1. Consumer Conversations and Aged Care Standards
We welcome the opportunity to meet with you today in partnership with The Lantern Group and the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency. Thank you to Jo Cleary and members for organising today and bringing everyone together.
Introductions of facilitators:
I am Ingrid Fairlie and Mary Goddard representing the Quality Agency today to share conversations today about what is important to you about quality in aged care.

2. Sharing a conversation with you today
Developing a guide to understanding aged care standards
A consumer voice in assessing quality
Today is a focus on you as consumers in seeking your views about information you feel is important to you. This includes things you may want to know about the draft standards of aged care and measuring quality of care and services.
This is to help the Quality Agency to develop guidance material for consumers to ensure you have the right information to make the choices that are important to you.

3. Who’s who in aged care? Consumers Department of Health
Australian Aged Care Quality Agency (or the Quality Agency)
Aged Care Complaints Commissioner
Aged Care Providers
Before I seek your views and feedback, I would like to provide a little bit of background of the organisations working across the aged care sector.
The Department of Health – oversees the management of Australia’s health system including the funding, regulation and setting standards for aged care services.
The Australian Aged Care Quality Agency or the Quality Agency – monitors and assesses the quality of care and services you receive and we measure these against aged care standards.
Aged Care Complaints Commissioner – investigates complaints from anyone about aged care services.
Your aged care provider is here today and they are responsible to ensure care is safe, meets your needs and they can demonstrate they meet the aged care standards

4. Monitoring the safety and quality of aged care
Australian Aged Care Quality Agency
We visit aged care services to ensure they are meeting standards
We deliver education to providers and others
We seek your views and experiences during our visits
When a provider fails to meet the standards, we monitor and support improvements
We visit residential aged care homes and the outlet locations of home care services at least once a year, sometimes more often, to check that providers continuously and consistently ensure and protect the safety, health and wellbeing of consumers. This includes assessing that providers undertake their practices and run their business so that standards of care and services are met.
We provide education for the aged care sector and others about meeting the standards and also to support improvement in an organisation’s systems and processes.
We seek feedback from consumers either during the visit in person or over the phone and we use this feedback to help us decide whether the care and services you receive meet your needs and the provider responds to your needs in meeting the standards. (Refer to handout of the Consumer Experience Report).
When the required standards aren’t met, we monitor the service until they improve and the standards are met, we must notify the Department of Health who may decide to take more immediate action.

5. Measuring the quality of aged care services through standards
Proposed draft single set of aged care standards
Ensures you, as the consumer of aged care services, are the focus
A focus on your needs, goals and preferences
Respects your rights, choices and dignity
Just like any product we use in Australia, we trust it is safe and the product meets certain standards. This is the same for the care and services you receive delivered through your aged care provider.
The Department of Health is improving the way in which care is measured by developing a new set of standards that will apply across all service types. These draft standards are focused on the outcomes for consumers such as you, places safety and quality as the foundation of requirements and ensures consumers have a voice, their choices and dignity respected. (handout sheet of draft standards).
The Department of Health worked with a Technical Advisory Group, the National Aged Care Alliance Quality Advisory Group and a small group of stakeholders representing consumers, aged care organisations and regulators from other jurisdictions.
The proposed introduction of a new set of standards will have minimal impact to consumers or others. The only change you may experience is a possible change in the information you receive from your provider and possibly more engagement with you about the care and services you receive. The future implementation of the proposed standards have no relationship with the funding you may receive or your security in continuing to receive care and services through your provider.
Today, we have four different standards which is complex for both providers and people receiving care to work out which ones apply. This includes the different expectations within each of these standards. Therefore, it is time for a change to bring in a single set of standards.
The Quality Agency is developing guidance for consumers to understand how the draft standards may be applied, measured and how they will achieve positive outcomes for consumers.

6. What does quality in aged care mean to you?
“There is no single or agreed definition of quality in aged care.”
There are key factors that influence quality:
Consumers as partners in making choices about care and services
Flexibility and support to take risks
Treated with dignity and respect
Reliability, confidence and trust
Time to reflect on what quality means to you. Last year the Quality Agency held a number of workshops with consumers about quality in aged care. It was concluded that there is no one definition of quality but it is about the factors that influence quality such as:
Supporting consumers to be partners in making choices about their care and services, providers being flexible and supporting consumers with their choices which may involve risk, ensuring consumers are treated with dignity and respect and that they have trust and confidence that services will be delivered reliably and consistently.
What are some key things you would like to share?

7. The eight draft standards and key concepts
I am treated with dignity and respect
I am able to make my own choices and decisions about the care I receive
The care I receive optimises my health and wellbeing
I experience a welcoming and culturally appropriate service environment
The organisation values my views as a partner in service planning and improvements
As today’s focus is on seeking your input to develop information and a guide for consumers, we will consider some of the key aspects of the standards. We have provided a handout of all eight draft standards if you wish to have a look in more details later. These are some of the key concepts of the draft standards.
(If there is time, the facilitator may reflect on the comments from the previous slide with the key concepts of the standards)
There are eight draft standards, they cover the following key areas:
Supporting consumers to have choice and control over their care and their identity is recognised and their dignity respected.
Three standards relate to assessment of needs and preferences; and the delivery of care and services
The service environment is included to ensure it is safe but also maintains consumer independence
There are standards for organisational leadership, governance and management of human resources and staffing
You may wish to provide feedback following this session about these standards.
The Department of Health is responsible for implementing these standards with consideration to implement in the second half of All other arrangements are still in drafting.

8. A consumer’s voice is vital in measuring the quality of care and services, therefore it is important we provide you with the right information to make informed choices.
We would like to hear from you what you feel is important to know about the quality of your aged care service. (Opportunity for open discussion within the timeframe allocated).
GO BACK to slide 7 so the key concepts of the draft standards are on the screen to support discussion.

9. For updates on the single aged care quality framework, visit the Department of Health website: If you would like to provide feedback to the Quality Agency, please Attention: Ingrid Fairlie