4Simplified outline of this Act

4 Simplified outline of this Act

This Act provides for the appointment of the Inspector‑General of Aged Care, and establishes the Office of the Inspector‑General of Aged Care.

The Inspector‑General is independent from other entities within the aged care system, to support the Inspector‑General’s effective, impartial and transparent oversight of the system.

The Inspector‑General’s functions include oversight of the Commonwealth’s administration, governance and regulation of aged care. This includes conducting reviews into systemic issues and reporting to the Minister and Parliament on these matters. The reviews will not relate to individual complaints and actions.

The Inspector‑General has the power to compel a government entity to respond to the recommendations of a review and to publish that response in conjunction with the final report of the review.

The Inspector‑General’s functions also include monitoring and reporting on the Commonwealth’s implementation of the recommendations of the Aged Care Royal Commission.

The Inspector‑General will set out priorities and topics of review for the coming year through publishing an annual work plan.

The Inspector‑General has coercive information‑gathering powers, which allow the Inspector‑General to gather information relevant to the Inspector‑General’s functions from Commonwealth entities or any other person or body.

Persons who provide information to, or assist, the Inspector‑General are afforded protections against victimisation, or are able to request their identity be kept confidential, to allow full and frank disclosures to be made.

A regime of offences and penalties apply to breaches of the protections afforded and to unauthorised use or disclosure of information obtained under this Act.