What are Star Ratings for aged care homes?
Star Ratings help you compare the quality of aged care homes using the ‘Find a provider’ tool on the My Aged Care website.
What are Star Ratings?
All aged care homes receive an Overall Star Rating and a rating against four sub–categories:
- Residents’ Experience – a sample of 10 per cent of aged care residents are surveyed annually about their overall experience of their aged care home. Residents’ Experience makes up 33 per cent of the Overall Star Rating.
- Compliance – based on regulatory decisions by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission including compliance with the Aged Care Quality Standards. Compliance makes up 30 per cent of the Overall Star Rating.
- Staffing – the average amount of care time residents receive, based on care delivered by registered nurses, enrolled nurses, personal care workers and assistants in nursing, compared with the minimum average care targets set by the Australian Government. Staffing makes up 22 per cent of the Overall Star Rating.
- Quality Measures – based on information about five crucial areas of care, including falls and major injury, unplanned weight loss, pressure injuries, medication management and the use of physical restraint. Quality Measures makes up 15 per cent of the Overall Star Rating.
What do the stars mean?
Aged care homes receive Star Ratings between 1 and 5 stars.
- 1 star – ‘significant improvement needed’
- 2 stars – ‘improvement needed’
- 3 stars – an ‘acceptable’ quality of care
- 4 stars – a ‘good’ quality of care
- 5 stars – an ‘excellent’ quality of care.
How often are Star Ratings updated?
Star Ratings are based on the most recent available data and are updated at various times:
- Residents’ Experience Rating – updated annually
- Compliance Rating – updated daily
- Staffing Rating – updated quarterly
- Quality Measures Rating – updated quarterly.
The Overall Star Rating automatically recalculates when new data is available.
Why do we need Star Ratings?
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety highlighted the need for a simple and transparent way to compare the quality of aged care homes.
Star Ratings are based on measurable information about aged care home quality that is updated as new information is available.
Star Ratings delivers a range of benefits, including:
- transparency about the quality of care in all aged care homes
- an easy way to compare the quality of aged care homes using the free ‘Find a provider’ tool on the My Aged Care website
- nationally consistent quality measures to monitor, compare and improve residential care
- providers are supported to continuously improve their Star Ratings, improving the quality of care for residents.
Where do I find Star Ratings?
Star Ratings are available through the ‘Find a provider’ tool on the My Aged Care website.
Visit MyAgedCare.gov.au/find-a-provider or scan the QR code.
Phone 1800 200 422
(My Aged Care’s free call phone line)
Visit MyAgedCare.gov.au/find-a-provider
For translating and interpreting services, call 131 450 and ask for My Aged Care on 1800 200 422. To use the National Relay Service, visit nrschat.nrscall.gov.au/nrs or call 1800 555 660.
