Australia’s aged care star rating system, launched in December 2022 as a flagship reform post-Royal Commission, was designed to provide families with a clear, one-to-five-star guide to choose quality residential care.
Yet, during 774 ABC Radio Melbourne’s Care Squeeze Special on 30 June 2025, listeners slammed it as unreliable, likening it to “sticking the finger in the air.” New Aged Care Minister Sam Rae, in his seventh week, staunchly defended the system, claiming “significant steps forward” with 74% of homes rated 4 or 5 stars, a 36% increase since 2022.
Rae explicitly disagreed with criticisms, stating, “That’s not the advice that I’ve been getting.” However, expert reports and heartbreaking family stories reveal a system riddled with flaws, misleading families with inflated ratings and masking neglect.
With $143.8 million spent on a system experts call “rigged,” the government’s refusal to admit failure betrays vulnerable seniors.
A system built on deception
The star rating system grades facilities on resident experience (33%), compliance (30%), staffing (22%), and quality measures (15%), aiming to fulfill the Royal Commission’s call for transparency.
Rae championed its progress, noting, “We’re seeing the majority of residential facilities receiving 4 or 5 stars these days,” and insisted it allows “older people and their families to make informed decisions.”
Yet, listeners on Care Squeeze rejected this, with host Mary Gearin relaying texts calling the system “not up to scratch.” The criticism is backed by experts like Dr Rodney Jilek, who exposed Wallsend Aged Care in Newcastle holding a 5-star rating in November 2023 despite failing all eight quality standards. “It’s a joke,” Jilek said, citing a three-month data lag and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s reluctance to adjust ratings unless sanctions are imposed.
Real-world consequences
The human cost of these flaws is devastating. Rodney Reed, featured in a 2024 ABC report, chose Charles Brownlow in Victoria, rated 4 to 5 stars, for his wife Cath. Within a month, she lost seven kilograms and developed sepsis due to neglect.
Despite complaints and an investigation revealing multiple failings, the facility’s rating inexplicably rose to 5 stars. Similarly, Shaz Campbell’s mother, Diana Bourn, died after neglect at Queensland’s Merrimac Park, which retained high ratings despite 14 months of breaches.
Jilek’s March 2025 report found over 50% of non-compliant homes held 4-star ratings, with some at 5 stars, while the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s Annie Butler noted, “The bar must be set very low,” given the Royal Commission’s finding that one in three residents faced neglect or abuse.
A financial fiasco
The financial toll is equally alarming. The Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) spent $32.5 million on the system’s initial rollout, followed by $139.9 million on “improvements” in 2023-24, and $3.9 million on a glossy advertising campaign ending December 2024.
This $143.8 million dwarfs the $11 million annual budget of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, tasked with ensuring accountability. Yet, Rae’s claim that the system is “dynamic” and under “constant review” rings hollow when data lags and self-reported metrics invite manipulation.
Jilek’s April 2025 report called the system “rigged to make the aged care sector look better than it is,” a sentiment echoed by families who feel betrayed by high ratings that mask poor care.
A minister out of touch
Rae’s refusal to acknowledge the system’s flaws is particularly striking. When Gearin highlighted listener skepticism, he dismissed it, saying, “That’s not the advice that I’ve been getting,” and pointed to the Commissioner as a fallback rather than a proactive solution.
This defensiveness mirrors the DoHAC’s broader reluctance to admit failure, despite sinking $143.8 million into a system that misleads. The 2023-24 budget’s $139.9 million for “improvements” and the $3.9 million ad campaign, including a $657,000 contract with Ogilvy Australia, suggest a focus on optics over substance.
Jilek’s January 2024 report noted 501 facilities on the Non-Compliance Register, yet many scored 3 to 5 stars, as non-compliance only impacts ratings if sanctions are imposed, a step rarely taken.
Broader implications for reform
As the Aged Care Act 2024 approaches on 1 November 2025, with strengthened quality standards, the star rating system’s flaws threaten to undermine trust in broader reforms.
Rae’s insistence that “we have a system in place that assesses the quality of care being delivered” fails to comfort families navigating a system where 5-star ratings can coexist with neglect.
Until the DoHAC addresses data lags, enforces stricter compliance, and prioritizes transparency over spin, the star rating system will remain a costly mirage, leaving families like Reed’s and Campbell’s to bear the consequences of misplaced trust.
My loved one was in a 4 star facility but it had an Enforceable Understanding against it for serious non-compliance, and an Enforceable undertaking (EU)
This facility is still 4 stars.
A facility should automatically go back to 2 stars under such circumstances and ‘earn’ their rating back
The Minister is no doubt correct. His advisers are probably telling him that ‘everything is fantastic, Minister’. Whether it is great, the situation is in crisis, or it’s Sunday morning and he should be having a lie in, odds are the Minister has no idea in the world what is going on in aged care land. But then he doesn’t have to. It’s not his job. His job is to put out fires and make sure the government is not embarrassed. Just smile for the photo op, and tell everyone ‘nothing to see here folks’. That’s the way to get a more important ministry next time.
what a disappointment. Another minister failing to listen to the truth and investigate system failings. Wouldn’t it be good if we were privileged with a detailed breakdown of where the $148million dollars went. Only to bureaucratic systems and not into the quality of care or monitoring the quality and performance of those systems. I wonder where the “information” the minister was basing his answer on came from. Vested financial interests i suspect and not from user experience where it should be coming from. Of course he didn’t reveal his “source”.!!
Well, why wouldn’t we expect a comment like that from any govt. official. I wonder who Mr. Rae is listening to because it is not the people who need to access the system. The PR machine is alive and well.
I guess the evidence of experts like Dr. Jilek etc. and the evidence of those unfortunate people who have tragic lived experiences of a failed system have no value in Mr. Rae’s eyes. His comment “we have a system in place that assesses the quality of care being delivered” means that he either suffers from wilful blindness or is the poster boy for a severe IQ deficiency. The public servants and bureaucrats know better – n’est-ce pas!!!
If anyone expects the Aged Care Minister or anyone else in govt. to actually “get it right” then that expectation borders on the delusional. I just don’t think they are competent in project managing anything with a successful outcome. What has improved in all the decades of complaints and evidence of a failed system?
Whether it is cookie-cutter thinking or an inability to think carefully and creatively, it matters not, because the abysmal results are always the same and we are the ones who suffer. No need to wonder why politicians are on the down low of the totem pole in every respect.
Sadly, when you have a minister with no aged care experience or experience in the portfolio they have taken on, we will see a lot of ignorance. From a leader in the Residential aged care community, the 5-star rating is not a good assessment tool and needs addressing, not cover-ups.
Hello,
The aged and disabled are being abused i all areas and things need to be done but no authority wants to get involved and do anything. I live in an over 55’s village and the abuse of residents is horrific by the so called committees that are there to the benefit of the residents are there for their own benefit and power. We have just had new rules put out by the NSW Minister for Fair Trading. While the changes are good they don’t go far enough and relies too much on NCAT. I have proposed a Restorative Justice Program but it has not been acknowledged by the Minister though other agencies have. These include the Police who don’t want to have anything to do with these places and the Aged and Disability Commission. Things need to change.
THIS MINISTER, THE PREVIOUS MINISTER, THE PRIME MINISTER, AND, COMPLICIT POLITICIANS AND BUREAUCRATS are ALL OUT OF TOUCH.
These OUT OF TOUCH “offenders” will leave the UGLIEST LEGACY; the stain on the twilight years of Elder Australians.
Elder Australians HAVE contributed primarily as taxpayers, but also in previous years as unpaid carers, volunteers .
Elders DO NOT AGE WELL IN AUSTRALIA ; they are INCREASINGLY forced;by a shambolic system; into living in neglect, fear, and SQUALOR.
So Minister Sam Rae is just a token Minister; no backbone, prepared to listen to well paid cronies that should be ashamed of themselves for not wanting to admit or acknowledge that the rating system is misleading. He should have a look at some of the ‘meals’ served to the residents or how long is a resident left lying in soiled incontinence pants. The list goes on.
The star rating system in no way reflects our current system accurately with the quality and services being delivered to older people. The issues are many with a struggle with staffing numbers and also the the training and support offered to staff members. The fluffy quilt cover and water jug beside the bed have not cut it for a long time.
If these are part of the star rating system, we have such a long way to go. Respecting older people, valuing their contributions and roles within our communities is vital.
Are these homes still being told when an inspection is due.I k ow this what happened when a relative was working in a home in ,Adelaide.My relative said the home was grossly understaffed until an inspection was due and staff was hired to adequate levels.They were casual staff (unknown to the inspection team) and were put off after inspection.I asked my relative why the permanent staff didn’t go on my strike.Because the residents would suffer, she said.This went on every inspection plus many other things that were unaccceptable but because the owners were advised of the date of inspection, the inspection was pointless.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission conducts unannounced visits a few times a year; this means they don’t say they are coming, they just turn up and assess the care. I know this because I work in an aged care facility. Sadly, community is not the same.