The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety raised concerns about the quality and lack of communication between older Australians in residential aged care and their care providers.

To improve communication, the department is introducing a requirement for residential aged care providers to give residents or their representatives Monthly Care Statements. These statements summarise the care that the resident received over the previous month along with information about any changes in their health and wellbeing, what medications they have been taking and details of any appointments. The intention of the statements is to give residents a record of their care and to inform conversations about care planning. Service providers have been encouraged to take part in a voluntary trial of the Monthly Care Statements for their residents that started on 1 October 2024.

The department engaged AHA to interview some of the residential aged care providers who are participating in the Monthly Care Statements voluntary period. The aim of these interviews was to better understand:

• the process used by aged care providers to generate and deliver the statements to residents or their representatives
• how residents’ consent and privacy considerations were managed
• how residents, their representatives and staff have received the introduction of Monthly Care Statements.

AHA submitted a succinct summary of the findings from these interviews to the department in late July along with feedback from the various groups involved and suggested improvements. This information will help to inform how the department introduces Monthly Care Statements as a mandatory requirement for residential aged care providers.