(1) An individual has a right to:
(a) exercise choice and make decisions that affect the individual’s life, including in relation
to the following:
(i) the funded aged care services the individual has been approved to access;
(ii) how, when and by whom those services are delivered to the individual;
(iii) the individual’s financial affairs and personal possessions; and
(b) be supported (if necessary) to make those decisions, and have those decisions
respected;and
(c) take personal risks, including in pursuit of the individual’s quality of life, social
participation and intimate and sexual relationships.
(2) An individual has a right to equitable access to:
(a) have the individual’s need for funded aged care services assessed, or reassessed,
in a manner which is:
(i) culturally safe, culturally appropriate, trauma-aware and healing-informed; and
(ii) accessible and suitable for individuals living with dementia or other cognitive
impairment; and
(b) palliative care and end-of-life care when required.
(3) An individual has a right to:
(a) be treated with dignity and respect; and
(b) safe, fair, equitable and non-discriminatory treatment; and
(c) have the individual’s identity, culture, spirituality and diversity valued and supported; and
(d) funded aged care services being delivered to the individual:
(i) in a way that is culturally safe, culturally appropriate, trauma-aware and
healing-informed; and
(ii) in an accessible manner; and
(iii) by aged care workers of registered providers who have appropriate qualifications,
skills and experience.
(4) An individual has a right to:
(a) be free from all forms of violence, degrading or inhumane treatment, exploitation,
neglect, coercion, abuse or sexual misconduct; and
(b) have quality and safe funded aged care services delivered consistently with the
requirements imposed on registered providers under this Act.
Note: Division 1 of Part 4 of Chapter 3 deals with conditions on registered providers, including
requirements in relation to the use of restrictive practices and management of incidents.
(5) An individual has a right to have the individual’s:
(a) personal privacy respected; and
(b) personal information protected.
(6) An individual has a right to seek, and be provided with, records and information about the
individual’s rights under this section and the funded aged care services the individual
accesses, including the costs of those services.
(7) An individual has a right to:
(a) be informed, in a way the individual understands, about the funded aged care services
the individual accesses; and
(b) express opinions about the funded aged care services the individual accesses and
be heard.
(8) An individual has a right to communicate in the individual’s preferred language or method
of communication, with access to interpreters and communication aids as required.
(9) An individual has a right to:
(a) open communication and support from registered providers when issues arise in the
delivery of funded aged care services; and
(b) make complaints using an accessible mechanism, without fear of reprisal, about the
delivery of funded aged care services to the individual; and
(c) have the individual’s complaints dealt with fairly and promptly.
(1) An individual is entitled to the rights specified in section 23 when accessing, or seeking
to access, funded aged care services.
(2) It is the intention of the Parliament that registered providers delivering funded aged care
services to individuals must take all reasonable and proportionate steps to act compatibly
with the rights specified in section 23 in the delivery of funded aged care services, taking
into account that limits on rights may be necessary to balance the following:
(a) competing or conflicting rights;
(b) the rights and freedoms of other individuals, including aged care workers of the
registered provider and other individuals accessing funded aged care services;
(c) compliance with other laws of the Commonwealth, or of a State or Territory, including the
Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
(3) Nothing in this Division creates rights or duties that are enforceable by proceedings
in a court or tribunal.
Note: However, it is a condition of registration for certain registered providers that a registered
provider must demonstrate understanding of the Statement of Rights and have in place practices
to ensure that the provider acts compatibly with the Statement of Rights: see subsection 144(1).
A person may make a complaint to the Complaints Commissioner about a registered provider
acting in a way that is incompatible with the Statement of Rights: see section 358.