The Aged Care Quality Standards (ACQS) outline the minimum expectations for safe, high-quality, and person-centred care under the New Aged Care Act 2024. There are seven standards. They cover everything from governance and clinical care to workforce qualifications and client dignity. Providers must demonstrate how they meet these standards through ongoing documentation, monitoring, and evaluation.
With these new standards, providers now need better tools- care management tools, Support At Home compliance software, invoicing, billing, etc., to manage team performance, client outcomes, and quality standards. Now’s the perfect time to revisit your standard workflows. Take a minute to assess which legacy systems, protocols, and templates you might need to retire.
Standard 1 – The Individual
Focus: Person-centred care, dignity, choice, and control.
Under Standard 1, you need to document each client’s care preferences, communication style, and goals in a format that’s easy for staff to access and update. The goal is to respect each participant’s preferences. Keep a record of consent forms, care agreements, and any communications in which the client exercises choice or control. Documentation shows you’re meeting legal obligations.
Standard 2 – The Organisation
Focus: Governance, risk, accountability.
Track internal governance with up-to-date documentation. You need to maintain clearly written policies and procedures that align with ACQS and your organisation’s internal compliance workflows. Make sure to use version-controlled records. You should save every policy update, risk assessment, and improvement plan with timestamps and version history to show continuous improvement.
Standard 3 – The Care and Services
Focus: Timely, safe, and effective service delivery.
Log care delivery in real time. You should record every task, whether completed, delayed, or missed, immediately. To prevent slip-ups, use automated alerts to scan for gaps. Your care management system should flag missed visits, overdue tasks, or unmet care needs.
Tip: Track frequency and timeliness. Having data on how often services are delivered and whether they meet care plan expectations is key to proving your agency’s reliability.
Standard 4 – The Environment
Focus: Safety and accessibility in the client’s home environment.
Keep digital records of home safety assessments. They should cover risks like fall hazards, poor lighting, or accessibility issues. Include checklists that can be timestamped and tied to each shift. Your caregivers can attach supporting notes or photos to prove compliance. If environmental modifications are made (like installing rails or ramps), document them clearly with notes and images to show you’ve followed through.
Standard 5 – The Clinical Care
Focus: Health outcomes, medication management, infection control.
Log clinical tasks and medication administration digitally. Every entry, e.g., wound care, medication reminders, or vitals monitoring, should have the appropriate timestamp. Store them in a secure database that you can easily reference anytime.
Also, keep updated health summaries. It’s crucial to note changes in condition, recent hospital visits, and treatment adjustments so that participants and their families can make informed decisions.
Standard 6 – Food and Nutrition
Focus: Nutrition support, preferences, allergies.
Record food preferences, allergies, and dietary restrictions directly in each client’s care plan. Your staff should have full visibility of them. Likewise, log and timestamp nutrition-related tasks, such as meal prep, feeding assistance, or fluid intake, for easy reporting. Documented progress notes should help you track nutrition outcomes better.
Standard 7 – The Residential Community
Focus: Belonging, inclusion, safety, and connection within residential settings.
Standard 7 primarily applies to residential aged care homes. It acknowledges the fact that the residential community a participant moves into will become a central part of their daily routine. Providers must foster a safe, inclusive, and respectful space that creates a sense of belonging.
To meet this standard, document how communal activities are planned and delivered, shared environments are maintained, and residents are supported. Your records should include real feedback.
Meet the Aged Care Quality Standards Smart Digital Tools
Although it’s crucial to adhere to regulatory standards, it shouldn’t take you away from your core operations. Instead of manually overhauling your workflow, look at options that support your operations with automating compliance tasks.
ShiftCare is an intuitive home care management software that brings scheduling, invoicing, medication management, and reporting under one platform. With in-built compliance tools purpose built for home care providers, translate daily actions into clear care objectives that meet the new standards.
Start a free trial today. See for yourself how ShiftCare can enable your team to transform hours of manual tasks to daily actions that take minutes.
