About the Agency
5th November 2004
The Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency is the independent body responsible for managing the accreditation and ongoing supervision of Commonwealth-funded aged care homes. Under the Aged Care Act, all aged care homes must meet accreditation standards in order to be eligible for Commonwealth funding.
Accreditation is a quality assurance process where the Agency checks that all homes meet 44 outcomes within four categories covering health and personal care needs, lifestyle, providing a safe and comfortable environment for residents, visitors and staff, as well as effective management and training for employees.
Our role in quality aged care is:
- auditing and accrediting aged care homes
- providing education to the aged care sector
- visiting homes to check that they are meeting the standards.
There are almost 3000 aged care homes in Australia. More than 90% have been accredited by the Agency for a term of three years. There are about 145,000 people living in Australian government-funded residential aged care homes.
Our vision is to make a significant contribution to quality consumer focussed care through accreditation and education.
Our mission is to:
- promote innovation and best practice
- accredit organisations that meet the standards
- work with clients to continually improve their service
- provide information about industry performance
- provide education directed at improving practice
- inform and educate.