Aged Care Act: what your board needs
The Aged Care Act 2024 and the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards applied from 1 November 2025. If you sit on the board of an aged care provider, the useful question now is not what is coming. It is what your governing body has to see, decide and record, and how to do that without stretching your team.
This guide is for chairs, board members, CEOs and executives of aged care providers. It sets out what the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission says on its own pages, and the questions a board can ask. It is general information and not legal advice. Check the Commission's pages for your own registration category.
What changed on 1 November 2025
The strengthened Quality Standards are part of the Act. The Commission describes them as more detailed and measurable than the standards before them. There are 7:
- Standard 1: The individual
- Standard 2: The organisation
- Standard 3: The care and services
- Standard 4: The environment
- Standard 5: Clinical care
- Standard 6: Food and nutrition
- Standard 7: The residential community
Each Standard has an intent, an expectation statement, outcomes and actions. Providers are assessed against the outcomes. The Commission says the government will review the Standards every 5 years.
What the Commission says about governing bodies
The Commission's page on provider governance obligations says strong governance is a legal responsibility under the Act. It says providers must have governance arrangements that let them deliver safe, quality care, engage with older people about what matters to them, and comply with the Act and the Aged Care Rules 2025. The page covers these duties, among others:
- Membership. Providers registered in Category 5 (nursing and transition care) and Category 6 (residential care, including respite) must make sure their governing body has a majority of independent non-executive members and includes at least one member with clinical care experience. The page lists exemptions, so check whether one applies to you.
- Quality care advisory body. Providers in Categories 5 and 6 must have one. It must give the governing body a written report at least once every 6 months, and the governing body must consider it and tell the advisory body in writing how it did.
- Consumer advisory bodies. Providers in Categories 5 and 6 must write to the people they care for at least once every 12 months to offer to set one up. If a body exists, the governing body must consider its feedback and write back to explain how.
- Responsible persons. The Act treats board members and executives as responsible persons. The provider must assess their suitability at least once a year and notify the Commission of changes.
- Telling the Commission. Providers must notify the Commission of listed changes within 14 days of becoming aware of them.
- A yearly check. The Commission publishes a provider governance checklist to review your procedures at least once a year.
Questions a board can ask
- Which registration categories do we hold, and which governing body duties apply to us?
- If a duty depends on a minimum, such as independent members or clinical experience, can we show how our board meets it today?
- What does the board receive from the quality care advisory body, how often, and where do we record our response?
- When did we last write to the people we care for about consumer advisory bodies, and what did we do with the feedback?
- Who owns the yearly suitability check for responsible persons, and who watches the 14-day notice period?
- Which Quality Standard worries us most, and what would we want to see each quarter to know it is improving?
- Which of these answers would we rather not give an auditor, and what is our plan for it?
Where we can help
Our focus is strategy and leadership through regulatory change. We help boards and executives of aged care providers plan around what the Commission requires, test decisions, and keep growth sustainable. Preparing for accreditation or quality audits is not our focus. If that is mainly what you need, say so in your enquiry and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.
Start with a free 30-minute consultation
Tell us about your provider and what you want to change. Send your enquiry through the form on our home page, and please do not include details about the people in your care. You can also reach us on 0419 188 464 or at juleen@jtsempower.com.
Request a free 30-minute consultation
Read about our aged care strategic plan advice.
Questions
What did the Aged Care Act 2024 change for providers?
The Aged Care Act 2024 and the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards applied from 1 November 2025. The Commission describes the 7 strengthened Standards as more detailed and measurable than the ones before them.
What does the Aged Care Act ask of a provider's board?
The Commission says strong governance is a legal responsibility. Duties include board membership rules for providers registered in Categories 5 and 6, a quality care advisory body that reports at least every 6 months, an offer to set up consumer advisory bodies at least every 12 months, a yearly check of responsible persons' suitability, and notifying the Commission of listed changes within 14 days.
Do you help with aged care accreditation or quality audits?
No. Our focus is strategy and leadership. If that is mainly what you need, say so in your enquiry and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit.