New Ways of Working in Aged Care: Will You Be Ready for the 2025 Shift?

Starting November 1, 2025, the new Aged Care Act and Support at Home program will reshape how we deliver care. With individuals at the heart of the changes, this Act redefines the way care and services are provided, putting seniors first.

The new Toolkit released by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing ‘New ways of working in aged care’  showcases the key changes for aged care workers.  Whilst individuals are at the heart of aged care, it’s a collective initiative by the government and providers to make aged care a great place to work!

Key changes for aged care workers

The 5 main changes that will affect the aged care workforce under the new Aged Care Act:

• The Statement of Rights & Statement of Principles
  • Under the Statement of Rights, staff must have appropriate qualifications, skills and experience to provide services to individuals in a way that respects their decisions, wishes, preferences and needs. This is their right. 
  • Under the Statement of Principles, the aged care system will support providers and staff to deliver high-quality care and participate in governance and accountability requirements, including innovation and continuous improvement. 
• Worker Screening
  • The new Act will introduce robust worker screening checks to make sure staff are suitable to work in aged care.  
  • Changes to worker screening beginning from 1st November 2025 will most likely impact people working for Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) providers.
  • Broader changes to align aged care worker screening with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will not begin before mid-2026.
• Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards
  • The Quality Standards will include new focus areas such as food and nutrition, dementia and clinical care, diversity & governance
• Complaints
  • Under the new Act, employee expertise and feedback on quality aged care delivery will be recognised. The Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards will create an expectation that employers will listen to employee views.
• Whistleblower protections
  • Staff have the ability to provide feedback, file complaints or make whistleblower disclosures – all without fear of retribution or professional disadvantage.  This will apply if a staff member thinks someone has broken the law or is concerned about the quality of care being delivered

What should providers be doing now?

• Encourage staff to download, or make available to them, the Working in aged care booklet: Working in aged care – A guide for workers about the new Aged Care Act | Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
• Schedule time for staff to complete eLearning modules: eLearning for aged care workers and volunteers | Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
• Review policies and procedures to ensure compliance can be maintained under the new Act.

At Anchor Excellence, we are already working with providers to review governance, update policies and processes, and prepare teams for the new environment.

The team at Anchor Excellence are able to assist providers with training via Anchor Academy, policies via Anchor Policy and compliance via Anchor Assure.

Having strong systems in place now will mean you can focus on what matters most. We deliver safe, quality, person-centred care under the new Act.