The postponement of Australia’s New Aged Care Act until July 2025 presents organisations with a critical window—not just for compliance, but for setting new benchmarks in quality care. Providers will need to overhaul various aspects of their operations to align with the enhanced person-centred approach. This article outlines strategic actions that leaders can take to prepare.
The Strategic Opportunity
The delay of the New Aged Care Act might initially seem like a reprieve. However, there’s a risk that organisation might adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach, potentially overlooking the necessary adjustments their organisations require.
This period should be seen as a valuable opportunity to enhance leadership and workforce capabilities.
By having more time to prepare, aged care organisations can take a comprehensive and strategic approach to the necessary changes.
This provides significant advantages because it minimises ‘quick fix’ responses, avoids disruptions and facilitates a smooth transition to the new, quality-focused aged care system at the core of the legislation.
Current Leadership & Workforce Challenges in Aged Care
The aged care sector faces significant leadership gaps, including shortfalls in crucial skills like change management and conflict resolution. Operationally, providers struggle with workforce shortages and experience difficulties in attracting and retaining quality staff.
Adapting to the new Aged Care Act’s strengthened governance, transparency and accountability measures while ensuring compliance with new quality standards and staffing requirements poses even greater challenges. Overcoming these leadership and operational hurdles through strategic initiatives will be critical to be able to deliver the high-quality care as laid out in the aged care reforms.
For example, the new standards include enforced staffing ratios and increased qualification requirements for care staff. Continuous improvement plans must also be implemented to demonstrate how aged care providers are achieving the characteristics of high quality care as defined in the Act.
The delay in implementation offers a precious opportunity to prepare and adjust, without the immediate pressure of compliance.
Tailored Leadership & Workforce Solutions for the New Aged Care Act Landscape
With this unexpected window of time, you can proactively enhance leadership capabilities and refine workforce strategies.
From research and workforce data across the sector, we know the common leadership gaps in Aged Care and the dramatic impact that not addressing them can have on organisations.
Leveraging this data driven research, we can guide you to make informed decisions and implement specific initiatives that enhance leadership capability and drive high impact improvements amongst your teams. Perfect timing before our teams have to manage more change.
By focusing on strategic workforce planning and leadership development, we can address known gaps such as:
- high turnover rates
- stress management
- staff motivation
- conflict resolution
This is the ideal time to prioritise the development of your leadership team, building leadership readiness and implementing robust workforce planning to address these issues before July 2025. Building the right capability in your leaders today ensures they will be ready to implement the new changes required more effectively, and drive your organisation forward.
Our tailored solutions and programs, offering proven practical approaches to do just this, include:
- The Employee Experience & Workforce Planning (EX & WP) Program
- Leading Self
- Leading Others
- Leading Change
Our approach combines the latest technology, best practice frameworks, data-driven insights, expert consultancy, practical applications and 1:1 or group coaching. This blend ensures that leaders not only learn, but also apply their new skills in their everyday work environments.
Results for Aged Care Providers
We know confident and consistent leadership influences the quality of care, staff turnover and organisational success. We have seen transformations in teams and organisations who have proactively engaged with our programs.
For example, our Employee Experience & Workforce Planning Program elevates employee engagement and reduces staff turnover.
Other participants have noted significant improvements to organisational culture and agility after implementing strategies from our Leading Change Program. These results underscore the tangible benefits of investing in leadership development and strategic workforce planning ahead of significant changes such as the incoming new Aged Care Act.
Future Ready
Don’t wait to feel the regulatory pressures.
Take the lead now by engaging with our programs tailored to elevate your organisation’s care standards and operational efficiency. Contact us to discover how we can help you transform these challenges into opportunities for growth and excellence.
For more detailed information on our programs and how they can help your organisation prepare for the upcoming changes, contact us at hello@aboveandbeyondgroup.com.au
Laura Sutherland
Director & Founder
M 1300 831 949
E hello@aboveandbeyondgroup.com.au
Laura is a Workforce specialist, Leadership and Career Coach with a background in Psychology. Considered the go-to trusted advisor on workforce challenges in our industry, Laura partners with clients to understand their specific challenges and tailor the most effective and sustainable solutions. Her core professional purpose is to improve and future proof Aged Care & Community Services by supporting organisations to develop the potential within their people.
