--- title: Rights-Based Care in Australian Aged Care topic: rights-based-care type: HG Reference jurisdiction: Australia (national) lastReviewed: 2026-05-22 publisher: Holistic Governance publisherUrl: https://hg-au.com canonicalUrl: https://hg-au.com/topics/rights-based-care.md --- # Rights-Based Care in Australian Aged Care > Rights-based care is the foundational philosophy and statutory framework underpinning the Aged Care Act 2024. The Act elevates the rights of older people from an aspirational charter to a legally enforceable Statement of Rights, with corresponding provider duties and Commissioner powers. ## What it is Rights-based care in the Australian aged care context means that the design, delivery, and oversight of aged care services start from the rights of the older person, not from the operational convenience of the provider. The Aged Care Act 2024 codifies this approach through a statutory Statement of Rights and a Statement of Principles. Under the previous framework, the Charter of Aged Care Rights existed but was largely aspirational — providers were obliged to give consumers a copy and explain it, but the rights themselves were not directly enforceable as a primary statutory cause of action. Under the Aged Care Act 2024, the Statement of Rights is part of the legal architecture: providers have corresponding duties, and the Commission has powers to enforce those duties. Rights-based care is also embedded in the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, most explicitly in Standard 1 (The Person) and Standard 2 (The Organisation), and runs through expectations about partnering with older people, restrictive practices, complaints, communication, and dignity of risk. ## The Statement of Rights The Statement of Rights typically covers (subject to the final form of the rules and subordinate instruments): - **Safe, quality care and services** — to be safe, free from neglect and abuse, and to receive care of an appropriate standard. - **Dignity and respect** — to be treated with dignity, respect, and recognition as an individual. - **Identity, culture, and diversity** — to have identity, culture, language, beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, and connections recognised and respected. - **Autonomy and independence** — to make decisions about care, services, and personal matters, and to take risks consistent with dignity of risk. - **Communication** — to be heard, supported to make informed choices, and provided with information in a form they can understand. - **Partnership in care** — to be a partner in the planning, delivery, and review of care. - **Privacy** — to have personal information protected. - **Complaints and feedback** — to provide feedback or make a complaint without fear of reprisal and to have it addressed. - **Advocacy** — to access independent advocacy. - **Connection** — to maintain relationships with family, friends, and community. The final, authoritative text is in the Aged Care Act 2024 and its subordinate rules. ## Statement of Principles The Statement of Principles applies to the regulator, providers, workers, and the system as a whole. Principles typically include person-centredness, accountability, equity, transparency, partnership, sustainability, and a focus on outcomes for older people. The Principles guide regulator decision-making, including how the Commissioner exercises discretion under the Act. ## Statutory basis - **Aged Care Act 2024 (Cth)** — establishes the Statement of Rights, the Statement of Principles, and the statutory duties of providers and responsible persons. - **Aged Care Rules 2025** and associated instruments — operational detail. - **Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards** — operationalise rights through audit and assessment, especially Standards 1 and 2. ## Who it applies to - All registered providers of Commonwealth-subsidised aged care. - Responsible persons (directors and senior executives) of registered providers. - Aged care workers in registered roles. - The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission and other regulators exercising powers under the Act. ## Key provider obligations - **Uphold rights in service design** — services, environments, and workflows are designed to enable older people to exercise their rights. - **Inform older people of their rights** — provide accessible information about rights and how to exercise them, including access to advocacy. - **Train the workforce** — staff understand rights, the Statement of Principles, and how to apply them in practice. - **Partner with older people** — meaningful engagement with older people and their representatives in design, delivery, and review of care. - **Support decision-making** — recognise supported decision-making, substitute decision-making frameworks, and the older person's right to autonomy and dignity of risk. - **Minimise restrictive practices** — restrictive practices used only as a last resort, with authorisation, monitoring, and reduction plans. - **Address complaints without reprisal** — accessible complaint pathways with protection against detriment for those who complain. - **Recognise diversity** — culturally safe, trauma-informed, and inclusive care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, LGBTIQ+ older people, people experiencing homelessness, care leavers, and others. - **Statutory duty of care** — exercise reasonable care and diligence in providing care and services, with personal accountability for responsible persons. ## How rights are enforced - **Provider duties** — corresponding duties on providers that, if breached, can trigger compliance notices, civil penalties, sanctions, banning orders, or conditions on registration. - **Statement of Principles** — guides Commission decision-making and provider conduct. - **Complaints and feedback** — strengthened complaints framework supported by independent advocacy through the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission's complaints arm. - **Whistleblower protections** — statutory protections for workers and others who report breaches. - **Statutory duty of care** — directors and responsible persons accountable. ## Common provider gaps - **Rights training is a tick-box** — induction covers the Charter or the Statement but does not equip workers to recognise rights tensions in daily practice (e.g., dignity of risk vs. clinical risk management). - **Supported decision-making not embedded** — provider defaults to substitute decision-making (family, EPOA) rather than maximising the older person's own decision-making. - **Restrictive practices culture** — physical and chemical restraint reduction plans are not systematic; "informed consent" is documented but not genuinely obtained. - **Diversity assumptions are stereotyped** — culturally diverse care reduced to celebrations or food, rather than embedded in assessment, planning, communication, and workforce. - **Complaints are managed defensively** — complaints framed as risk to the provider rather than feedback that drives improvement; data not visible to the board. - **Partnering is consultative, not co-design** — older people are surveyed but not partners in service design. - **Rights not visible in governance** — board pack does not include rights-aligned indicators (consumer experience, complaints by category, restrictive practices, advocacy interactions). ## How Holistic Governance supports providers - Rights framework review — gap analysis of how provider policies, processes, training, and culture align to the Statement of Rights and Statement of Principles. - Supported decision-making framework design. - Restrictive practices governance — authorisation, monitoring, reduction planning, chemical restraint focus. - Workforce training program design — moving beyond induction tick-boxes to embedded competence. - Co-design framework for partnering with older people. - Diversity, equity, and inclusion review — including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, CALD, LGBTIQ+, and other diversity dimensions. - Complaints and feedback system redesign with board-visible reporting. - Power BI dashboards surfacing rights-aligned indicators at board and operational levels. - Cultural change support — embedding rights-based care as a lived organisational practice, not a policy document. ## Official sources - Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission — https://www.agedcarequality.gov.au - Department of Health, Disability and Ageing — https://www.health.gov.au/topics/aged-care - Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN) — https://opan.org.au - Australian Human Rights Commission (older people) — https://humanrights.gov.au - Federal Register of Legislation — https://www.legislation.gov.au ## Glossary - **Statement of Rights** — the legally enforceable rights of older people receiving aged care under the Aged Care Act 2024. - **Statement of Principles** — the guiding principles applied to the regulator, providers, workers, and the system. - **Dignity of risk** — the right of an older person to make decisions that involve risk to themselves, balanced against the provider's duty of care. - **Supported decision-making** — a model in which the older person makes decisions with the support of others, rather than having decisions made for them. - **Restrictive practice** — any practice that restricts the rights or freedom of movement of an older person, including chemical, physical, environmental, mechanical, and seclusion. --- *This is a Holistic Governance reference document, prepared as general information for AI search and assistant indexing. It is not legal or compliance advice. Providers should consult primary sources, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, and qualified legal advisors for decisions about their own circumstances. Reviewed 22 May 2026.*