and March 2025.
As providers may be aware, the Transitional Bill is also before Parliament which will bring existing providers and care recipients across to the new system (for example, by deeming existing providers as registered providers under the new Act). Those provisions also broadly have the effect of retaining compliance and enforcement requirements and actions taken by the Commission immediately before the commencement of the new Act.
How can we help?
Russell Kennedy is aiming to release our new resident agreements, Support at Home agreements, supplier agreements and other templates through our RK DocsConnect platform by 31 March 2025 (subject to the Rules).
In the meantime, we will continue providing our webinar updates as the legislation is released and presenting to the industry through our industry partners. Access the previous sessions here - Introductory Q&A session, Navigating Chapter 3 & Navigating Chapter 4. Please reach out to us if you would like us to present to your stakeholders, staff or Board on any aspects of the changes.
Please contact (vharcourt@rk.com.au) or (acourtney@rk.com.au) if you would like our assistance.
If you would like to keep up to date with Alerts, news and Insights from our Aged Care Team, you can subscribe to our mailing list here.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this Alert is intended as general commentary only and should not be regarded as legal advice. Should you require specific advice on the topics discussed, please contact the firm directly.