This is a concept website · Enquire about this domain

Home Care Services

The aged care system at home, step by step

Home Care Services, all six tabs

Tab 6 · Your rights

Rights under the Aged Care Act

The Aged Care Act 2024, which started on 1 November 2025, includes a Statement of Rights setting out what older people should expect when seeking or accessing government-funded aged care. It replaced the Charter of Aged Care Rights, and providers must understand and follow it.

General information, not legal advice. The official places to check are the Department’s rights fact sheet, which reprints the Statement of Rights in full, and the Act itself.

Where the rights come from

Parliament passed the Aged Care Act 2024 on 25 November 2024 to be the new law governing aged care funded by the government, and it started on 1 November 2025, alongside Support at Home. It replaced the Aged Care Act 1997 and two related Acts.

The Department explains why: the Royal Commission into Aged Care found the previous Act was no longer fit for purpose, because it was built around providers and the way they are funded, not around the people who use the services. The Department calls the new Act rights-based, saying it places older people who need aged care at the heart of the system.

The Statement is section 23 of the Act. The Department’s fact sheet summarises it under seven headings and prints the full text at the end. Below, each group sits in its own sleeve, with the fact sheet’s summary, put in this guide’s own words, beside short extracts from the section itself.

  1. Independence, choice and control

    In plain words

    The right to decide things for yourself and to control which funded services you use, how you get them and who provides them, as well as your own money and belongings, with help to make those decisions if you need it. Also the right to live the way you choose, even where that carries some personal risk.

    In the Act

    “exercise choice and make decisions that affect the individual’s life” … “take personal risks, including in pursuit of the individual’s quality of life”

    Section 23(1)

  2. Fair access

    In plain words

    The right to a fair and accurate assessment, done in a way that respects culture and background, personal experience and any trauma, and cognitive conditions such as dementia; and the right to the care needed when it is needed, including palliative and end-of-life care.

    In the Act

    “accessible and suitable for individuals living with dementia or other cognitive impairment” … “palliative care and end-of-life care when required”

    Section 23(2)

  3. Safety and quality

    In plain words

    The right to safe, quality and fair services that treat you with dignity and respect, are free from violence, abuse and neglect, and come from workers with the right training, skills and experience and from providers that meet every condition the aged care laws set.

    In the Act

    “be treated with dignity and respect” … “be free from all forms of violence, degrading or inhumane treatment, exploitation, neglect, coercion, abuse or sexual misconduct”

    Section 23(3) and (4)

  4. Respect for your privacy and information

    In plain words

    Your provider must respect your privacy, protect your personal information, and let you decide when it may be passed to someone else, such as an advocate or a lawyer. You are entitled to records and information about your rights and your services, including their cost.

    In the Act

    “seek, and be provided with, records and information about the individual’s rights … and the funded aged care services the individual accesses, including the costs of those services”

    Section 23(5) and (6)

  5. Communication that meets your needs

    In plain words

    The right to information in a way you understand, to give feedback, and to communicate in the language or method you prefer, with interpreters or communication aids if needed.

    In the Act

    “communicate in the individual’s preferred language or method of communication, with access to interpreters and communication aids as required”

    Section 23(7) and (8)

  6. Support to raise issues quickly and fairly

    In plain words

    When something goes wrong with your services, the right to support from your provider, to complain without fear of being punished, and to a quick and fair response.

    In the Act

    “make complaints using an accessible mechanism, without fear of reprisal” … “have the individual’s complaints dealt with fairly and promptly”

    Section 23(9)

  7. Support and connection with people and community

    In plain words

    The right to support from an advocate or another person you choose, and to have the role of the people important to you respected. The right to stay connected with those people, your community and your pets; for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with community, Country and Island Home.

    In the Act

    “be supported by an advocate or other person of the individual’s choice” … “stay connected … with significant persons in the individual’s life and pets”

    Section 23(10) to (13)

What the Act asks of providers

According to the Department, the Act enforces providers’ and workers’ obligations through:

  • registration conditions, including that a provider shows it understands the Statement of Rights and has practices in place so its services are compatible with it
  • the Code of Conduct for Aged Care
  • the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards
  • systems for managing complaints and disclosing information

Help with decisions: registered supporters

The Department’s explainer says a registered supporter is someone the person trusts, like a family member or friend, who can help them make their own decisions, communicate the decisions they make and receive copies of their information. People they trust can still help without being registered, and having a supporter does not stop the person doing something themselves.

Someone who is not an active, appointed decision-maker for the person needs the person’s consent to be registered as their supporter, and every supporter must declare, and avoid or manage, any conflict of interest. The steps are on Tab 1.

If rights are not respected

The fact sheet says that if a provider does not follow the Statement of Rights, a complaint can go to the Complaints Commissioner, online, by phone or by letter, through the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Tab 5 sets out how.

Help to make a complaint or find information: OPAN1800 700 600The fact sheet describes OPAN’s advocates as free and confidential.

For anyone who feels unsafe in aged care, the fact sheet says free support is available from lawyers, social workers and other specialists, and points to the Attorney-General’s Department for information on protection against elder abuse.

The fact sheet itself says it is a plain language summary and not legal advice. So is this page.

Further back in the folder