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Protecting Housing and Human Rights in Aged Care

A recent publication proposes an innovative legal framework to address housing harms experienced by residents in aged care facilities, calling for stronger legal protections and access to justice.

Drawing on testimony from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the chapter – published in The Feminist Legislation Project – highlights the urgent need for enforceable remedies when residents experience harm or neglect in their place of residence. Despite aged care being a key housing context for older Australians, residents currently lack access to the same tribunal-based protections available to people in other forms of housing such as retirement villages, boarding houses, and strata communities.

Ms Charlotte Steer, Teaching Fellow in and (91̽�� Faculty of Law & Justice) and member of the 91̽�� Ageing Futures Institute, who authored the article, reinforces that aged care facilities must be recognised as homes - and that residents should have the legal tools to defend them as such.

"This Bill recognises residents in aged care as bearers of human rights who are entitled to enforce their rights themselves, rather than rely on investigators at the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, or in the police forces, to decide if, and how, any alleged breaches of human rights will be investigated, sanctioned or prosecuted."

The proposed Aged Care Rights Act 2024 (NSW) would incorporate the federal Charter of Aged Care Rights into NSW legislation, allowing residents or their representatives to take matters to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for fair and timely resolution.

“This Bill gives aged care residents the right to enforce their housing rights just like anyone else in shared housing - representing a shift away from paternalistic models and toward dignity, autonomy and access to justice for older people,” says Charlotte.

“As Australia ages and more people enter residential aged care, this proposal adds urgency to the growing calls for systemic reform.”

Read the full chapter .