Choice, dignity, respect: your rights in My Aged Care - Easy Read

My Aged Care in Australia changed on 1 November 2025. A new law, the Aged Care Act 2024, now puts you at the centre of your care. It gives you clear rights, and clear ways to protect them.

This guide explains, in simple terms:

• the rights you have in aged care
• what those rights look like day to day
• what your provider has to do
• how to speak up if something doesn't feel right
• who can help you, for free.

Your rights in aged care

The new law includes a Statement of Rights. It replaced the old Charter of Aged Care Rights. It applies whether you get care in your own home, in the community, or in a residential aged care home.

In plain terms, you have the right to:

• make your own decisions about your life and your care
• have your decisions respected, not just heard, but acted on
• get information and support to help you make those decisions
• say what you need and want, in your own words
• feel safe and be treated with respect
• have your culture and identity respected
• stay connected to the people and community that matter to you.

You also have the right to take your own risks if that's the life you want. That could mean staying active, keeping your independence, or having relationships. It's your life to live.

What your rights look like day to day

Rights can sound abstract. Here's what they should actually look like in your care. A good provider will:

• support you to choose how you get care, and who provides it
• fit your care around your routine and preferences
• ask for your feedback, listen to it, and act on it
• make sure you can get the things you need
• make sure you only take the medicines you actually need and have been prescribed
• offer food and drink you enjoy
• help you stay in touch with the people who are important to you
• respect your privacy.

You should always be treated with dignity and respect.

What your provider must do

Your aged care provider must give you care that is safe, good quality, and suited to your needs. By law, they have to meet:

• the Statement of Rights, the rights described above
• the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, the standards every provider must meet so your care is safe and high quality
• the Aged Care Code of Conduct, the rules for how providers, workers and volunteers must behave and treat you.

If you think a provider isn't living up to these, you can raise it. You can also make a complaint to the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner (more on that below).

Speaking up: it's safe to raise a concern

If something doesn't feel right, you have the right to speak up. And it's safe to do so.

A provider, worker or responsible person cannot punish you or treat you differently for raising a concern. Speaking up often improves care, not just for you but for everyone.

If you're worried about what might happen after you raise something, you don't have to work it out alone. You can talk it through first with an advocate or with the Commission (both are free, see below).

You can also ask a family member, friend or supporter to raise a concern for you, or with you.

How to raise a concern, step by step

1. Start with your provider. Usually the quickest way to fix something is to raise it directly with your provider, if you feel comfortable doing that. Every provider must have a complaints process that's easy to understand and use.
2. Get your thoughts together first. It can help to write your concerns down, stick to the facts, include names, dates and places, be clear about what you'd like to happen, and ask someone you trust to help you.
3. If you'd rather not go to the provider, or they haven't sorted it out, contact the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822. They'll talk through your options and how the law protects you.

Who can help you (for free)

You never have to pay to get help raising a concern or making a complaint.

Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN)

OPAN gives older people free, independent and confidential support. An advocate can help you understand your rights, find information, or speak up, including speaking on your behalf if you'd prefer not to do it alone.

Aged Care Advocacy Line: 1800 700 600 • visit the OPAN website

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

The Commission is the national regulator of government-funded aged care. It works to protect the rights and wellbeing of older people. It registers providers, checks them against the standards, and resolves complaints. You can contact it directly for independent advice, to give feedback, or to make a complaint.

Phone: 1800 951 822 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) • visit the Commission's website

Aged Care Complaints Commissioner

This is a role within the Commission. Its job is to give older people a voice to raise concerns without fear of consequences, and to make sure every complaint is handled in a way that is confidential, fair and timely.

Making a complaint to the Commission

Asking the Commission for help, or making a complaint, costs nothing.

Who can complain? Anyone: you, your family, friends, carers and supporters, aged care workers and volunteers, or health professionals. If you're complaining for someone else, let them know, because they have a right to be involved.

You're in control of how it's handled. When you contact the Commission, you decide how they proceed, and your privacy is protected at all times. You can:

• give feedback without being part of how it's handled
• make a complaint and take part in resolving it
• ask for your concern to be kept confidential
• stay anonymous.

Confidential complaint. The Commission knows who you are but takes reasonable steps not to reveal your identity to the provider. They keep you updated and involve you as much as possible.

Anonymous complaint. The Commission won't know who you are. That keeps you completely private, but it also means they can't give you updates, ask you for more details, or tell you the outcome.

What happens when you contact them? They will listen to you, explain your rights, ask what you'd like your provider to do differently, and explain how they can help.

Just have a worry, not a formal complaint? That's fine. You can call 1800 951 822 to talk it through, or raise it as feedback, which is less formal than a complaint.

How to contact the Commission:

• Call 1800 951 822 (free call)
• Online using the complaints form on the Commission's website
• Write to: Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, GPO Box 9819, (in your capital city)
• Email [email protected]

Help in your language, and accessibility

Everyone has the right to information they can understand. Help is available if you need it.

Interpreters

• Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS): 131 450
• Aboriginal Interpreter Service (AIS): 1800 334 944
• Aboriginal Interpreting Western Australia: 08 9192 3981

You can ask the Commission to arrange an interpreter when you call.

If you're Deaf or have hearing or speech difficulty

• Contact the Commission through the National Relay Service, and ask for the Commission's number 1800 951 822.
• Free sign language interpreting and captioning for eligible older people is available through Deaf Connect's National Sign Language Program: 1300 773 803, [email protected]

First Nations older people

There are dedicated resources to support culturally safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander older people, including a "Yarning about aged care" guide and a Statement of Rights information sheet. Find them on the Commission's First Nations Hub.

In a nutshell

• The new Aged Care Act 2024 puts you at the centre of your care.
• You have the right to make your own choices, feel safe, be respected, and stay connected.
• Your provider must deliver safe, quality care and make it easy to raise concerns.
• It is safe to speak up. No one can punish you for it.
• Free, independent help is always available. Call OPAN on 1800 700 600, or the Commission on 1800 951 822.

Quick contacts

This guide is based on the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission's public information program "Choice, dignity, respect: older people's rights in aged care," rewritten in plain English. It's general information, not legal advice. For the full detail, visit the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission website.