Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

What Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission does

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) is the Australian Government's national rights-based regulator of Commonwealth-funded aged care services, established in 2018 and headquartered in Parramatta, NSW, with 501-1000 employees. It operates under the Aged Care Act 2024 (commenced 1 November 2025), which replaced the previous 1997 Act and conferred expanded statutory functions, including independent Commissioner oversight reporting directly to the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors. Core service lines include complaints handling via a national helpline (1800 951 822), provider registration and renewal, audit and inspection against the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, the Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS), compliance and enforcement (including banning orders and enforceable undertakings), the Food Nutrition and Dining Hotline, clinical governance support, and education and training programs. The technology stack centres on a Provider Information Portal for registration and compliance submissions, a real-time complaints management dashboard, a Digital and Data Strategy 2026-2029 covering AI governance and cybersecurity, and accessibility features including ReadSpeaker text-to-speech.

As a Commonwealth statutory authority, the Commission is funded through government appropriations rather than consumer fees; the only revenue-like mechanism is cost-recovery provider registration fees. It maintains ISO 9001:2015 certification, ISQua institutional membership, and IEEA surveyor training accreditation, and has signed inter-agency MoUs with Ahpra, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, OPAN, the Office of the Inspector-General of Aged Care, and multiple state health complaints commissions. Its primary "customers" are the Australian older people it protects and the registered aged care providers it regulates, with engagement delivered through a national website, a multi-channel complaints hotline, sector performance reporting, and the annual National Aged Care Provider Conference.

Name

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

Legal name

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

Website

https://agedcarequality.gov.au

Company type

Public

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is Australia's national rights-based regulator of Commonwealth-funded aged care services, protecting older people through complaints handling, provider registration, quality standards compliance, and enforcement under the Aged Care Act 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aged Care Regulation

NAICS

Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (62412)

SIC

Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050)

akta.pro primary industry

Elder Services & Aging Support (BPAGAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Care Navigation & Service Coordination (Medical, Social, Community) (HSABAIAB)

Keywords

• Aged care regulation
• Quality standards compliance
• Provider registration
• Complaints resolution
• Serious incident reporting

Headquarters

HQ city

Parramatta

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is Australia's national rights-based regulator of Commonwealth-funded aged care services, operating under the Aged Care Act 2024. It delivers regulatory services including complaints handling, provider registration and renewal, compliance monitoring against the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, the Serious Incident Response Scheme, clinical governance support, and the Food, Nutrition and Dining Hotline. The Commission combines enforcement powers with education and capability building to protect older people receiving residential, home, and community aged care.

Product overview

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is Australia's national rights-based regulator of Commonwealth-funded aged care services. Rather than a unified software product, the Commission delivers a portfolio of regulatory and support services organized around its core mandate to protect and enhance the safety, health, wellbeing and quality of life of older people accessing aged care. The service portfolio centers on complaints handling, provider registration and compliance monitoring, quality standards oversight (including the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards), the Serious Incident Response Scheme, and clinical governance support. Additional services include the Food Nutrition and Dining Hotline, sector performance reporting, education and training resources, and the Governing for Reform in Aged Care Program for provider governance. The Commission operates primarily as a regulatory body website and service delivery organization rather than a software product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 84% residential care services fully compliant with quality standards
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and regional.

• Department of Health, Disability and AgeingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 December 2025Updated Memorandum of Understanding signed December 2025 recognizing and supporting both separate roles and linked functions of the Commission and Department. Jointly developed to support working together to advance Australian Government's aged care portfolio aims.
• Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 December 2025Updated MoU focuses on ongoing communication, lawful information sharing and collaboration aligned to Aged Care Act 2024. Promotes commitment to support achievement of respective objectives and exercise of functions focused on improving outcomes for older people.
• Office of the Inspector General of Aged CarecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024MoU documents how both agencies will share information on an ongoing basis. Assists Inspector General in determining if Commission is meeting legislative requirements, progress of Royal Commission recommendations, and ability to handle consumer complaints effectively.
• Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra)majorTechnology or IntegrationMoU enables better sharing of information to keep aged care consumers safe. Information indicating significant risk of harm from regulated practitioners' health, performance and/or conduct will be shared between agencies.
• NSW Health Care Complaints CommissionregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerMoU documents shared operational understandings and agreed protocols for exchange of information in exercising their respective functions and powers.
• Department of Veterans' AffairsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMoU demonstrates commitment to share information and resources supporting each agency's objectives. Focused on improving safety, wellbeing, and quality of life for older people including veterans receiving Commonwealth funded aged care services.
• NSW Ageing and Disability CommissionregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerMoU for cooperation between the two Commissions on matters affecting older people and those with disability in NSW.
• Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing AuthoritymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExchange of Letters outlines arrangements to support coordination, cooperation and information sharing between IHACPA and ACQSC for undertaking their legislated responsibilities.
• Northern Territory Health and Community Services Complaints CommissionregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerExchange of Letters finalized October 2025 promoting commitment to working together and outlining each agency's role, function, and agreed arrangements for information sharing.
• Victoria Health Complaints CommissionregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerExchange of Letters finalized September 2025 promoting commitment to working together and outlining agreed arrangements for information sharing.
• Victorian Disability Worker CommissionregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerExchange of Letters finalized November 2025 promoting commitment to working together and outlining each agency's role, function, and agreed arrangements for information sharing.
• Health and Community Services Complaints Commission South AustraliaregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerExchange of Letters finalized December 2025 promoting commitment to working together and outlining each agency's role, function, and agreed arrangements for information sharing.
• Commission Consultation Forum MemberscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImportant consultation and engagement forum with aged care sector. Forum members represent consumer, provider, worker and industry organisations including: Aged Care Industry Association, Ageing Australia, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, COTA Australia, Dementia Australia, and others.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Care Quality Commission (UK): Independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. Directly comparable as a national rights-based regulator overseeing care quality, provider registration, complaints handling and standards compliance for older people's services.
• Health and Social Care Inspectorate (Scotland): Scotland's scrutiny and improvement body for care services including older adult care. Comparable as an independent national regulator performing registration, inspection, complaints handling and quality grading for care providers.
• Health Information and Quality Authority (Ireland): Ireland's independent regulator for health and social care services including older persons' services. Closely comparable mandate around standards, inspection, registration and complaints handling in residential and community care.

Broad incumbents

• Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra): National regulator of registered health practitioners in Australia. Comparable as a sister Commonwealth health regulator with shared information sharing MoUs and overlapping practitioner conduct concerns in aged care.
• Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care: Australian Government agency driving safety and quality improvements in healthcare. Comparable as a peer safety/quality body whose sector insights and overlapping leadership talent intersect with ACQSC's mandate.
• Office of the Inspector-General of Aged Care: Australian federal oversight body that reviews the Commission's effectiveness against Royal Commission recommendations. Comparable as a related aged care oversight entity operating in the same regulatory ecosystem.
• Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Australian Government department responsible for aged care policy. Comparable as the Commission's principal policy partner with formal MoU and overlapping governance of the aged care sector.

Others

• Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN): National independent advocacy body for older Australians accessing aged care. Comparable as a key delivery partner that supports older people navigating complaints processes, with formal MoU with ACQSC.

Regional players

• Health Complaints Commissioner (Victoria): Victorian state complaints body handling health and aged care complaints. Comparable as a regional complaints regulator with a formal Exchange of Letters with ACQSC for coordinated information sharing.
• NSW Health Care Complaints Commission: State-level complaints and conduct body in NSW with jurisdiction over health and aged care complaints. Comparable as a complaints regulator operating in a defined geographic jurisdiction with information-sharing protocols with ACQSC.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCSze3MGZqWeMIoH___NsqbQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/AgedCareQuality
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/agedcarequality
• Instagraminstagram.com/agedcarequality

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission