This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The federal government will set up a powerful new watchdog as part of an overhaul of Australia’s aged care system.

After a string of scandals at nursing homes around the country, the minister for aged care, Ken Wyatt, will on Wednesday unveil a plan to merge a number of agencies into a new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

“The unified new commission will be a responsive one-stop shop to prevent failures and highlight quality concerns and have them quickly rectified,” Wyatt told News Corp.

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“Our senior Australians have built the nation that we enjoy today. They have rightly earned the respect of the community and must be cared for with the dignity they deserve.”

Wyatt said visiting facilities right across Australia he had met staff who are compassionate and caring. “But there are some bad apples in the mix,” he told Channel Nine, citing the closure of five centres which did not meet standards.

“I am not going to tolerate providers who do not meet what is required both within legislation, regulation and in terms of quality standards.”

The minister said he was concerned to discover that people could do a six-week online training course and become a personal care assistant.

Asked whether he would mandate staff ratios in aged care facilities, like childcare centres, Wyatt said that wouldn’t be sufficient staff for small country towns or remote Aboriginal communities.

He also noted that mandating ratios in childcare had increased the costs for families.

A serious incident response scheme will also be set up to handle reports of abuse, breaches of standards and disease outbreaks. “Risks to senior Australians will be investigated promptly and care failures identified faster,” Wyatt said.

The peak body for older Australians, the Council of the Ageing, welcomed the announcement and said it was another significant step towards better monitoring.

“These are welcome steps towards rebuilding confidence that older Australians will receive safe and appropriate care,” said the council’s chief executive, Ian Yates.

The new regime will be in place by 1 January.



One of the incidents that sparked the overhaul was the scandal at Adelaide’s failed Oakden nursing home.

An inquiry by the independent commissioner against corruption, Bruce Lander, followed a report from South Australia’s chief psychiatrist, which revealed failures in clinical governance at Oakden as well as rough handling of patients, excessive use of restraints and a high level of injuries.