Nearly six months after the New Aged Care Act took effect, the Australian aged care sector is navigating a period of significant uncertainty. A recent poll of 200 organisations conducted by Mirus Australia reveals that the vast majority of providers are still scrambling to meet the requirements of the new regulatory model ahead of their first official audits.
The data paints a picture of a sector under immense pressure. While the new legislation aims to lift standards across the board, the transition has proven to be a monumental task. According to the findings, a staggering 83% of providers admit they still have work to do before facing the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) under the new framework.
Despite the time elapsed since the Act’s commencement, true readiness remains elusive. The poll found that only 17% of providers feel “very prepared” and confident in their approach to their first audit. For the remaining majority, the situation is more precarious:
76% describe themselves as only “somewhat prepared” and are still refining their processes.
7% openly admit to being underprepared and not ready for a site visit.
78% of the sector has yet to undergo an audit or site visit under the new model, meaning the efficacy of their new systems remains largely untested.
Tyler Fisher, Head of Data and Insights at Mirus Australia, suggests that this lack of exposure is a primary driver of the current anxiety.
“Nearly eight in ten providers haven’t yet had an audit under the new model, and three-quarters are openly telling us they still have work to do going into their first one,” Mr Fisher said. “That’s not a confidence problem, it’s a readiness problem, and the two shouldn’t be confused.”
The difficulty for providers does not stem from any single regulatory requirement, but rather the sheer volume of changes. When asked to identify their biggest hurdle in working with the ACQSC, 67% of respondents selected “all of the above.”
This indicates that the operational load—spanning documentation, continuous improvement, complaints management, and daily care expectations—is stacking up simultaneously. For those who did nominate a specific primary challenge, documentation and continuous improvement (11%) and interpreting the definition of “good” under the new standards (10%) were the most common concerns.
Ben Sturzaker, General Manager of Product at Mirus Australia, noted that the industry is not necessarily resistant to the changes, but is searching for clarity.
“Providers aren’t pushing back on the regulation,” Mr Sturzaker said. “We’re hearing them ask for clarity around what ‘good’ looks like, what the Commission is focused on, and how we build the evidence to show it. It’s a gap worth closing on our own terms, before the Commission closes it for us.”
The findings arrive just as Mirus Australia prepares to host its upcoming webinar, The New Regulatory Model: Working with the ACQSC, on Thursday 30 April. The event aims to bridge the gap between compliance activity and actionable data, helping providers move from a state of “mostly confident” (59%) to fully prepared.
As Mr Fisher points out, the path forward involves integration. “The organisations we see getting ahead are the ones turning scattered compliance activity into connected data they can actually use. That’s where the confidence gap starts to close.”
With only 9% of providers currently feeling very confident in their total compliance, the coming months of ACQSC audits will be a critical litmus test for the Australian aged care industry.
