Aged care’s Single Assessment System ‘failing targets’: Dept

Deep within the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s 417-page Annual Report 2024-25 lie worrying details on its Single Assessment System (SAS).

The Government’s goal is for 90% of aged care assessments to be completed within target timeframes – yet the new system is falling far short of that mark.

For Comprehensive Assessments, which require clinical input, conducted in the community:

• Only 32.5% of High Priority Assessments were completed within the target timeframe of 10 calendar days of referral acceptance;
• 71.9% of Medium Priority Assessments were completed within 20 days; and
• Just 50% of Low Priority Assessments were completed within 40 days.

Home care assessment also missed targets more than 30% of the time. By contrast, hospital-based assessments met or almost met their target timeframes – exposing a widening gap between in-hospital and community performance.

Introduced last December to streamline and simplify aged care access, SAS has instead run into staffing and training shortfalls – particularly among new assessment organisations conducting clinical assessments in the community — causing blowouts of up to nine months in some cases.

Consumers are waiting up to nine months to be assessed – four times the 40-day target, with some are falling through the cracks altogether.

To clear backlogs, assessment bodies are increasingly directing cases to be handled online rather than in-person. The Department’s report confirms it is taking a “flexible approach” to enforcing KPIs, including in-person visit requirements, until December 2025.

In a bid to stabilise quality, a new Quality Assurance Program will see independent assessors “shadow” contracted assessors to ensure Support Plans are accurate, consistent and fit-for-purpose.

Even so, the Department warns of further disruptions ahead as the system adapts to the new Aged Care Act — suggesting delays may persist well into 2026.

Read the Annual Report in full here.