Commencing home decisions
What is a commencing home decision?
The decision to accredit or not to accredit a commencing home is made by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency Ltd. Each decision is made by an authorised decision-maker, on its merits and in accordance with the Accreditation Grant Principles 1999.
A decision is made within 14 days of receiving and deciding if an application is valid.
Information on commencing home decisions is confidential until the report is published on our website.
What is considered when making a decision?
When making a decision, the following documents and information are considered:
- the contents of the application (self-assessment)
- the assessment team’s recommendations
- information (if any) received from the Department of Health and Ageing (DHA)
- additional information provided by the approved provider
- whether the decision-maker is satisfied the residential aged care home will undertake continuous improvement, measured against the Accreditation Standards.
Can the decision-maker come to a different view to that of the team?
The decision-maker sometimes comes to a different conclusion to that recommended by the assessment team. Where this occurs it is usually due to changes occurring at the residential aged care home after the assessment team completes the review of the residential aged care home’s application. Generally, the decision-maker also has other information about the performance of the residential aged care home to consider such as additional information from the approved provider.
How long is the accreditation period?
Commencing homes are accredited for 12 months. Once a residential aged care home has been accredited, the approved provider is required to maintain compliance with the Accreditation Standards and undertake continuous improvement in providing care for residents.
What happens after the decision is made?
Once the decision is made, a copy of the decision is sent to the approved provider.
A plan for continuous improvement must be sent to us after a commencing home decision. The plan builds on the residential aged care home’s own plans for improvement and includes any required improvements we have identified.
We send a certificate of accreditation to the residential aged care home within a month of the decision for a commencing homes.
A support contact is scheduled within one to two months of residents moving into the residential aged care home. Commencing homes receive at least one unannounced visit during the first year of operation.
Towards the end of the accreditation period, the approved provider needs to apply for a further period of accreditation for the residential aged care home. A major component of re-applying for accreditation is the self-assessment process, which is a valuable way to evaluate the performance of a residential aged care home and its care for residents during its first year of operation. For information on the process for reapplying for accreditation for existing residential aged care homes, go to Accreditation site audits.
Can the decision be appealed?
In certain cases decisions can be reconsidered (by us) or reviewed/appealed (by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal). For details about reconsiderations and appeals about decisions, refer to the information sheet on Reconsiderations and appeals.
What is publicly available?
Decisions about accreditation of commencing homes are made available on our website. To access a report go to Reports on homes.
