Aged care update: Provider operations reporting

5 minute read  01.08.2023 Penelope Eden, Benjamin Roe

As part of the recent aged care governance reforms introduced by the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment (Royal Commission Response) Act 2022 (Cth), approved providers are required to submit an annual statement addressing their compliance with their approved provider obligations and responsibilities.



Key takeouts


  • By 31 October 2023, residential, home care and transition care providers must provide certain information through the Government Provider Management System.
  • A Governing Body Statements Declaration will need to be provided to the Department of Health and Aged Care which will need to include diversity information, feedback and complaints information, governing body membership details, and ‘key personnel’ information.
  • Failure to comply with the reporting obligations could result in enforcement action by the ACQSC, and providing false or misleading information may lead to an offence under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

The Department of Health and Aged Care (Department) recently released the approved form for providing this statement, including the Governing Body Statement Declaration (GBSD) annual attestation, which is to be made by the ‘governing body’ of an approved provider. The statement will address the period of 1 July 2022 – 30 June 2023 (Reporting Period) each year and must be completed by 31 October 2023.

Reporting obligations for residential, home care and transition care providers

By 31 October 2023, residential, home care and transition care providers must provide certain information through the Government Provider Management System (GPMS), outlined below. including:

A Governing Body Statements Declaration: Approved providers are required to attest annually to their compliance or non-compliance with their responsibilities during the Reporting Period under the Aged Care Act 1997 (Cth) and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2019 (Cth). The GBSD must be signed by a member of the ‘governing body’.

The GBSD also requests that an approved provider confirm:

  • Whether or not the governing body of the approved provider believes the approved provider has complied with its responsibilities under the Aged Care Act 1997 and the requirements under the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2018 between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023.
  • If the governing body believes the approved provider failed to comply with one or more responsibilities under the Aged Care Act 1997 or requirements under the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2018, details of each responsibility or requirement that the approved provider failed to comply with; the reasons why the approved provider failed to comply; and actions that the provider has taken or will take to rectify the non-compliance.

However, the Department has not issued guidance in relation to the nature of enquiries or the evidence that should be procured to ensure the governing body of an approved provider is comfortable in completing the GBSD.

Diversity information: This includes whether the approved provider has representatives from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, disability, gender diverse and cultural and linguistically diverse communities. Initiatives to support a diverse and inclusive environment for care recipients and staff at each service must also be detailed.

Positive feedback and complaints received by each services in an approved provider: Approved providers will be required to provide 3 categories of positive feedback, complaints and improvements. This information will be published on ‘My Aged Care’.

Governing body membership: Information about whether the provider has a majority of independent members and a person with clinical experience on the governing body or whether the governing body has an exemption from this responsibility will need to be detailed (noting that providers who held approved provider status prior to 1 December 2022 need only comply with this requirement from 1 December 2023).

Key Personnel: Providers will be required to provide the name and role of an individual who holds an executive position with the provider, makes executive decisions and is willing to have their name and role published on the My Aged Care website.

The requirement to provide this information and complete the GBSD does not apply to short-term restorative care, multi-purpose services, Commonwealth Home Support Program providers or providers of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care.

The Department has released a number of resources to assist Providers in using the GPMS to report this information. These resources include a training video, a User Guide and FAQs guide.

Information provided may be published on the Department’s My Aged Care website through the ‘Find a provider’ tool, which is expected to be publicly accessible from January 2024. The Department has confirmed that there will be an ‘opportunity to preview your information before it is published’ on My Aged Care.

Approach to responding to non-compliance

For any non-compliance identified in the GBSD, approved providers must provide details regarding the non-compliance. Only non-compliance events that have taken place in the Reporting Period will need to be reported. Reasons justifying or explaining non-compliance will need to be provided, along with any action that have been taken to rectify the non-compliance. The specific service to which the event of non-compliance relates will also need to be specified. In the event that information provided in the GPMS or GBSD changes post-submission, providers will be able to contact the Department to note this change. However, there is no further guidance in relation to how any changes post-submission will be managed.

Consequences for failing to report by 31 October 2023

Failure to comply with these reporting obligations could lead to a enforcement action being taken by the ACQSC. Specifically, in the event that the individual of the governing body completing the GBSD gives false or misleading information or documents, this is an offence under Division 137 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which includes a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment.


Noting the importance of these changes, we anticipate that many providers will commence their preparations for providing this information to the Department as soon as possible. We are very happy to discuss any questions, or your approach to navigating these requirements.

Contact

Tags

eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJuYW1laWQiOiI4M2U2YTAwYy1hNDUwLTRkYjItYjI1NC0zZWM4MTRmN2RhNjEiLCJyb2xlIjoiQXBpVXNlciIsIm5iZiI6MTczMTI4NzM0MiwiZXhwIjoxNzMxMjg4NTQyLCJpYXQiOjE3MzEyODczNDIsImlzcyI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm1pbnRlcmVsbGlzb24uY29tL2FydGljbGVzL2FnZWQtY2FyZS11cGRhdGUtcHJvdmlkZXItb3BlcmF0aW9ucy1yZXBvcnRpbmciLCJhdWQiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5taW50ZXJlbGxpc29uLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlcy9hZ2VkLWNhcmUtdXBkYXRlLXByb3ZpZGVyLW9wZXJhdGlvbnMtcmVwb3J0aW5nIn0.zvS7p71eLmIk2BRhtEIrqYOyi_8s2fouN68fjn5ze28
https://www.minterellison.com/articles/aged-care-update-provider-operations-reporting