The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has published its third annual complaints report, Complaints about Aged Care – Year in Review (July 2023-June 2024), highlighting an uptick in grievances related to aged care services. The latest data, which covers thousands of complaints, reveals a 7% increase in complaints for residential care and a slight rise in home care complaints compared to the previous year.
In residential aged care, medication administration topped the list of concerns, representing 6% of complaints, followed by personal hygiene issues (5%) and staffing sufficiency (4%). In the home care sector, the most common complaint involved communication issues, accounting for 15% of grievances, with fees and charges (11%) and financial management (7%) also frequent concerns.
The Commission views complaints as a key source of intelligence, enabling the agency to assess and improve care standards across providers.
“The patterns and trends in complaints tell us where we need to target our monitoring and assessment of providers, holding them accountable for addressing older peoples’ needs and preferences.”
Aged Care Quality and Safety Commissioner Janet Anderson
The report also aims to guide providers on refining their complaints-handling processes.
Aged Care Complaints Commissioner Louise Macleod stated, “Complaints give people a chance to share their experiences and concerns about aged care services and show providers what is working well, what needs improvement, and what matters most to those using aged care in Australia.”
