On 17 January 2024, The Weekly SOURCE reported on a study by Rodney Jilek, Managing Director of innovative dementia care provider Community Home Australia, titled 'The Failure of the Aged Care Star Rating System - A Discussion Paper'.
The report stated that residential aged care homes which fail to meet the Aged Care Quality Standards are achieving 4 or 5 stars on the Department of Health and Aged Care's system, which was introduced in 2022 and is a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Chris Baynes: ABC 7.30 Report opened a window of opportunity for village operators
CEO Community Home Australia
Rodney Jilek, who has 30 years' experience in aged care including as a compliance officer for the Government, told the ABC's 7.30 Report this week said he would not rely on the Star Ratings system if he was choosing care for a loved one.
"The systems that have been put into place to provide transparency to the general public are giving a deceptive picture of what is happening in aged care," he said.
Rodney gave the example of NSW Health's Wallsend Aged Care facility, 11km west of the Newcastle CBD. The home was rated 5 stars in November even though an Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission audit found on 1 November 2023 that the home failed all eight Quality Standards. Today, the home is rated 2 stars.
Homes that fail quality assessments are supposed to receive no more than 2 stars, yet Rodney's investigations revealed more than 300 aged care homes were not compliant with the standards but rated more than 2 stars.
The Star Ratings system was already facing scrutiny prior to the report.
In February 2024, the Department of Health and Aged Care awarded Allen and Clarke Consulting a $579,472 contract to conduct the 'Independent evaluation of Star Ratings for residential aged care'.
In May 2024, the Department awarded consumer analysis firm Fiftyfive5 a $330,000 contract to conduct market research of the Aged Care Star Ratings system.