Building Certification of Residential Aged Care Homes report

The  Australian National Audit Office (ANAO)  has released its report, Building Certification of Residential Aged Care Homes, which includes several recommendations for the Department of Health and Ageing to consider.

In response the Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot has confirmed that the Department of Health and Ageing is closely case managing 41 of those services that have yet to meet the higher Commonwealth fire and safety standards, to ensure they are compliant.

The Department advises that the bulk of these works are on track to be completed by the end of this year.
As for the requirements on privacy and space which are due to be met by December 2008, the Department advises that only 144 homes out of nearly 3,000 have not yet met the requirements.

In its formal response to the ANAO the Department  of Health and Ageing indicated that the Certification program is expected be reviewed in 2008.

The Aged Care Industry Council believes that the work of the Certification program is nearly done and that it should be scrapped after this year. Aged care buildings should be treated like other similar types of building and simply be required to meet relevant parts of the Building Code of Australia. This would also reduce duplication and red tape.