Aged Care Staffing Ratios in Australia: What Facilities Need to Know
Staffing is the single biggest factor in the quality of care delivered in residential aged care. The Australian Government has recognised this through a series of landmark reforms that impose mandatory staffing requirements on all Commonwealth-funded residential aged care facilities. For facility managers and operators, understanding and meeting these requirements is no longer optional — it is a condition of funding and accreditation.
This article explains the current mandatory staffing requirements, how they are measured and reported, and how facilities can meet them in a competitive labour market.
The 24/7 Registered Nurse Requirement
Since 1 July 2023, all residential aged care facilities must have at least one registered nurse on site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This means every shift — morning, afternoon, and night — must have an RN physically present at the facility. This requirement replaced the previous standard, which only mandated an RN during certain hours.
The 24/7 RN requirement has had a significant impact on roster planning, particularly for smaller facilities and those in regional areas where RN availability is limited. Facilities that cannot demonstrate compliance risk regulatory action, including sanctions and funding reductions.
Care Minutes Targets
In addition to the 24/7 RN requirement, the government has introduced mandatory care minutes targets that specify the minimum amount of direct care each resident must receive per day. The current targets are:
- 200 total care minutes per resident per day (across all direct care staff)
- Of those, 40 minutes must be delivered by a registered nurse
These targets are calculated as a facility-wide average. That means the total care minutes delivered across all residents on a given day are divided by the number of residents to arrive at the per-resident figure. Facilities are expected to meet the target on a quarterly average basis.
What Counts as Direct Care
Not all staff time counts toward care minutes. Only time spent on direct care activities is included. The Department of Health and Aged Care defines direct care as clinical care, personal care, and allied health care delivered directly to residents.
Activities that count include:
- Clinical assessments and observations
- Medication administration
- Wound care and treatment
- Personal care (showering, dressing, toileting, feeding)
- Mobility assistance and falls prevention
- Allied health services (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology)
- Emotional and social support delivered by care staff
Activities that do not count include administration, rostering, management, catering, cleaning, laundry, and maintenance. Time spent by care staff on documentation and handover is a grey area and is generally included only if it is directly related to individual resident care.
Who Is Included in Care Minutes Calculations
The following staff categories count toward care minutes:
- Registered nurses (RNs)
- Enrolled nurses (ENs)
- Personal care assistants (PCAs) / Assistants in Nursing (AINs)
- Allied health professionals (physiotherapists, OTs, speech pathologists, etc.)
- Allied health assistants
- Lifestyle and recreation officers (when delivering direct care or meaningful engagement)
Staff who are not included: administration, management (unless delivering direct care), catering, cleaning, maintenance, and volunteers.
Importantly, agency staff count toward care minutes on the same basis as permanent staff. A shift worked by an agency RN contributes the same care minutes as a shift worked by a permanent RN.
Reporting Requirements
Facilities are required to report their care minutes data to the Department of Health and Aged Care through the Quarterly Financial Report (QFR). This data includes total care hours delivered by each staff category, the number of residents, and the calculated care minutes per resident per day.
The government uses this data to monitor compliance and to calculate the facility's staffing rating under the Star Ratings system.
Star Ratings and Staffing Data
The Star Ratings system rates every residential aged care facility in Australia on a scale of one to five stars. Staffing is one of the key sub-categories. Facilities that consistently meet or exceed the care minutes targets score higher. Those that fall short receive lower ratings, which are publicly visible on the My Aged Care website.
Star Ratings have become an important reputational factor. Prospective residents and their families increasingly use the ratings to compare facilities. A low staffing rating can directly affect occupancy rates and, by extension, revenue.
The Workforce Challenge
Meeting care minutes targets requires having enough qualified staff rostered every day. This is where the reality of Australia's aged care workforce shortage hits hardest. The sector faces:
- A national shortage of registered nurses, particularly in regional areas
- High turnover rates among personal care assistants
- Competition from hospitals and other sectors for the same pool of qualified nurses
- Difficulty attracting new graduates to aged care
These challenges mean that many facilities struggle to meet care minutes targets using their permanent workforce alone, particularly during periods of high leave, illness, or unexpected vacancies.
How Agencies Help Facilities Meet Targets
Nursing agencies play a critical role in helping facilities meet their mandatory staffing requirements. Agencies provide:
- Gap coverage: Filling shifts when permanent staff are on leave, sick, or unavailable.
- Surge capacity: Providing additional staff during periods of high acuity or resident numbers.
- RN coverage: Ensuring the 24/7 RN requirement is met, particularly on night shifts where permanent RN availability may be limited.
- Consistent staffing: Agencies that use a facility-focused model — assigning the same staff to the same facility — minimise orientation time and maximise the quality of care delivered.
Tips for Facility Managers
Meeting care minutes targets consistently requires a proactive approach to workforce management:
- Roster strategically: Map your care minutes requirement against your roster template and identify where gaps are most likely to occur.
- Build agency partnerships: Work with one or two trusted agencies that know your facility, your residents, and your expectations — rather than calling around to multiple agencies at the last minute.
- Track data in real time: Do not wait for the quarterly report to find out you are falling short. Use rostering software and internal tracking to monitor care minutes weekly.
- Invest in retention: The cheapest way to meet staffing targets is to keep the permanent staff you already have. Focus on workplace culture, professional development, and fair rostering.
- Use agency staff for continuity, not just emergencies: Building a panel of regular agency staff who return to your facility consistently delivers better outcomes than relying on a different person every shift.
Barton Care provides a facility-focused staffing model designed to help aged care facilities meet their mandatory care minutes targets with consistent, qualified staff. Learn more about our approach to aged care staffing, or contact us to discuss how we can support your facility.
