The proposal would:

• implement the following components relating to recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (the Royal Commission), with the specified start dates
• help deliver better aged care services for seniors from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds.

Component 1 – Increase aged care carer hours

• From 1 October 2022, the minimum staff time standard should require approved providers to engage registered nurses, enrolled nurses and personal care workers for at least 200 minutes per resident per day for the average resident, with at least 40 minutes of that staff time provided by a registered nurse.
• From 1 October 2024, the minimum staff time standard should increase to require approved providers to engage registered nurses, enrolled nurses and personal care workers for the average resident for at least 215 minutes per resident per day for the average resident, with at least 44 minutes of that staff time provided by a registered nurse.

Component 2 - Increase working hours of a registered nurse onsite

• From 1 July 2023, provide funding to have at least one registered nurse onsite per residential aged care facility at all times. A registered nurse that is onsite 24/7 may contribute to carer hours as needed, but is a separate requirement to providing the minimum carer hours for residents.

For the 2 components above:

• The minimum staff time standard would be linked to the casemix-adjusted activity-based funding model for residential aged care facilities. This means that approved providers with a higher than average proportion of high-needs residents would be required to engage additional staff, and vice versa.
• Approved providers of residential aged care facilities would need to meet a minimum staff time quality and safety standard. This requirement should take the form of a quality and safety standard for residential aged care. The minimum staff time standard should allow approved providers to select the appropriate skills mix for delivering high quality care in accordance with their model of care.
• Approved providers would be able to apply to the System Governor for an exemption from the quality and safety standard relating to staff skills mix, but not the standard relating to numbers of staff. Any exemption should be granted for a limited time, and details of the exemption should be published on My Aged Care. 
• The Australian Government would mandate and absorb 100% of the cost of residential aged care mandatory staffing requirements.

Component 3 – General duty to provide quality and safe care

From 1 January 2023, implement Recommendations 14, 101 and 102 from the Royal Commission, which relate to establishing a general duty of care and associated penalty and compensation regimes. This component would be implemented as part of the new Aged Care Act and is due to become active from July 2023.

• In addition to the civil penalties included in Recommendation 101, an additional regime of criminal penalties would be included for the most serious breaches to the general duty.

Component 4 – Home care fee reporting

From 1 October 2022, implement Recommendation 124 from the Royal Commission which would mandate standardised reporting statements on services delivered and costs in home care.

Component 5 – Home care fee caps

From 1 January 2023, introduce caps to the administration fees charged by home care providers to home care package holders.

• The exact figure for these caps and implementation timeline would be determined by the Government after the 2022 Federal Election.

Component 6 – Reporting on care minutes

From 1 January 2023, implement Recommendation 122 from the Royal Commission relating to the reporting of minimum staffing hours. In addition, aged care providers would be required to report against clear categories of what constitutes ‘care time’, as referred to in Recommendation 86.

Component 7 – Provider reporting on expenditure

From 1 January 2023, require all aged care providers to provide a breakdown of their expenditure into broad top-level categories as part of the Aged Care Financial Report. The Department of Health would publish this breakdown on the My Aged Care website.

• No additional resources would be provided to aged care providers or the Department of Health to manage this process.

Component 8 – Ensure the Quality Regulator is fulfilling its role

• Implement a capability review of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) under Recommendation 104, excluding Section 2, with an earlier start date of 1 July 2022.
• Implement Recommendation 105 from 1 December 2022.

These recommendations relate to conducting a capability review of the ACQSC and increased transparency regarding its performance.

Component 9 – Fast track an improved complaints process

From 1 July 2022, implement Recommendation 98 which relates to setting up an improved complaints process and complaints commissioner.

• The Complaints Commissioner will be appointed under interim arrangements by the end of 2022 and in due course established formally under the new Aged Care Act, expected to come into effect in July 2023.
• In addition, the new Aged Care Act will include civil penalties for providers and workers that have taken retaliatory actions against aged care users who have made formal complaints.

Component 10 – National Registration Scheme

From 1 July 2023, implement Recommendation 77 – National Registration Scheme from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (the Royal Commission) which seeks to establish a national registration scheme for the personal care workforce, with the following alterations:

• Exclude Section 1a, which would stipulate a mandatory minimum qualification of a Certificate III.
• Exclude Section 3, which would propose the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) examine professional regulation of personal care workers under National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) requirements.

The response to Recommendation 77 would be implemented by 1 July 2023, instead of 1 July 2022.

Component 11 – A pay rise for aged care workers

Provide funding for pay rises for aged care workers. The level of pay rise is subject to the decision by the Fair Work Commission.

Component 12 – Develop and implement mandatory nutrition standards

Provide $2.7 million in 2022-23 and $2.6 million in 2023-24 to develop and implement mandatory nutrition standards for aged care homes.

Component 13 – Funding for CALD aged care centres

Provide $20.8 million over 2 years from 2022-23 to help deliver better aged care services for seniors from CALD backgrounds.