Yes, a Support at Home service agreement can be signed electronically. We found nothing in the Aged Care Act 2024 or the Aged Care Rules 2025 that rules it out, and the Department's program manual names electronic and digital signatures as acceptable ways to record agreement to price changes. An electronic signature on a Support at Home service agreement is only as strong as the process behind it.
Key Takeaways
- Sections 148-65 and 148-70 of the Aged Care Rules 2025 set the timing, involvement and content of a service agreement, but neither requires a signature.
- The Department calls the agreement a written legal contract, recommends that the participant also signs, and expects a record of the discussion if they cannot physically sign.
- Under the Electronic Transactions Act 1999, an electronic method can meet a Commonwealth signature requirement if it identifies the signer, shows intent and is reliable enough; the Regulations list no exemption for the Aged Care Act 2024.
- Only the participant or an active appointed decision maker can enter the agreement; a registered supporter is not a party.
- The Rules require the agreement to be kept for seven years from the day the record is made, and the Aged Care Act requires reasonable security safeguards for participants' personal information.
What do the Aged Care Act and Rules say about signing?
Section 148 of the Aged Care Act 2024 makes a service agreement a condition of registration. Section 148-65 of the Aged Care Rules 2025 requires you to enter into it on or before the participant's start day (with limited exceptions), involve them, use plain language and help them understand it; section 148-70 sets the content. Neither requires a signature; "in writing" appears only for notices, such as GST-driven variations. Outcome 1.4 (Rules section 15-10) also requires time to consider the agreement and an opportunity to seek advice.
As program design rather than law, the Department goes further. On its service agreements page, it describes a written legal contract, recommends that the participant (or active appointed decision maker) also signs and that you give them a signed copy, hard copy or digital, as soon as possible, and says you must keep a record of the discussion in which a participant agreed if they cannot physically sign. My Aged Care tells participants they can then agree verbally. Required clauses are in our guide on what a Support at Home service agreement must include.
Does the Electronic Transactions Act apply to aged care service agreements?
Requirements under Commonwealth law are covered by the Electronic Transactions Act 1999, subject to exemptions such as those in the Electronic Transactions Regulations 2020. The Regulations in force in October 2026 list none for the Aged Care Act 2024 or the Rules; exemptions for the old Aged Care Act 1997 were repealed from 1 November 2025.
Section 10 says that where Commonwealth law requires a signature, an electronic communication meets it if a method identifies the person and shows their intention, the method was reliable enough for the purpose (or is proven in fact to have worked), and the recipient, if not a Commonwealth entity, consents. Section 9 applies similar tests, including later accessibility and consent, to giving information in writing.
We found no Commonwealth requirement that the agreement itself be signed, so treat section 10 as a yardstick rather than a licence. Whether the agreement is an enforceable contract is a separate question under general contract law and State and Territory law, so confirm your approach with your own legal adviser.
Who can sign, and what about people who cannot use the technology?
Who may sign
The agreement is between the provider and the participant or their active appointed decision maker: a guardian, a person appointed by a court or tribunal to decide for them, or an enduring power of attorney holder (section 28(2) of the Aged Care Act 2024). Confirm the authority is active and covers entering the agreement.
A registered supporter helps the participant decide but is not a party; see our note on registered supporters and consent. The Program Manual (section 10.3.3.1) says that for price changes a registered supporter can sign or agree only to pass on the participant's own decision at their direction when they cannot sign, or if they are also the active appointed decision maker. Record whose decision it was.
Participants without email, or who cannot physically sign
- Offer a choice. Do not assume email or consent to electronic delivery. As good practice, offer paper, or signing on your device with the participant present and the care partner explaining each page.
- Give time. Let them take it away, talk to family, an advocate or a lawyer, and sign later.
- If they cannot sign. Keep the copy you offered and a dated file note of the discussion, as Program Manual section 7.2.2 describes.
- Give a copy. Send the signed agreement as soon as practical, on paper or digitally, and share it with a supporter only where the participant consents.
What evidence should an e-signed agreement leave behind?
As good practice, keep these with every e-signed agreement:
- Signer identity. How you confirmed who signed and, for a decision maker, the authority you checked.
- Date and time. The cooling-off period runs 14 days from the date of entry (section 148-65(3)), so record when the last party finished and never backdate.
- Version signed. The exact document and pricing schedule, matched to your version register.
- Audit log. Who sent, opened and signed it, and when. Section 12(4) of the Electronic Transactions Act makes origin, destination and send and receipt times part of the test for retaining an electronic communication.
- Route and copy. The participant's agreement to e-signing (or the file note), and when, how and to whom the copy went.
The Rules require the service agreement to be kept for seven years starting on the day the record is made (sections 154-1000 and 154-1205), matching our earlier guide. In our reading each variation is a new record, and because the clock starts when a record is made rather than when services end, we suggest keeping each agreement for seven years after it is superseded.
What do privacy law and your signing tool vendor need to cover?
Section 168 of the Aged Care Act 2024 requires registered providers to use participants' personal information only for connected purposes, disclose it only as permitted or with consent, and protect it with reasonable security safeguards against loss or misuse; section 154 ties record keeping to that duty. For APP entities, Australian Privacy Principle 11 requires reasonable steps against misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, and the OAIC's APP 11 guidance says outsourced storage can still count as information you hold, so the duty stays with you. Record the controls you rely on using a cybersecurity and data governance policy template.
Beyond our general questions to ask before signing with a vendor, ask any signing-tool vendor these, drawn from the OAIC's guide to securing personal information:
- Where are documents, logs and backups stored, and is any data handled overseas or by subcontractors?
- Is data encrypted in transit and at rest, who can decrypt it, and is it used for the vendor's own purposes?
- Does the audit log link actions to named users, resist tampering and last for the retention period?
- How will you be told of a suspected breach, so you can meet notifiable data breach duties?
- At exit, can you export signed documents and logs, and will all copies, including backups, be destroyed?
What should you check before sending an agreement for e-signature?
- The signer is the participant or an active decision maker, with authority checked.
- A non-digital route was offered and agreement to e-signing recorded.
- The version, including the pricing schedule, is locked before sending.
- Completion time is recorded; cooling-off window and start day diarised.
- The signed copy is sent and logged, and agreement, audit log and notes are stored together.
- The vendor's storage, security and exit terms are checked.
Make Every Electronic Signature Provable
Electronic signing is workable, but the Rules and the Department put the weight on involvement, understanding and evidence rather than the signature alone. Design the process so you can show who agreed, to which version, when, and that they received a copy. Start by writing one e-signing route, one assisted route and one file-note route into your service agreement procedure, using Governa's free policy templates as the base.
Related Resources
- Support at Home service agreement policy template
- Record keeping policy template
- Privacy and confidentiality policy template
- Consumer entry, transition and exit policy
- Home care documentation requirements
- Governa policy mapping to the Standards
- My Aged Care guide to agreeing to services
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Electronic Transactions Act apply to aged care service agreements?
Generally yes. It applies to requirements under Commonwealth law subject to exemptions, and the current Regulations list none for the Aged Care Act 2024.
Can a participant sign a Support at Home service agreement online?
Yes, if they can use the tool, have agreed to it and have had time to consider the agreement. Always offer paper or an assisted in-person option as well.
Can a family member or registered supporter e-sign for the participant?
Only an active appointed decision maker acting within their authority can enter the agreement for the participant. A registered supporter is not a party, although the Program Manual's note on price changes accepts one passing on the participant's decision at their direction.
How long must we keep an e-signed service agreement and its audit log?
The Rules require the service agreement to be kept for seven years starting on the day the record is made. We suggest keeping the audit log with it, as evidence of how it was signed.
