Star Ratings Management Policy Template
Proactively manage your facility's Star Rating — Australia's public-facing aged care quality benchmark — with a structured governance policy covering all four sub-rating domains.
Overview
Australia's Aged Care Star Rating system, introduced in December 2022, provides consumers with a public quality benchmark for each residential aged care facility. The rating is calculated across four sub-categories: Compliance, Quality Indicators, Residents' Experience, and Staffing. Each sub-rating can be influenced by provider action — and a low Star Rating directly impacts consumer choice, occupancy, and reputation. This policy template establishes governance for monitoring, managing, and improving the facility's Star Rating across all four sub-categories.
What This Policy Covers
- Overview of the four Star Rating sub-categories and how each is calculated
- Internal monitoring of each sub-rating component on a monthly basis
- Action planning for sub-ratings trending downward
- Quality Indicator data accuracy and submission governance
- Resident Experience Survey preparation and engagement
- Staffing sub-rating management (mandatory staffing minutes reporting)
- Compliance history management and non-compliance response
- Consumer-facing communication about the facility's Star Rating
- Responding to a Star Rating decline or public inquiry
- Board and executive reporting on Star Rating performance
Compliance Alignment
- Aged Care Act 1997 – Disclosure and Transparency obligations
- Aged Care (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997
- National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator Program
- Aged Care Quality Standard 8 – Organisational Governance
- My Aged Care Star Ratings publication requirements
Why This Policy Matters
A 1-star or 2-star rating is publicly visible on My Aged Care and directly reduces consumer inquiries, occupancy, and revenue. Providers who discover a rating decline after publication — rather than through active monitoring — have missed the window to intervene. A Star Ratings Management Policy creates the internal governance needed to detect and respond to rating risks before they become public.
