Hiring Under the New Aged Care Standards: What Employers Need to Get Right

Australia’s aged care sector is operating under the most significant legislative overhaul in nearly three decades, and for providers still finding their footing under the new framework, the compliance clock is not pausing. 

On 1 November 2025, the Aged Care Act 2024 replaced laws that had governed the sector since 1997. According to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, the new Act introduced a rights-based framework for the delivery of government-funded aged care, with legally enforceable rights for older people and a clear, comprehensive set of obligations for providers. Seven strengthened Quality Standards now apply across individual rights, governance, care and services, clinical care, environment, food and nutrition, and residential community. Getting hiring right is central to meeting almost every one of them. 

 

What the Standards Actually Require of Employers 

The workforce obligations under the new Act are specific and non-negotiable. According to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s guidance on workforce obligations, providers in registration categories 4, 5, and 6 must engage workers with appropriate qualifications, skills, and experience, and must demonstrate that they understand, manage, and plan their workforce needs. That planning obligation extends to screening: from 1 November 2025, updated worker screening requirements apply, and a new, broader screening process is set to commence in mid-2026. 

Alongside this, according to Aged Care Made Easy’s December 2025 workforce analysis, residential care homes are now required to have a registered nurse on site and on duty at all times, with specific staff-to-resident ratios mandated across day and night shifts. According to Nurselink Healthcare’s March 2026 report, the 24-hour registered nurse requirement has significantly increased demand for qualified nursing staff, particularly across night shifts and weekends, and has directly contributed to broader workforce pressure across the sector. 

 

The Supply Problem Is Real and Growing 

Providers cannot meet these obligations without the right people, and the right people are genuinely hard to find right now. According to Aged Care Made Easy, there is an annual national shortfall of around 35,000 aged care workers, with over 60% of providers reporting difficulties filling key roles, especially registered nurses and personal carers. According to Ageing Australia’s workforce strategy analysis, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s own modelling forecasts a shortage of more than 17,500 full-time equivalent nurses in aged care specifically. According to Brightstar Nursing Australia’s March 2026 report, Australia will need 110,000 additional direct-care workers by 2036 and 400,000 by 2050. 

These numbers are structural, not cyclical. Hiring well now, and retaining the people you hire, is not a nice-to-have. It is how providers stay compliant, stay operational, and deliver the standard of care the new Act demands. 

 

Getting Hiring Right Under the New Framework 

Meeting the new standards through recruitment means more than filling vacancies. It means verifying qualifications and screening requirements before day one, not after. It means understanding which roles carry specific regulatory obligations and ensuring those obligations are built into your hiring process from the outset. And it means not letting a rushed hire create a compliance gap that surfaces during an audit. 

From our conversations with aged care providers across Australia, the organisations managing the current environment best are the ones that treat recruitment as a compliance function, not just an operational one. The link between who you hire and what your audit looks like is direct. 

At Frontline Health, we work with aged care providers across Australia to find qualified, screened, and work-ready candidates for nursing, personal care, and leadership roles. If the new standards are putting pressure on your workforce planning, let’s talk now. 

 

Sources: Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, About Workforce Obligations, 2025 · Care Systems, The New Aged Care Act: Key Changes in 2026, May 2026 · Aged Care Made Easy, Australia’s Aged Care Workforce Crisis: Staffing Reforms, December 2025 · Nurselink Healthcare, Australia’s Aged Care and NDIS Workforce Crisis 2026, March 2026 · Ageing Australia, Workforce Strategy · Brightstar Nursing Australia, Australia’s Aged Care Crisis: 110,000 Workers Needed by 2036, March 2026 · Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, New Ways of Working in Aged Care, March 2026