Updated course

Reporting Abuse and Serious Incidents in Aged Care

The new Serious Incident Response Scheme starts April 1 – is your workplace prepared?

We have updated our course on elder abuse and neglect, to include content on the new Serious Incident Response Scheme.

Residential aged care providers are required to identify, record, manage, resolve and report incidents - including serious reportable incidents.

From 1 April 2021, residential aged care providers must report all ‘Priority 1’ incidents within 24 hours. ‘Priority 1’ incidents include those that cause or could reasonably have caused physical or psychological injury or illness requiring some form of medical or psychological treatment. Instances of unexplained absence from care and any unexpected death of a consumer are always to be regarded as ‘Priority 1’ reportable incidents. From 1 October 2021, all ‘Priority 2’ incidents – reportable incidents that do not meet the criteria for ‘Priority 1’ – must also be reported within 30 days. (ref: What is the SIRS? Serious Incident Response Scheme A fact sheet for aged care consumers, 19 March 2021)

The Serious Incident Reporting Scheme (SIRS) strengthens the reporting requirements for providers of residential aged care services, as well as flexible care delivered in residential aged care. It supports the Charter of Aged Care Rights and Aged Care Quality Standards.

What is the goal of the SIRS?

The SIRS aims to:

  • strengthen aged care systems to reduce the risk of abuse and neglect
  • build the skills of residential aged care providers, so they can better respond to serious incidents
  • enable residential aged care providers to review incident information to drive improvements in quality and safety
  • reduce the likelihood of preventable incidents reoccurring, and
  • make sure consumers receiving aged care have the support they need after an incident - regardless of whether they are the victim, perpetrator or witness.

Reducing the risk of incidents occurring is everyone’s responsibility in aged care.

This course provides an understanding of:

  • background to and the definitions and prevalence of the abuse of older people in Australia
  • types of abuse most commonly experienced by older people
  • requirements for the reporting of abuse of an older person in your care
  • roles and responsibilities of staff around the abuse of a person in their care
  • barriers to staff reporting suspected and actual abuse, and
  • actions to take if there is imminent threat to an older person.

This updated course; Reporting Abuse and Serious Incidents in Aged Care (32768), replaces our Identifying, Reporting and Responding to the Abuse of Older People in Care (25508) course. Given the short lead time for provider requirements, we would advocate rolling over to this new version as soon as practicable.

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