Aged Care Amendment (Independent Complaints Arrangements) Act 2015: Commonwealth Transfer of Responsibility

In mid-October 2015 (13 October 2015), the Federal Government assented the Aged Care Amendment (Independent Complaints Arrangements) Act 2015 (No. 131 of 2015) which makes amendments to the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) (the Aged Care Act) to reflect the implementation of the 2015 Budget measure, Aged Care – Independent Aged Care Complaints Arrangements, under which responsibility for aged care complaints will be transferred from the Secretary of the Department of Social Services (the Secretary) to the Aged Care Commissioner.

Background to the Act

The Australian Government subsidises aged care services for older people who are no longer able to live independently in their own homes. The Aged Care Act and the associated Principles provide the regulatory, funding and quality framework for services including residential aged care, home care packages and flexible care programmes. The objects of the Aged Care Act include promoting a high quality of care and accommodation and protecting the health and well-being of those people receiving aged care. To this end, the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency (AACQA) accredits and performs quality reviews of aged care services while the Department of Social Services (DSS) is responsible for aged care ‘regulatory policy, compliance and enforcement’, as well as funding. Currently, DSS also operates the Aged Care Complaints Scheme (the Scheme).

Aged Care Complaints Scheme

The Complaints Principles 2014 (the Principles), which are made under section 96-1 of the Aged Care Act, provide a scheme for the management and resolution of complaints and other concerns about aged care services. Matters which may be dealt with by the Complaints Principles are set out in the Aged Care Act.

The Principles provide for the Aged Care Complaints Scheme which responds to complaints about Australian Government subsidised aged care services, including:

• residential care;
• Home Care Packages;
• the Commonwealth HACC (Home and Community Care) Program (which is in the process of being consolidated into the Commonwealth Home Support Programme); and
• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care.

According to the Bills Digest, the Scheme received 3,903 complaints in 2013–14. The majority of these (89 per cent) related to residential aged care. The issues most frequently complained about were health and personal care, consultation and communication, the physical environment, personnel and medication management.

Aged Care Commissioner

If a complainant or service provider is not satisfied with a decision or process of the Scheme, they can ask the Aged Care Commissioner to review that decision or process. The Aged Care Commissioner is a statutory office created under the Act. Currently, the Commissioner acts as an independent office of review that can examine complaints about:

• the decisions of the Scheme;
• the processes of the Scheme; and
• the processes of AACQA.

After a complaint has been examined, the Commissioner may direct or make recommendations to the Scheme, or make recommendations to AACQA. The Commissioner can also examine the processes of the Scheme or AACQA without receiving a complaint.

The Purpose of the Act

The purpose of the Aged Care Amendment (Independent Complaints Arrangements) Act 2015 (the Act) is to amend the Aged Care Act to transfer responsibility for aged care complaints from the Secretary to the Aged Care Commissioner (the Commissioner). This is intended to occur from 1 January 2016. The Bill also amends the Aged Care Act and the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency Act 2013 to change the name of the Aged Care Commissioner to the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner.

The Act was assented on 13 October 2015 and is yet to be proclaimed.

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Aged Care Amendment (Independent Complaints Arrangements) Act 2015 (No. 131 of 2015) and secondary materials as reproduced on TimeBase LawOne