Chaffey Aged Care

 

On 1 July 2019, a new Charter of Aged Care Rights replaced the:

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• Charter of care recipients’ rights and responsibilities – residential care

• Charter of care recipients’ rights and responsibilities – home care

• Charter of care recipients’ rights and responsibilities – short-term restorative care (part 1, residential care setting; part 2, home care setting)

 

The new Charter provides the same rights to all consumers, regardless of the type of Australian Government funded care and services they receive.

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The Charter applies to consumers once they start receiving Australian Government funded aged care, including:

• residential care

• home care packages

• flexible care

• services provided under the Commonwealth Home Support Programme and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program.

 

Each resident of a residential care service has the the following rights:

 

​I have the right to:

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1. safe and high quality care and services

2. be treated with dignity and respect

3. have my identity, culture and diversity valued and supported

4. live without abuse and neglect

5. be informed about my care and services in a way I understand

6. access all information about myself, including information about my rights, care and services

7. have control over and make choices about my care, and personal and social life, including where the choices involve personal risk

8. have control over, and make decisions about, the personal aspects of my daily life, financial affairs and possessions

9. my independence

10. be listened to and understood

11. have a person of my choice, including an aged care advocate, support me or speak on my behalf

12. complain free from reprisal, and to have my complaints dealt with fairly and promptly

13. personal privacy and to have my personal information protected

14. exercise my rights without it adversely affecting the way I am treated

 

Key Changes:

 

The Charter of Aged Care Rights is easy to read and focuses on 14 high-level consumer rights. The new Charter makes it easier for consumers, their families, carers and representatives to understand what they can expect from an aged care service.

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Rights afforded to consumers under the previous charters have been maintained through the new Charter, the new Aged Care Quality Standards, amendments to the User Rights Principles 2014 (User Rights Principles), and other laws that inform the delivery and quality of aged care. This includes rights under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and Commonwealth anti discrimination law.