Aged Care Quality Standards - Standard 5: Clinical Care
The Commission has developed guidance on clinical care components of the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards whose focus is to protect older people from harm and improve their clinical care.
New resources
2025Fact sheet or brochure
Aged Care Quality Standards and clinical care
The clinical care components of the Aged Care Quality Standards provide a nationally consistent statement on the level of clinical care older people can expect when receiving aged care. The Commission has been involved in providing input and guidance on the clinical care components of the Aged Care Quality Standards which are seen as integral to the delivery of high-quality and safe aged care.
Each standard has outcomes that must be met by providers of Commonwealth funded aged care services and describes a number of actions which are how providers might demonstrate achievement of the outcome. Standard 5 focuses on clinical care:
| Outcome | Actions |
|---|---|
| 5.1 Clinical governance | 5 |
| 5.2 Preventing and controlling infection in clinical care | 2 |
| 5.3 Safe and quality use of medicines | 6 |
| 5.4 Comprehensive care | 5 |
| 5.5 Clinical safety Including high impact and high prevalence clinical care risks: Choking and swallowing, Continence, Falls and mobility, Nutrition and hydration, Mental health, Oral health, Pain, Pressure injury and wounds, and Sensory impairment |
10 |
| 5.6 Cognitive impairment | 3 |
| 5.7 Palliative and end-of-life care | 4 |
The Commission drafted guidance to support implementation of Standard 5 for aged care providers. This is now published and maintained by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission as the regulator of aged care in Australia.
Resources on supporting better clinical care for older people
More information
For more information on the Aged Care Quality Standards and the aged care reform agenda, visit the websites of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing or the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.
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