The My Aged Care website and contact centre is the gateway through which Australians can learn about and apply to access government-funded aged care services.

Consumers can search for a local aged care provider that offers the care they need using the My Aged Care Find a Provider tool. Within the Find a Provider tool, providers can indicate whether they specialise in caring for people from 9 different Special Needs Groups (as defined in aged care legislation). These groups include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI); and care leavers. The recent Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety heard criticisms of the accuracy of information displayed through the Find a Provider tool, and the lack of processes in place to verify and monitor provider entries.

AHA was engaged to review current processes and guidelines for nominating Special Needs Group specialisations on My Aged Care, and to develop a specialisation verification framework the department can implement to ensure the accuracy of specialisation claims.

Following an initial environmental scan and literature review, AHA conducted interviews and focus groups with representatives of Special Needs Groups and other aged care stakeholders. The purpose of these discussions was to explore the current arrangements for selecting and verifying specialisations, and to elicit participants’ views on what a validation framework could include. This work was complemented by an online survey of aged care service providers. The surveys were designed to:

• test awareness of existing specialisation guidelines
• explore barriers and enablers to nominating specialisations
• identify opportunities for improvement.

Together, these findings were used to develop a draft specialisation verification framework.

From here, AHA tested the feasibility of the draft Framework with representatives of Special Needs Groups, and assessed the useability of the framework with providers.

The department subsequently engaged AHA to assess providers’ specialisation claims based on the finalised Framework. The Framework and verification process will provide consumers and their families with greater assurance that aged care providers claiming to specialise in caring for consumers from Special Needs Groups are equipped to meet the unique care needs of these groups.