The Australian Parliament passed the Aged Care Bill earlier this week, which gives the aged care industry some much-needed certainty that the new Aged Care Act will take effect on 1 July 2025. However, some key issues remain unresolved.

Aged care and other health businesses are experiencing a wave of reforms leaving many carefully considering their futures – including whether to sell. But how do you get the best sale price with the lowest stress and risk exposure? Here are our top tips.

With significant regulatory and funding changes across the health sector, M&A interest is on the rise. But how do you secure a great growth opportunity and avoid the “lemons”?  Here are our top tips.

Proposed changes to NDIS funding have the potential to reshape the NDIS service landscape across Australia, and many providers may need to substantially change their service model to continue receiving NDIS funding.

From 1 January 2023, voluntary assisted dying laws will come into effect in Queensland and it’s essential that all providers understand how this will affect them. Find out what you need to know in our latest blog.

From 1 October 2022, there is a significant new restriction on an aged care provider’s ability to charge additional service fees as a consequence of the new AN-ACC funding arrangements. Read our latest article to find out more.

The final report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Final Report) was tabled on 1 March 2021, and contains significant and sweeping proposals for reform of the aged care sector. This is the fifth of a series of articles by Kinny Legal examining what these proposed reforms are and how they might change the industry if implemented.

The final report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Final Report) was tabled on 1 March 2021, and contains significant and sweeping proposals for reform of the aged care sector. This is the fourth of a series of articles by Kinny Legal examining what these proposed reforms are and how they might change the industry if implemented.

The final report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Final Report) was tabled on 1 March 2021, and contains significant and sweeping proposals for reform of the aged care sector. This is the third of a series of articles by Kinny Legal examining what these proposed reforms are and how they might change the industry if implemented.

The final report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Final Report) was tabled on 1 March 2021, and contains significant and sweeping proposals for reform of the aged care sector. This is the second of a series of articles by Kinny Legal examining what these proposed reforms are and how they might change the industry if implemented.

The final report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Final Report) was released 1 March 2021, and contains significant and sweeping proposals for reform of the aged care sector. This is the first of a series of articles Kinny Legal will release in the coming weeks to examine what these proposed reforms are and how they might change the industry if implemented.

Respecting a consumer’s dignity of risk is a key concept in Standard 1 of the Aged Care Quality Standards. Meeting this requirement is not as simple as blindly letting the consumer take whatever risks they want. Aged care providers must take certain precautions to ensure the request is well informed and properly understood. Aged care providers also have several other obligations including to provide a safe environment and meet the duty of care owed to the consumer, staff and others, which must be balanced against any requested by a consumer. This guideline is designed to help aged care providers get the balance right and avoid unintended breaches.

Yesterday, the Aged Care Royal Commissioners released a special report in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report has been released in advance of the Final Report to be delivered on 26 February 2021. Here is what you need to know about the recommendations in this report.

Many aged care providers provide support services to participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme . Providers can be registered or unregistered, and each option has its advantages and disadvantages. So which option is best for your organisation?

It is extremely important that retirement village operators regularly audit their contracting documents - i.e. their village contract, annexures to the village contract and any mandatory pre-contractual disclosure documents - on a regular basis and promptly in response to significant events such as a change in law or risk event arising in the village. This article explores some of the questions that need to be answered as part of the audit process.

Aged care providers have been granted a statutory grace period in relation to certain registered provider requirements – allowing them to provide services that could otherwise only be provided by registered NDIS providers. This grace period was scheduled to end on 30 June 2020 but has been recently extended to 30 November 2020. So, what does this mean for your organisation?

The beginning of a new year is a useful time to step back and decide what should be done differently to achieve better outcomes in your aged care facility. As aged care lawyers, we see a lot of risk and liability issues arising from the same root cause – unsatisfactory residential care contracts, housed within an unsatisfactory contracts management system. If you own or manage a facility, you already know that residential care contracts should be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changes in law, changes in the facility, and as part of a continuous improvement strategy – but, it can be hard to know where to start. To us, your review should always begin by finding the answer to these essential questions.   

We understand that aged care organisations often operate under significant time and resourcing pressure, and this is often contributed to by inefficient administrative processes in key areas such as resident contract management.

We also understand that aged care organisations operate in a continually changing regulatory environment, so it can be difficult to keep track of whether residential care contracts are top-quality and up to date.

We are also strong believers in making things easier for aged care organisations, which is why we have collaborated with Mirus Australia to offer a smart solution to these common problems.

With the aging population of Australia continuing its rapid growth, the demand for products, services, and accommodation that caters to these communities is increasing.

This trend presents tremendous opportunities for investors, and overseas organisations are increasingly interested in exploring business opportunities in the seniors market. But, the legislation regulating this market is complex and it can be difficult to identify which industry is most suitable. Different sectors are subject to different legal requirements and present different asset and profit opportunities.

The industries with arguably the greatest potential for commercial success are the Retirement Villages industry and Aged Care industry. While both industries are primed to provide enormous investment opportunities to overseas investors, it is essential that any individual or organisation contemplating investment understand the key features of each industry. Not only are they very different in how their products, services, and accommodation are designed and marketed to the seniors community, each industry is regulated with vastly different sets of legal rights and obligations which can impact an organisations ability take full advantage of the opportunities arising in this market.

This article outlines the key features that overseas investors should be aware of when first considering whether to you invest in the Retirement Villages or Aged Care industries in Australia.

As a retirement village operator, you are required to provide a safe and suitable environment for your residents to live. Residents also enjoy security of tenure. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for residents to experience a deterioration in their mental or physical health while living in a retirement village. Sometimes, this can mean that the village is no longer a safe place for them to live in. Often, the resident and their family recognises the need to make other arrangements and you as operator can help them transition to a better environment. But what happens if they don’t want to leave despite the risk?

Read on for more information about the four steps an operator should take when there is reason to believe that the resident is too ill to live safely in your retirement village.

While there are a number of potential benefits to using CCTV devices in nursing homes, there are also a number of potential risks – especially if CCTV devices are installed before an aged care provider is in a position to comply with all the extra obligations they are taking on. Click here to download our guide to using CCTV devices in aged care facilities.

CCTV in aged care facilities - who has what choices, and how does an aged care provider overcome all the legal and ethical issues that come with it?

What are the new Aged Care Quality Standards and what do they mean for your aged care facility?

Dignity of risk has been a recognised an essential part of consumer directed care for some time in the aged care industry, and is now a requirement under Standard 1 of the new Aged Care Quality Standards (the new Standards).  This means that, from 1 July 2019, aged care providers must be able to provide that they are providing care and services in a way that facilitates consumer choice, including choices to take risk.  But what does this mean for your aged care facility?  And how can you facilitate consumer risk taking without exposing your own aged care facility to unwanted risk?

The next decade is shaping up to be an unprecedented period of change for the aged care industry.  The aged population is poised to nearly triple by 2050, and as individuals they will likely live longer than ever before.  The regulatory environment will have to change to respond to unprecedented need for services.  In the medium to long term, the industry will go through an incredible amount of growth and change – not only to keep up with demand and regulatory change, but also to compete against more diverse competitors.