Ageing and Disability Commissioner Regulation 2019

The Regulation is short and focused. Its main legal concepts are prescriptions and transpositions: it prescribes persons and classes for the operation of definitional and procedural provisions in the Ageing and Disability Commissioner Act 2019, and it transposes certain pre-existing appointments and matters from the CS (CRM) Act into the new statutory scheme. The Regulation uses the following legal mechanisms.

• Definition-by-reference: clause 3 gives “the Act” a fixed meaning within the Regulation , the Ageing and Disability Commissioner Act 2019 , and signals interpretive cross-references to the Interpretation Act 1987 (cl 3(1)). This confirms that where the Regulation prescribes a class or an agency it is doing so to give sectioned provisions in the Act operative content.
• Delegation prescription: clause 4 prescribes a specific employer’s staff , persons employed by Catholic Healthcare Limited , as persons to whom powers under s 11 of the Act may be delegated. Under the Act, s 11 is the head of power for delegation; the Regulation identifies one specific delegatee class for that head power (cl 4).
• Prescribed “relevant agency” list: clause 5 operates by reference to the Act’s definition of “relevant agency” in s 14(8)(f). The Regulation supplies a closed list of agencies (Commonwealth and NSW, including specific statutory bodies and office-holders) that trigger the Act’s information-exchange provisions (cl 5). The clause records an amendment history note (Am 2021).
• Definition of “relevant health practitioner”: clause 5A, inserted in 2021, prescribes two classes of health practitioner (registered nurse and speech pathologist) as “relevant health practitioner” for the Act’s search-warrant provision in s 17(6) (cl 5A).
• Service-provider scope for NDIS: clause 6 prescribes that persons/organisations providing supports to NDIS participants under a participant’s plan are service providers for the Act’s purposes, but excludes those who provide “residential care” as defined in the Aged Care Act 1997 (cl 6).
• Transitional provisions: clauses 7 and 8 provide continuity. Clause 7 treats Official Community Visitors appointed under the repealed CS (CRM) Act as appointed under s 21 of the new Act for the remainder of their existing terms, and allows them to contribute to the Commissioner’s work (cl 7(1)-(3)). Clause 8 treats certain unfinished Ombudsman inquiries as reports to the Commissioner (cl 8(1)-(3)).

These concepts are instrument-level clarifications, not amendments to the Act’s operative powers or procedural structure. The Regulation ties particular named agencies and practitioner classes to broader powers in the Act; it converts ongoing appointments and matters into the new statutory frame. The Regulation therefore functions as an implementation instrument, mapping existing institutional actors and legacy cases into the new Commissioner regime.

The Regulation affects a circumscribed set of actors by changing how they are captured or continue into the Ageing and Disability Commissioner regime. Key affected groups are:

• Catholic Healthcare Limited staff: clause 4 prescribes “persons employed by Catholic Healthcare Limited” as persons to whom the Commissioner may delegate functions under section 11 of the Act. That means those employees can exercise delegated Commissioner functions to the extent allowed by the Act’s delegation power and any delegation instrument made under it (cl 4). The practical effect is that Catholic Healthcare Limited’s employees are directly enabled to act in the Commissioner’s stead where delegation is made.
• Commonwealth oversight agencies and specified NSW statutory bodies: clause 5 prescribes a list of bodies as “relevant agencies” for the Act’s definition of that term (s 14(8)(f) of the Act). The list includes the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (Commonwealth), the NDIS Launch Transition Agency, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, the chief executive officer of Services Australia (or successor), the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Health (or successor), the Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer (Workers Compensation Act 1987), the Lifetime Care and Support Authority (Motor Accidents (Lifetime Care and Support) Act 2006), the Workers Compensation (Dust Diseases) Authority, and the NSW Self Insurance Corporation. Each listed body is thereby brought into the Act’s information-exchange definition (cl 5).
• Health practitioners for search-warrant purposes: clause 5A prescribes two classes of practitioner , registered nurses and speech pathologists , as “relevant health practitioner” under the Act’s search-warrant framework (s 17(6)). This affects which practitioners can be referred to in the Act’s warrant processes and may affect the evidence or assistance a warrant authorisation requires (cl 5A).
• NDIS service providers: clause 6 extends the Act’s “service provider” definition to persons or organisations providing supports to NDIS participants under their plans, unless they provide “residential care” within the meaning of the Commonwealth Aged Care Act 1997. In practice this captures many NDIS providers who offer in-home or community supports, while excluding providers whose activities fall within the Commonwealth’s residential aged-care definition (cl 6).
• Official Community Visitors previously appointed under the Community Services (Complaints, Reviews and Monitoring) Act 1993: clause 7 takes certain existing Official Community Visitors to have been appointed under s 21 of the new Act for the remainder of their term if they immediately before 1 July 2019 were Official Community Visitors under the CS (CRM) Act and exercised functions under s 8 of that Act with respect to visitable services as defined under Part 4 of the Ageing and Disability Commissioner Act 2019 (cl 7(1)). Those visitors may provide specified advice and information to the Commissioner and retain other statutory functions (cl 7(2)-(3)).
• Parties to ongoing Ombudsman inquiries under the CS (CRM) Act: clause 8 treats certain Ombudsman inquiries that were not finally dealt with by 1 July 2019 as taken to be reports made to the Commissioner if they relate to allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation of older adults or adults with disability (cl 8(1)-(3)). The Ombudsman is not required to continue to deal with such matters, shifting administrative responsibility to the Commissioner.
• Entities referenced by the prescribed agencies: organisations that interact with the listed agencies in clause 5 will be indirectly affected because those agencies are now specifically available for information-exchange under the Act’s definition of relevant agency.

Who pays and who decides: the Regulation does not allocate new funding or cost recovery in itself. The practical costs fall on those entities that must adapt administrative arrangements: Catholic Healthcare Limited to manage delegated staff exercising Commissioner functions; the listed agencies that may receive or supply exchanged information under the Act; NDIS providers to determine whether their activities are captured by the Act (cl 6); Official Community Visitors to confirm their status and continue functions (cl 7); and the Ombudsman to cease or transfer certain inquiries (cl 8). Decision-making power is concentrated in the Commissioner’s delegation and information-exchange powers, but the Regulation identifies specific external actors as permissible recipients or delegates.

The Regulation does not itself create broad new duties or rights in the substantive sense; instead it supplies the identity of persons and classes that the principal Act will treat as having or enjoying particular powers. The Regulation therefore clarifies who may exercise certain powers, who may be treated as a relevant counterpart for information-sharing, and which legacy appointments and matters continue. Concrete duties and rights shaped by the Regulation include:

• Delegation powers exercised under the Act: clause 4 prescribes that persons employed by Catholic Healthcare Limited are persons to whom functions can be delegated under section 11 of the Act. The Regulation does not itself create the delegation instrument or specify the content of delegations; delegations still arise from the Act’s s 11. Rights to act under delegation and the statutory duties that attach to any exercise of delegated power flow from the Act, with clause 4 supplying the class of persons that can be delegated to (cl 4).
• Information-exchange access under the Act: by prescribing a closed list of agencies in clause 5, the Regulation determines which agencies are “relevant agencies” for the Act’s information-exchange provisions (s 14(8)(f) of the Act). The right to exchange information with the Commissioner (or for the Commissioner to exchange information with them) is now explicitly available in relation to those named bodies. The Regulation does not itself set the modes, limits or safeguards for exchange; it only prescribes the party list (cl 5).
• Search-warrant procedures and practitioner role: clause 5A prescribes registered nurses and speech pathologists as classes of “relevant health practitioner” for the Act’s s 17(6) search-warrant definition. The Act’s warrant procedures, evidence standards and duties to comply will be governed by the Act; the Regulation fixes which practitioner classes are relevant to that statutory machinery (cl 5A).
• Service-provider coverage: clause 6 prescribes that persons or organisations providing supports to NDIS participants under their plans are service providers under the Act except where they provide residential care within the Aged Care Act 1997 meaning. This determines which providers become subject to the Act’s duties regarding service providers, such as reporting, standards or oversight obligations set in the principal Act (cl 6).
• Continuity of Official Community Visitors’ roles: clause 7 deems existing Official Community Visitors (who meet the clause’s pre-1 July 2019 criteria) to have been appointed under s 21 for the remainder of their term and to be able to provide advice or information to the Commissioner under s 22(1)(d) or (e) of the Act about existing matters. That creates a recognised channel for information and advice flowing from those visitors to the Commissioner, and it leaves their other statutory functions intact (cl 7(1)-(3)). The clause explicitly defines “existing matter” and references the CS (CRM) Act for context (cl 7(4)).
• Transition of Ombudsman matters: clause 8 takes specified unfinished Ombudsman inquiries as reports to the Commissioner, which shifts the administrative duty to handle those matters from the Ombudsman to the Commissioner, and relieves the Ombudsman of any continuing obligation to deal with them (cl 8(1)-(2)).

What the Regulation does not do in duties and rights terms is create new offences, civil liabilities, or fresh compliance regimes. Instead, it narrows the identity of actors subject to the Act’s pre-existing duties and rights. Any legal obligations or powers those actors carry will be those established in the principal Act; the Regulation operates as a mapping instrument. Where the Regulation says that a person is “taken to have been appointed” or that an inquiry is “taken to be a report”, those phrases create legal continuity that alters who holds duties and rights under the Act rather than inventing novel duties within the Regulation itself (cl 7(1); cl 8(1)).

The Regulation contains no penalty provisions and does not itself prescribe enforcement mechanisms or sanctions. Its role is to supply definitions and transitional arrangements that alter the scope of enforcement and reporting under the principal Ageing and Disability Commissioner Act 2019. The enforcement and penalty framework therefore remains in the Act; the Regulation affects enforcement only by changing which persons or entities can be delegated functions, which agencies are available for information-exchange, and which providers and legacy matters fall under the Act’s remit.

Consequences for enforcement practice that follow from the Regulation’s prescriptions include:

• Delegation of enforcement functions: clause 4 enables delegation of the Commissioner’s functions (under s 11 of the Act) to persons employed by Catholic Healthcare Limited. Any enforcement action exercised under a delegation remains subject to limitations and requirements set by the Act for delegation, but the Regulation specifies who may receive delegated authority. Enforcement activity undertaken by delegates will be enforceable through the Act’s mechanisms; the Regulation does not add separate sanction pathways (cl 4).
• Information sharing for enforcement investigations: clause 5’s list of “relevant agencies” makes those Commonwealth and NSW bodies partners for information exchange under the Act. The practical effect is to broaden the Commissioner’s potential evidence base and administrative reach by making those agencies explicit exchange counterparts, which can affect investigatory capacity and the ability to assemble material for enforcement actions. The Regulation itself contains no conditions on how exchanges occur; those procedural limits are in the Act (cl 5).
• Search-warrant evidence and process: clause 5A prescribes which health practitioners count as “relevant health practitioner” under the Act’s s 17(6) search-warrant provision. That affects the Act’s warrant-related processes which may be used in investigations supporting enforcement. Again, the Regulation defines who is relevant rather than changing enforcement standards (cl 5A).
• Coverage of providers subject to enforcement: clause 6 brings many NDIS supports providers into the Act’s “service provider” category, making them subject to reporting and oversight provisions of the Act that could lead to enforcement action if breached. The exclusion for residential care within the meaning of the Aged Care Act 1997 leaves those providers to other Commonwealth regimes (cl 6).
• Transition of Ombudsman matters: clause 8 transfers certain active Ombudsman inquiries into the Commissioner’s report-handling regime. That transfer alters which office exercises enforcement discretion over those matters. It also removes for those matters the Ombudsman’s continuing statutory duty to deal with them (cl 8(1)-(2)).

Because the Regulation does not itself prescribe penalties, anyone assessing sanction risk must refer to the principal Act for the substantive offences, breach consequences, enforcement powers, and remedies. The Regulation modifies enforcement ecosystem membership and evidence flows but leaves the Act’s enforcement architecture intact.

The Regulation explicitly cross-references a set of Commonwealth and NSW statutes and the principal Act, and it reassigns certain matters from one NSW Act to another. The interactions are therefore definitional and transitional rather than substantive re-writes. Key interactions spelled out in the text are:

• Relationship to the Ageing and Disability Commissioner Act 2019: clause 3(1) declares that “the Act” in the Regulation is the Ageing and Disability Commissioner Act 2019. Multiple provisions in the Regulation operate by reference to specific sections of that Act (for example, clause 4 references section 11, clause 5 references section 14(8)(f), clause 5A references section 17(6), clause 6 references section 20, clause 7 references sections 21 and 22, and clause 8 references section 13). The Regulation therefore functions as an implementing instrument that fleshes out the Act’s definitions and transitional arrangements (cl 3).
• Use of Commonwealth Acts for definitions and exclusions: clause 5 lists Commonwealth bodies established by Commonwealth statutes , the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission Act 2018), the NDIS Launch Transition Agency and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (both under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013) , as prescribed “relevant agencies” for the NSW Act’s purposes. Clause 6 uses the Aged Care Act 1997’s definition of “residential care” to carve an exclusion from the Act’s service-provider prescription for NDIS supports providers. Those cross-references mean that the meaning and statutory existence of the Commonwealth bodies and the content of the Aged Care Act 1997’s residential-care definition will determine the Regulation’s practical coverage (cl 5; cl 6).
• Workers-compensation and related NSW statutes: clause 5 prescribes several NSW statutory bodies created under specific NSW Acts , Workers Compensation Nominal Insurer (Workers Compensation Act 1987), Lifetime Care and Support Authority (Motor Accidents (Lifetime Care and Support) Act 2006), Workers Compensation (Dust Diseases) Authority (Workers’ Compensation (Dust Diseases) Act 1942), and the NSW Self Insurance Corporation (NSW Self Insurance Corporation Act 2004) , as relevant agencies for information exchange (cl 5). The Regulation thus creates a direct line between those bodies’ records and the Commissioner’s information-access under the Act.
• Transition from Community Services (Complaints, Reviews and Monitoring) Act 1993: clauses 7 and 8 interact with the CS (CRM) Act by carrying over Official Community Visitors and unfinished Ombudsman inquiries into the new Commissioner framework. Clause 7 references appointments under s 7 of the CS (CRM) Act and functions under s 8 of that Act, and clause 8 explicitly takes inquiries under s 11(1)(e) of the CS (CRM) Act that were not finally dealt with by 1 July 2019 to be reports to the Commissioner (cl 7; cl 8).
• Interpretation Act 1987: clause 3(1) notes that the Interpretation Act 1987 contains definitions and other provisions that affect interpretation and application of the Regulation. That signals that statutory interpretation conventions from the Interpretation Act apply when construing the Regulation’s prescriptions (cl 3).
• Successor agencies/office-holders: clause 5 prescribes the chief executive officer of Services Australia and the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Health, or their successors, which means the Regulation anticipates organisational change and ties its prescription to the position holder rather than a particular organisational form (cl 5(d)-(e)).

These interactions make the Regulation sensitive to developments in the referenced Commonwealth and NSW statutes and to organisational changes in the named agencies. Where the meaning of a term (for example “residential care” in the Aged Care Act 1997) determines whether an entity is excluded, that external statute’s content becomes outcome-determinative for coverage under the NSW Act as implemented by this Regulation. The Regulation does not, however, alter or suspend the operation of the referenced statutes; it uses them as definitional and organisational inputs to map the new Commissioner framework onto existing governance architecture.

The Regulation records a limited amendment record in the text supplied. The explicit amendment notes are:

• Clause 5 amendment: the text of clause 5 includes a marginal note or parenthetical amendment citation , “cl 5: Am 2021 (627), Sch 1[1]”. That indicates clause 5 was amended by an instrument from 2021 (instrument number 627), Schedule 1, item [1] (cl 5).
• Clause 5A insertion: clause 5A did not appear in the original 2019 regulation text but bears the insertion note “cl 5A: Ins 2021 (627), Sch 1[2]”. That records that clause 5A (the search-warrants relevant health practitioners prescription) was inserted by the same 2021 instrument (cl 5A).

The Regulation itself identifies its title, Ageing and Disability Commissioner Regulation 2019, and its commencement date as 1 July 2019 (cl 1; cl 2). There are no other amendment annotations in the supplied text.

What is mechanically visible in the Amendment-history entries is that clause 5 was amended and clause 5A added in a 2021 instrument, which adjusted the list of prescribed agencies and added a search-warrant practitioner prescription. The Regulation’s structure therefore reflects at least one post-commencement tweak to the network of agencies and practitioner classes available under the Act. The Regulation does not supply the precise textual changes introduced to clause 5 by the 2021 amendment beyond the citation; for line-by-line change history, one must read the consolidated text which the supplied instrument appears to be.

No further amendment notations, repeal dates, or sunset clauses appear in the supplied text. The Regulation’s dependence on successor office-holders (cl 5(d)-(e)) indicates some built-in continuity with organisational changes, which reduces the need for frequent amendment when agency names or structures change.

The Regulation text contains no case references and records no litigation history. It does not cite judicial decisions, and it does not recount disputes or litigation outcomes related to its provisions. Accordingly, there is no judicial history embedded in the instrument itself.

That absence does not eliminate the possibility of future litigation. The Regulation’s prescriptions create definitional and transitional questions that could become litigated issues if parties contest how the Regulation applies to them. Potential areas where litigation could arise, drawn from the Regulation’s text, include:

• Delegation disputes: clause 4’s prescription that persons employed by Catholic Healthcare Limited may be delegated functions under s 11 of the Act could be contested in specific factual circumstances. Litigation could arise over the validity of particular delegations, the scope of a delegated authority, whether a named employee was legitimately acting under a delegate instrument, or whether the delegate complied with statutory limits on delegation. Those questions would be resolved by reference to the Act’s s 11 and any delegation instruments, but the Regulation supplies the class of permitted delegatees (cl 4).
• Information-exchange scope: clause 5 prescribes which agencies count as “relevant agencies” for the Act’s information-exchange provisions. Litigation could focus on whether a particular agency not listed nevertheless qualifies for exchange under other parts of the Act, or on the interpretation of “successor” when agencies are restructured. Disputes may also arise about the proper scope or limits of information exchange between the Commissioner and the prescribed agencies; procedural safeguards for such exchanges would be litigable if the Act does not clearly define them (cl 5).
• Scope of “relevant health practitioner”: clause 5A limits the “relevant health practitioner” class for s 17(6) search-warrant purposes to registered nurses and speech pathologists. Litigation could emerge over whether another practitioner class should be treated as relevant to a warrant application or whether the Regulation’s list is exhaustive. The clause explicitly prescribes two classes, which may narrow judicial inquiry to statutory interpretation of whether the list is exhaustive or illustrative (cl 5A).
• NDIS provider coverage disputes: clause 6’s carve-out for providers that provide “residential care” within the meaning of the Commonwealth Aged Care Act 1997 raises potential disputes about whether a given provider’s services are residential care under that Commonwealth Act. Litigation may be required to determine coverage where providers operate hybrid services or where the residential-care definition is contested (cl 6).
• Transitioned matters and Ombudsman powers: clause 8 transfers certain unfinished Ombudsman inquiries to the Commissioner. Disputes could arise about whether a particular inquiry qualifies as an “existing matter” as defined or whether the Ombudsman retains any residual jurisdiction or duty to act. The clause also states the Ombudsman is not required to continue to deal with an existing matter taken to be a report, which may produce litigation over procedural fairness or the proper transfer of records and rights (cl 8(1)-(2)).

Because the Regulation is largely prescriptive and transitional, litigation would likely engage statutory interpretation and administrative-law principles under the Act and the Interpretation Act 1987 rather than create novel legal doctrines. Any litigation history that emerges would therefore be recorded against the principal Act and the cases would need to be located in judicial databases or later consolidated versions of the legislation. The Regulation itself provides no litigation record in its text.

The Regulation contains several narrow prescriptions and transitional mechanics whose practical implications may catch affected parties by surprise if unexamined. The following are concrete “gotchas” anchored in the Regulation text:

• Delegation is authorising a narrow class, not all providers: clause 4 prescribes persons employed by Catholic Healthcare Limited as persons who may be delegated functions under s 11. The prescription is specific to that employer; it does not create a general presumption that employees of other aged-care or disability organisations are presumptive delegates. Entities that assume broad delegation availability should check the Act and any subsequent delegation instruments rather than relying on clause 4 (cl 4).
• Prescribed agencies list is not unlimited: clause 5 supplies an explicit list of Commonwealth and NSW bodies as “relevant agencies” for information exchange. If an entity assumes the Commissioner may exchange information with any Commonwealth agency, that assumption will be wrong as a matter of the Regulation; only the named bodies (and their successors where named) are prescribed under the cited paragraph of the Act. The clause also records it was amended in 2021, so the list may have changed from earlier drafts (cl 5).
• Narrow definition of “relevant health practitioner” for warrants: clause 5A prescribes only registered nurses and speech pathologists as relevant health practitioners for the Act’s search-warrant provision (s 17(6)). That excludes other health professions from the Regulation’s prescription. Where the Act’s warrant process requires a “relevant health practitioner”, practitioners outside the two named classes may not meet the Regulation’s test (cl 5A).
• NDIS providers with residential care may be excluded: clause 6 brings NDIS supports providers into the Act’s service-provider definition but explicitly excludes those who provide residential care within the meaning of the Aged Care Act 1997. Providers that operate mixed services (both in-home supports and residential care) need to be careful in deciding which legislative regime applies to which parts of their service offering (cl 6).
• Continuation for Official Community Visitors is limited to those who exercised certain functions: clause 7 takes persons appointed under the CS (CRM) Act to have been appointed under s 21 of the new Act only if, immediately before 1 July 2019, they were Official Community Visitors under the CS (CRM) Act and exercised functions under s 8 of that Act with respect to visitable services as defined under Part 4 of the Ageing and Disability Commissioner Act 2019. Individuals who were Official Community Visitors but did not have that specific function or who did not service visitable services as defined may not obtain the deemed appointment (cl 7(1)). The “immediately before 1 July 2019” temporal test is strict.
• “Existing matter” is time-limited and topic-limited: clause 7(4) and clause 8 define “existing matter” narrowly (matters or conduct occurring or arising before 1 July 2019 and, in clause 8, Ombudsman inquiries not finally dealt with by that date). Clause 8(1) only converts into a report an existing matter insofar as it relates to allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation of an older adult or adult with disability. Matters outside those parameters will not be taken to be reports (cl 7(4); cl 8(1)-(3)).
• Ombudsman’s discontinuation of responsibility: clause 8(2) states the Ombudsman is not required to continue to deal with an existing matter taken to be a report to the Commissioner, which can result in a sudden shift of responsibility and potential gaps in continuity if records, rights or participant expectations are not managed (cl 8(2)).
• Notes do not form part of the Regulation: clause 3(2) expressly states that notes included in the Regulation do not form part of the Regulation; reliance on marginal notes or explanatory notes as legal content would therefore be misplaced (cl 3(2)).
• Dependence on external definitions: several prescriptions depend on definitions in other Acts (for example, “residential care” in the Aged Care Act 1997 and the identification of agencies established by Commonwealth acts). If those external definitions are reinterpreted, this could materially change who is captured by the Regulation without the Regulation itself being amended (cl 5; cl 6).
• Successor office-holders: clause 5 names certain office-holders or agencies “or a successor of that agency” (cl 5(d)-(e)). That wording anticipates organisational change but introduces ambiguity where successor status is disputed. Entities should verify successor status rather than assume it.

Each “gotcha” arises from narrow textual choices in the Regulation. Entities and advisers should read the specific clauses cited above carefully before assuming broader coverage, delegation power, or continuity than the Regulation text grants.

Compliance under this Regulation is primarily about correct attribution, internal process alignment, record-keeping and identifying whether the Regulation’s prescriptions affect existing duties under the Ageing and Disability Commissioner Act 2019. The Regulation itself does not list operational procedures, but the following checklist maps the Regulation’s clauses to practical compliance steps a regulated entity should consider.

1. Confirm whether you are within the prescribed classes

• Catholic Healthcare Limited: if you are an employee of Catholic Healthcare Limited, ensure your employer’s governance allows for delegation under s 11 of the Act, and that any delegation instruments are properly executed and documented (cl 4). If you are another organisation, do not assume the same delegation entitlement exists.
• NDIS providers: determine whether your organisation provides supports under a participant’s NDIS plan. If yes, clause 6 likely makes you a “service provider” under the Act unless you provide residential care as defined in the Aged Care Act 1997. For mixed-service providers, map each service against the Aged Care Act’s residential-care definition to identify which services fall under the NSW Act (cl 6).
• Health practitioners for warrants: if you are a registered nurse or speech pathologist, be aware that the Regulation expressly lists these as “relevant health practitioner” classes for s 17(6) purposes. If you expect to be called in relation to a search-warrant process under the Act, ensure awareness of the Act’s warrant provisions and any employer protocols (cl 5A).

2. Information-exchange preparedness

• Agencies on the clause 5 list should audit records, privacy and data-sharing settings to manage authorised exchanges with the Commissioner. The Regulation prescribes these agencies as “relevant agencies” under s 14(8)(f), which means information exchange is contemplated by the Act. The Regulation does not itself create exchange procedures; agencies should check the Act for the procedural and privacy safeguards and ensure internal record-access protocols are in place before exchanges occur (cl 5).

3. Transitional matters and record transfer

• Official Community Visitors appointed under the CS (CRM) Act who meet the clause 7 criteria should confirm their deemed appointments, document their remaining term, and be prepared to provide advice and information to the Commissioner under s 22(1)(d) or (e) about existing matters. They should retain and organise records of conduct and matters that arose before 1 July 2019 (cl 7(1)-(2)).
• The Ombudsman and bodies handling inquiries under the CS (CRM) Act should identify which inquiries were not finally dealt with by 1 July 2019 and fall within clause 8’s parameters (inquiries under s 11(1)(e) that relate to allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation). For those matters, ensure secure transfer of files, proper closure notes, and transfer notifications to affected parties because the Ombudsman is not required to continue to deal with such matters once they are taken to be reports to the Commissioner (cl 8(1)-(2)).

4. Delegation documentation and training

• Catholic Healthcare Limited should prepare delegation instruments and internal training for any staff authorised to act under delegated Commissioner functions, ensuring they understand any limits in the delegation instrument and obligations under the principal Act that continue to attach to delegated actions (cl 4).

5. Monitor successor status and statutory definitions

• Agencies listed in clause 5 (for example, Services Australia CEO or Secretary of the Department of Health “or a successor”) should maintain up-to-date public records showing successor status and contact points to avoid disputes when the Commissioner seeks to exchange information. Providers affected by clause 6 should continuously monitor the Aged Care Act 1997 definition of “residential care” to determine whether organisational changes alter their coverage under the NSW Act (cl 5; cl 6).

6. Document legal basis for actions

• Whenever the Commissioner exchanges information, relies on a prescribed “relevant agency”, exercises delegation via a Catholic Healthcare employee, or treats transitioned matters as reports, ensure records document the Regulation clause relied upon (cl 3; cl 4; cl 5; cl 7; cl 8). Because notes in the Regulation are not part of the law (cl 3(2)), operational files should reference the Regulation text and relevant sections of the Act.

7. Privacy, confidentiality and data protection

• Even though the Regulation prescribes agencies for information exchange, it does not set out privacy safeguards. Prescribed agencies and the Commissioner should check the Act for required privacy protections, and implement memoranda of understanding, record-retention policies, and secure transfer mechanisms consistent with applicable privacy frameworks before engaging in exchanges (cl 5).

8. Legal review before dispute escalation

• Where an entity faces uncertainty,e.g., whether mixed services qualify as residential care for the Aged Care Act, or whether a particular health practitioner outside the two named classes should be treated as “relevant” for a warrant,seek legal advice referencing the specific clauses cited in the Regulation to avoid misapplication (cl 5A; cl 6).

Practical compliance therefore centres on mapping organisational roles to the Regulation’s prescribed lists, documenting delegation and transfer instruments, securing records for transitioned matters, and ensuring privacy and governance systems are in place to support any information exchange. The Regulation’s prescriptions are concrete and narrow, so compliance is largely an exercise of accurate identification, record-keeping and aligning internal delegations with what the Regulation allows.