Aged care Star Ratings overhaul under fire
“Taking three years to implement a reform that could be commenced tomorrow is a slap in the face for older Australians.”
Aged care star ratings are being revamped – and not everyone is happy.
Dr Rodney Jilek, co-founder of dementia care provider Community Home Australia, has sharply criticised the Government’s planned revamp of the Compliance Star Rating for residential aged care, calling it “a slap in the face for older Australians who deserve transparency and honesty.”
Under the redesign, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission will audit aged care homes against the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards at registration renewal, grading each as conformance, minor non-conformance, or major non-conformance.
From 1 November 2025:
- Major non-conformance = 1 Star
- Minor non-conformance = 2 Stars
- 3 Stars requires all non-compliances to be resolved
- 4 Stars requires full conformance
- 5 Stars requires meeting new “exceeding” benchmarks
Any home with a Compliance rating of 1 or 2 Stars will have its Overall Star Rating capped at that level. Compliance ratings will update daily after regulatory decisions and fortnightly after graded assessments. Full transition will take up to three years as all homes are audited under the strengthened Standards.
Rodney says that timeline is indefensible.
“Taking three years to implement a reform that could be commenced tomorrow is a slap in the face for older Australians… The system should respond to any review, audit or investigation – not only when the Commission chooses to act.”
He also argues the redesign still risks masking poor performance, echoing his January 2024 analysis that found some non-compliant homes holding four stars.
Star Ratings still broken
From 1 November 2025, providers must also meet both total care minutes and Registered Nurse minutes to earn 3-plus stars on the Staffing rating. Rodney warns this remains based on unvetted provider-supplied data:
“There is no transparent way to ensure this data is being reported correctly.”
Introduced in December 2022 after the Royal Commission, Star Ratings have faced sustained scrutiny; the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Iain Anderson has said the scores aren’t “sufficiently meaningful,” and Department-commissioned reviews by Allen + Clarke and KPMG flagged inconsistencies and lagging updates.
