An Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) review of 30 home care providers, conducted between April and June 2025, has identified the requirement to have a majority independent non-executive directors on the board as a key area of non-compliance.
The ACQSC regularly conducts targeted reviews to help providers understand their responsibilities, and to help the regulator itself identify risks and improve compliance across the sector.
The June review assessed:
- home care providers' Home Care Agreement processes,
- their compliance with Aged Care Quality Standard 8: Organisational Governance, and
- increased requirements for governing bodies.
In December 2023, new requirements for board governance took effect. At the time, in SATURDAY magazine, we predicted it could be difficult for some boards to comply, particularly with the requirement to have a majority of independent non-executive directors.
Regulator monitoring non-compliant providers
Deputy Commissioner of Regulatory Operations, Gary Rake, told The Weekly SOURCE, the regulator's review "found that most providers were compliant."
However, the ACQSC identified the "most common" areas of non-compliance, including:
- not meeting the requirements for preparing home care agreements, such as explaining their policies for setting home care package fees,
- not having a quality care advisory body that met the membership requirements, and
- not having a governing body that had a majority independent non-executive directors.
Gary said, providers "made the improvements needed" or "gave us assurance that they were in the process of rectifying the areas of non-compliance".
"The ACQSC continues to monitor these providers to ensure that they return to compliance.
"The reviews demonstrate how we work as a regulator. We are continually monitoring the sector to identify areas that need improvement. Where we find non-compliance, we work alongside providers as they make the necessary improvements. Our approach is as fair as possible and as firm as necessary, in that order."
The Aged Care Quality Standards will be replaced by the strengthened Quality Standards from 1 November 2025.
