One year on: what quality workforce support looks like in practice
By Rhiannon Dhoot, Client Relationship Manager at Sanctuary Recruitment
Over the past eight months, I’ve spent a lot of time visiting aged care homes across NSW and speaking with Facility Managers, rostering teams and staff.
As we approach one year since the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards came into effect on 1 November 2025, it has made me reflect on what those expectations actually look like in practice. The Standards put clear expectations around having skilled and competent workers, workforce planning and ensuring people have the support they need to perform their roles effectively.
I joined aged care after the strengthened Standards came into effect, so I haven’t experienced the sector without them. But over the past eight months, I’ve gained a much greater appreciation of everything that sits behind having the right workforce supporting a home.
Because quality care can be influenced long before a shift begins.
It starts with the right people
Qualifications, experience and clinical competency are of course essential in aged care, and the strengthened Standards reinforce the importance of workers having the appropriate skills, qualifications and experience for their roles.
But there is another side to it that I think is just as important.
Aged care requires compassion. It requires someone who is naturally nurturing, who shows patience and kindness and who has good judgement, particularly when situations don’t necessarily have a straightforward answer.
These qualities can be difficult to capture on a CV, which is why the selection and screening process matters.
For me, it’s been interesting to see how much care goes into looking beyond whether somebody can technically do the job and considering how they will actually work with residents and the people around them.
Understanding the home
One of the things I enjoy most about visiting homes is being able to understand them beyond a name on a screen.
Every home has a different feel. The residents, teams and environment are different, and those visits give us context that we simply wouldn’t have otherwise.
I’m not the person recruiting or placing our workers, but I can take what I learn from a visit back to the recruitment team. Often our recruiters will also join me on site, which gives them the opportunity to build that understanding directly.
It means there is more context behind the conversations we have about workforce support, particularly when we know which workers have previously worked well within a home.
Regular communication between homes and workforce partners plays an important role here too. It helps build an understanding of what matters to that particular service rather than assuming every home needs exactly the same thing.
Quality starts before the shift
Something else I’ve gained a much greater appreciation for is what happens behind the scenes to ensure workers remain suitable to work in aged care.
Compliance isn’t something that ends once a person has been recruited. Registrations, screening requirements and competencies need to remain current, and changes that could affect someone’s suitability to work need to be identified. Within our own processes, for example, banning orders are checked daily.
Much of this is invisible to the homes we work with, but that is really the point. It should be happening in the background.
The strengthened Standards require providers to maintain appropriate workforce records, including pre-employment checks, qualifications and experience, as well as regularly monitoring worker performance and competency.
For me, it comes back to trust. When any worker walks into an aged care home, there needs to be confidence that the appropriate checks have taken place and that they are ready to be there.
A good first experience matters
Agency workforce is there to provide flexibility, which naturally means there will be occasions when somebody is working in a home for the first time.
That doesn’t need to be complicated.
I’ve noticed during my visits that a simple welcome can make a real difference. Showing someone where things are, introducing them to the team and making any important expectations clear can help them settle into the environment quickly and get on with their shift.
It is a small thing, but it can make the experience better for everyone.
The strengthened Standards also recognise the importance of workers having access to appropriate supervision, escalation, support and resources.
And sometimes that first shift becomes a second, a third and many more.
Where continuity comes in
Continuity of care is something I’ve written about before, and it’s something that still comes up regularly in conversations with homes.
What I find interesting now is the workforce side of creating that continuity.
When somebody works well within a home and has the opportunity to return, they gradually become more familiar with the environment. They get to know the permanent team, the residents and their routines, while the home gets to know them too.
That familiarity can be particularly valuable when additional workforce support is needed.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission’s workforce guidance itself recognises that workforce planning can help providers ensure continuity of aged care services.
Of course, agency workforce will always include new faces. That’s part of being able to respond when extra support is needed.
For me, the balance is being able to provide that flexibility while creating continuity where the opportunity exists.
Feedback closes the loop
Feedback has been one of the biggest learning points for me during my first eight months in aged care.
As an agency, we aren’t there during every shift, so hearing directly from providers gives us an important perspective on how things went.
Sometimes that is positive feedback about someone who has fitted into the home really well and who the team would happily welcome back.
Other times, a concern might be raised which needs to be looked into and addressed.
Both are valuable.
Positive feedback can help identify workers who are particularly well suited to a home, while constructive feedback allows the circumstances to be understood and the right decisions to be made for both the home and the worker.
I’ve learnt that it’s not about expecting every worker to be the perfect fit for every environment. It’s about having an open relationship where concerns can be raised when necessary and positive experiences can be recognised too.
Would you want this person back?
For me, this brings it back to a very simple question:
Would you want this person back?
Because behind that answer sits a lot.
- Did they have the skills to do their job well?
- Were they compassionate and respectful towards residents?
- Did they show good judgement?
- Did they work well alongside the existing team?
- Did they ask for support when they needed it?
When the answer is yes, there is an opportunity for that person to return.
And each time they do, they become a little more familiar with the home and the people within it.
Looking ahead
As we approach the first anniversary of the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, there’s understandably a lot of discussion across the sector about reform, regulation and compliance.
For me, the past eight months have made me think about the people behind all of that.
It’s the worker bringing compassion into a resident’s room. The team making sure they’re appropriately skilled and compliant. The home providing support when they arrive. It’s the relationships that develop when someone returns and becomes a familiar face.
The strengthened Standards provide the framework for care that is safe, meets people’s needs and preferences, and upholds their rights.
But residents don’t experience the Standards as a policy or a document.
They experience the people caring for them.
And almost a year on, I think that’s an important reminder of where all of this ultimately needs to lead.
Get in touch
If you’d like to discuss hospitality recruitment, workforce planning, or how Sanctuary can support your aged care team, I’d be happy to chat.
Rhiannon Dhoot
Client Relationship Manager | Sanctuary Recruitment
📧 rhiannon.dhoot@sanctuaryrecruitment.com
📱 +61 485 972 926
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