NATIONAL CAMPAIGN PROMOTES STAR RATINGS FOR AGED CARE
MEDIA RELEASE
18/November/2024
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN PROMOTES STAR RATINGS FOR AGED CARE
A national advertising campaign is underway to raise awareness of Star Ratings, a tool that helps older people be more informed as they start the journey into residential aged care.
By searching the MyAgedCare.gov.au ‘Find a provider’ tool, older people and their support networks can research and compare the quality, safety, and services on offer across residential aged care homes.
First introduced in December 2022, Star Ratings is a response to a critical recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, providing improved transparency and accountability on the quality of residential aged care homes.
Star Ratings is a key milestone in the aged care reforms and helps older people and their support networks to navigate the early stages of planning for residential aged care.
Based on performance, aged care homes receive a rating of between 1 and 5 stars – the more stars an aged care home receives, the better the quality, service and safety of care.
Star Ratings are informed by data collected by the Department of Health and Aged Care across a range of important areas including residents’ experience, compliance with obligations, staffing time and measures of quality across critical areas of care.
Star Ratings offers a nationally consistent method for providers to benchmark and monitor their performance over time and is a driving force in sector improvement. There is now less 1 and 2 star homes and more 4 and 5 stars homes, with 69 per cent of all homes rated as delivering good or excellent care.
An important indicator of the value of Star Ratings is the feedback from older people living in aged care. Insights collected in 2023 tells us that 96 per cent of residents felt safe in their aged care home, 95 per cent said staff treated them with respect and were kind and caring, and 85 per cent of residents said they would recommend their home to someone they know.
Campaign advertising is running until 28 December 2024 nationally across television, digital video, digital search and in medical centres and pharmacies. The campaign is supported by information and resources to help older people and their support networks access Star Ratings and commence their aged care journey.
To find out more about Star Ratings, visit https://www.health.gov.au/StarRatings/translated.
