New laws will compel all aged care providers to sign and conform to a single, strengthened Charter of Rights, under the Morrison Government’s latest aged care quality and safety reforms.
For the first time, providers will have to provide a personally signed copy of the Charter to every one of their residents and care recipients, at the same time giving them – or their authorised representative – the opportunity to co-sign the document.
“Together, we’re standing up for our most vulnerable senior Australians and we won’t tolerate anything less,” said Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Ken Wyatt AM.
“The co-signing makes providers’ commitments and obligations under the charter clear to clients, and ensures that clients are aware of their rights.
“The comprehensive new Charter covers 14 fundamental protections – from safe, quality care, to independence, information, personal privacy, control, fairness and choice.”
The Charter replaces and strengthens four previous charters that covered various forms of aged care, building on the Morrison Government’s new Aged Care Quality Standards which also come into effect from 1 July 2019.
It will underpin the new Standards which include mandated quality clinical frameworks, open disclosure to consumers and minimal use of restraint, while requiring providers to prove their care and services are safe, effective and consumer-focussed.
“Being treated with dignity and living without abuse and neglect are among the top tiers of the new Charter,” said Minister Wyatt.
“Both the Standards and the Charter will further empower the new Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, as it works with the aged care sector to protect senior Australians.
“This is all part of our Government’s unprecedented seniors and aged care agenda, including the recently announced elder abuse hotline and victim support trials.
“Rest assured, our reforms rollout will not stop, even as the Aged Care Royal Commission continues its critical work.”
The new Charter is concise and easy to read and will be available in a wide variety of languages. It was developed through broad consultation in 2018.
More than 550 public submissions were received, approximately 40 per cent from aged care recipients, their families and carers, and around 48% from aged care providers, staff and peak organisations.
Residential aged care services will have until 30 September 2019 to provide the signed Charter to their residents. Home care providers will have until 31 December 2019.
Details of the new Charter are available here.
Media contact: Nick Way 0419 835 449
Authorised by Ken Wyatt AM, MP, Member for Hasluck.
There has always been a charter to protect residents and providers. It was called Residents Rights and Responsibilities and it was very effective and clear to read.
Sadly the new arrangements only refer to a single residents rights when clearly residents responsibilities are crucial to communal living.
Without clear responsibilities we will have residents behaving inappropriately and disrupting their neighbours etc (due to their condition) and other residents will have much less protection than the present arrangements.
If a resident is disruptive or aggressive then how do other residents exercise their rights?
Clearly this is another poor decision by the liberal government, New Zealand did exactly what is proposed and it certainly didn’t help their system.
I like how there’s one set of rights, but just because they exist doesn’t mean they’ll be upheld (there has always been such rights) – how can they be upheld without minimum staff ratios, mandatory reporting of abuse, registration of all workers, reporting of critical incidents, chemical & physical restraints, plus the ability to lock people up with Dementia without a section 32 – how is any of this safe – if I had a relative I’d sue the organisation shortly after it was signed and ask – how is my relative safe without these considerations – please tell us Ken.
This is a poorly informed and worded Charter from an increasingly desperate Government. It over-rides and replaces a Charter that reflected both consumer rights and responsibilities- it now seems there are no responsibilities attributable to consumers. Was that intended Minister is it yet another example of “unintended consequences of knee-jerk regulation”? So now a consumer can abuse, threaten, assault or otherwise damage the health and safety of aged care workers and other customers with explicit approval of the Government? And that same Government prevents a provider from effectively doing anything about it through the infamous “Security of Tenure” tightrope. Yet again more bells and whistles instead of well considered policy. It’s an absolute disgrace but what else should we expect with over 127,000 consumers waiting in line for a care package….
I have to say this is providing a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist and a very poorly worded solution at that. The current rights AND RESPONSIBILITIES adequately covers a balanced approach and sadly the new rights are lacking this balance. I will certainly comply with the governments instructions with regards to rights but will now include responsibilities in the residential contract.
What about the rights of the care workers? Where is it documented that the consumers and their representatives are to treat care workers with respect and dignity?
Not to abuse, verbally and physically. Threatened, insulted for policy that is not their making.
One can only wonder if Mr. Hyatt’s appointment was one of tokenism rather than merit. The Charter of Rights is nothing other than a regurgitation of what was already there – motherhood blurb with no means of legal remedy or punishment if those rights are abused.
We have already seen the abuses of guardianship rules that have flourished with total impunity throughout this country by the government’s failure to legislate by legal statute the Principles and Guidelines of the United Nations Charter of Rights of People with Disabilities. How is this Charter any different?
There are no legal safeguards in place, there are no effective avenues of redress – so this paper tiger is not worth the paper it is printed on.
Until there is an advisory panel, consisting of independent carers at the grass roots level and service providers who inform and formulate these policies, then there will never be a worthwhile blueprint or policy implemented in this country to protect its most vulnerable citizens.
Politicians, bureaucrats, academics, public servant policy makers pretend to hear but they do not listen. If they did, we would not be confronted by worthless and ineffectual instruments which purport to provide protections for society’s most vulnerable.
On every level the Government has failed us. A few examples –
NDIS is a basket case,
home care packages are rorted by large numbers of service providers,
staff ratios are ignored,
protections for industry whistleblowers are still suffering retribution
home care packages are needles in a haystack
failure to lift calibre and qualifications of aged care workers and pay levels
failure to demand accountability and transparency when funding is granted
failure to regulate and demand higher standards of aged care institutions
I can only hope against hope that the Royal Commission into Aged care will once and for all expose the corruption, abuse and neglect that occurs in the aged care industry, the blame for which lies at the feet of the government bodies who intentionally failed to protect its citizens in favour of players in the” big business” of aged care. The Government does not come to the table with clean hands.
Resident responsibilities of residents and carers ( professional and family) are covered by WHS laws. These have been tested in WA and they supersede the rights of the individual.
Why are they changing something that isn’t broken?
As a result, it must create the necessary respect in any situation and take into account the policies required for the instructions given in relation to the contracts in order to be precise.
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Hello, can some one please tell me if I can manage my Homecare package ( level 2 ) or do I have to have a Home care provider do it for me ?