Your voice is in the room.

What NPAA has done on your behalf in aged care: March to September 2026

Since March 2026, NPAA has taken your stories, from two frontline surveys and dozens of direct phone calls, into three formal Commission meetings, onto ministerial desks, and into enterprise bargaining negotiations. Here is what that has produced. 

What you told us

Two surveys. Hundreds of responses. The same issues, over and over — told in your own words.

• 83% reported missed care — pressure injuries, wounds, falls, hydration, documentation
• 90% said increasing paperwork was cutting direct care time
• Only 20% believed care minutes were being accurately delivered in practice
• Unqualified staff administering scheduled medications confirmed across QLD, NSW, SA and VIC
• Occupational violence reported by the majority — from residents, families, and management
• Staff afraid to report, afraid to complain, afraid to speak up

"They are reporting something that is not true to prop up actual deployed care minutes." — RN, QLD

"A resident was given 20ml of Risperidone instead of 0.2ml as charted, without an RN or EN present." — EN, QLD

"The response from management is always 'What did you do to provoke them?' It is always the staff, never the resident." — PCW, QLD

What we did with it

Every survey response went directly into formal Commission meetings, on the official record, with named action items and due dates.

• March 2026 meeting: presented the full survey findings to six senior Commission representatives including two Deputy Commissioners. Two formal action items were recorded in the official minutes.
• July 2026 meeting: followed up on every action item. Raised medication safety, care minutes manipulation, EN workforce, occupational violence, bed block and the complaints process. The Commission committed to two further action items — due November 2026.
• Post-meeting: the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing responded in writing on care minutes. The Department confirmed there is currently no review of the care minutes definition underway. NPAA has formally challenged this position and is not letting it go.
• Enterprise bargaining: NPAA is now embedding survey findings into EBA claims — including documentation red tape reduction committees, paid mandatory training, and EN workforce protections.
• Federal Minister: NPAA is formally escalating occupational violence in aged care to the Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care, seeking mandatory reporting obligations equivalent to the SIRS obligations that apply when a resident is harmed.

The bed block crisis is getting worse

More than 3,600 older Australians are now stranded in state-run hospitals waiting for aged care beds, up from 2,700 in mid-2025. In Queensland alone, that is costing $2.5 million a day. Fifteen Queenslanders have been stuck in hospital for more than 700 days. One person has been waiting for nearly three years.

NPAA and AMPS presented our Immediate Bed Block Solution Proposal at the March Commission meeting. Every state and territory health minister has now issued a joint statement demanding the federal government act. We were ahead of them.

What comes next

• November 2026, our third Commission meeting for the year. A survey will go out in October. Watch for it.
• The Commission must deliver a worker complaints factsheet and evidence guidance to NPAA by 24 November.
• Ministerial correspondence on occupational violence is being prepared. If you have a story to contribute, contact us.

Download the full NPAA Aged Care Reform Record: March to September 2026. It covers every meeting, every action item, every Commission response, and the full member survey findings. 

None of this happens without you.

If you need support, with a workplace concern, a complaint, or anything raised here, contact us or submit a member support request through your dashboard.

NPAA represents nurses and midwives across Australia on issues exactly like this one. If you're not yet a member, contact NPAA to find out how membership can support you at work.

Call the NPAA hotline on 1300 263 374 or email hotline@npaa.asn.au.