In the June quarter, not one application to become a residential aged care provider was approved by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC), and only one application to become a home care provider received the go-ahead – despite 26 applications being lodged during the three-month period.
Some applications received during the quarter might be approved in subsequent quarters, but the approval rate is startlingly low.
For the entire 2022-23 financial year period, no residential aged care providers were approved out of 17 applications.
20 home care providers were approved over the year, out of 80 applications. However, the rate of approvals has fallen in the second half of the year – only two providers were approved from January to June 2023 (of 42 applications).
There was a spike in applications at the end of 2021, ahead of changes in November that required prospective aged care providers to pay a fee of about $10,000 to apply.
A spokesperson for the ASQSC told The SOURCE, “The volume of applications that are not approved reflects the high standards that applicants must be able to meet to be approved to provide care and services to older Australians.”
The SOURCE: It’s a positive that the regulator has such rigorous standards to assess prospective providers – but why is the standard of applications so low that the large majority are rejected, especially when consultants are often lodging applications?
