How do I know I’m choosing the right aged care home?

Choosing a suitable residential aged care home can be a daunting task at the best of times.

Whether you’re making a big decision for your own future or supporting a loved one, it’s a choice that will profoundly shape the years ahead. It’s natural to feel the weight of that all-important question: Is this a place to feel truly safe, healthy and cared for?

The answer is far quicker and easier to find than you might think.

Introducing Star Ratings

The Australian Government’s Star Ratings tool is an easy way to compare residential aged care options throughout Australia. It’s a great first port of call for anyone looking for an aged care home to suit your needs.

Star Ratings can be found on the My Aged Care website when you use the helpful ‘Find a Provider’ tool.

The more stars a home gets, the higher the quality of care:

• 5 stars = an excellent quality of care
• 4 stars = a good quality of care
• 3 stars = an acceptable quality of care
• 2 stars = improvement needed
• 1 star = significant improvement needed.

This system was co-designed with input from older people, their families and carers, who truly understood the wants and needs of those searching for the right home.

You can search and compare up to three homes at once, filtering by the aspects most important to you (such as the location, cost, or specific type of care offered).
By ensuring all homes are judged by the same standards, you can significantly cut down research time.

Get started with My Aged Care’s ‘Find a Provider’ tool here.

How are Star Ratings measured?

The Overall Star Rating is drawn from four individual categories, all of which have their own Star Rating:

• Residents’ Experience (33%)
  How do residents really feel about the care they are receiving?
  Every year, around 20% of residents are interviewed face-to-face, with answers collected by an independent survey team to ensure it reflects their honest, unbiased opinion. This important category has the largest influence on the Overall Star Rating.

• Compliance (30%)
  How well does the home meet government standards for safe, high-quality care? Homes that fail to address specific issues see their Compliance rating drop below 3 stars, a benchmark for acceptable care.

• Staffing (22%)
  Are there enough nurses and care workers to meet the needs of residents? This rating compares the home’s staffing levels to the government’s minimum targets.

• Quality Measures (15%)
  This category combines information about five crucial indicators of care quality: falls and major injury, unplanned weight loss, pressure injuries, medication management and the use of restrictive practices such as physical restraint.

Star Ratings are updated regularly, using data from multiple sources such as residents, aged care providers, and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. This information is frequently updated, with Star Ratings automatically recalculated as new data comes in.

What if a home doesn’t have a Star Rating?

Generally, it will take up to 12 months before there is enough data to display an Overall Star Rating, meaning this might not be available for new providers, homes operating under new ownership, or buildings that have just received major repairs or renovations.

Is it making a difference?

When Star Ratings were introduced in December 2022, 39% of residential aged care homes had a Star Rating of 4 or 5. As of November 2024, that figure is now up to 69%.

In short, it’s not just making life easier for those searching for a home; it’s increasing transparency about the quality of care in aged care homes and improving the standard of care Australia-wide.

Learn more about the Star Ratings tool, or start searching for a provider using the Find a Provider tool.