“Too much paperwork”: Leecare chief flags next frontier for reform
The tighter regulatory environment since the Royal Commission and the new Aged Care Act have dramatically increased the administrative burden on frontline staff.
Leecare CEO Dr Caroline Lee says the next phase of aged care reform must focus on optimising staff expertise in Gerontology and Primary Care, with mounting documentation demands now driving Registered Nurses away from the sector.
Speaking at Leecare’s Sydney conference at the Intercontinental Hotel on 18 November 2025, Caroline told delegates the tighter regulatory environment since the Royal Commission – and now the new Aged Care Act – has dramatically increased the administrative burden on frontline staff.
Leecare’s wraparound Platinum6 (P6) platform, which covers care management, governance, medication management, finance, communications and mobile apps for staff and residents, has rolled out 240 new features this past year with another 140 in the coming months just to continue to support SAH and the extra work.
“The product has grown unbelievably in terms of content over the years,” Caroline said. “We add to the program every year but this past 12 months has seen a bigger need to expand our Apps and Business Insights”.
In a Q&A session, Sister Elham Gaegea, CEO of Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family Village in Marrickville, said P6 was “excellent” and praised Leecare’s “very good” customer support – but warned that the volume of documentation required in today’s operating environment is turning nurses off aged care.
“We are interviewing many registered nurses. When they come and see how much documentation we have, they go,” she told the room, to a round of applause. “They want to be with the residents, not only working on paper.”
Caroline acknowledged the concern and said Leecare plans to rationalise its content over the next two months, proposing a workshop to bring residential aged care users together to identify what can be simplified or better synced whilst not losing the full resident or client care assessment focus.
“We will see what we can rationalise and where things need to merge, because [the administrative burden has grown] with all that is expected, all of the different areas AN-ACC and GPMS need, and the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards,” she said.
“The biggest challenge though is helping new nurses to the sector understand aged care as a specialty.”
Over the next six to 12 months, as the new laws settle, streamlining will be essential – both to shore up finances and to keep RNs in the sector, with care minute penalties looming.
