Ian Yates says Four Corners’ Newmarch House investigation highlights need for Quality and Safety Commission to have extra powers

The COTA Australia CEO says there are lessons that both providers and the Government can learn from Monday night’s program. Mr Yates said the report reinforced the need for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) to be given additional powers to take early preventative action – beyond the existing regulations that mean they can only step in after major problems have been demonstrated.

“The Government is already considering whether the ACQSC has the necessary regulatory powers,” he stated. “We would welcome the ACQSC having a wider range of powers to step in sooner, rather than later, and with a much broader range of tools in its regulatory tool kit.

As we reported here, the Quality and Safety Commissioner, Janet Anderson, had maintained that the ASQSC had been there “from day one”. But as evidence to the Royal Commission hearings, the regulator has in the past lacked the powers to launch its own investigations into incidents. The Government’s recent announcement of $23 million in funding for a Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) – due to start on 1 July 2021 – with the regulatory power to take action against providers goes some way to increasing the Commission’s remit. Will the Government take COTA’s call on board?