The government has accepted a recommendation that aged care monitoring and reporting systems move progressively to real-time and automated reporting within five years.

Some aspects of health, such as temperature and motion, can be measured by many different devices. Research is needed into the cost, reliability and acceptability of alternative devices.

Technological advances have made it possible to automatically monitor many aspects of aged care quality.

Outcome data should be provided to regulators frequently, at low cost, and with very little opportunity for fraud by the regulated. This should allow quick intervention by regulators.

Better care for the aged should result.

The present aged care system fails to meet any of the five principles proposed by Commissioner Briggs.

Better quality control needs to come from better quality measures. The Department of Health should lead research on automatic monitoring and data analysis, bearing the development costs, and paying providers to instal equipment.

Fixing present problems in aged care may only need increases in Commonwealth funding of between 14% and 35%. But continuing real funding growth per recipient may make aged care a much larger part of Commonwealth outlays.

Automated health measurements in residential aged care could help detect pandemics, make better use of emergency staff, and allow research into better procedures.

There should be universal access to aged care, funded by the Commonwealth, with co-contributions from those able to make them. Strong central agencies should control quality and financial soundness.

Many aged care facilities have had only one or two infections, but others have had over 100.

Large differences in safety practices between providers may be leading to failures to contain

outbreaks. Regular checks of residents for COVID-19 symptoms should help slow the spread of infections within a facility.

Strong safety measures are needed to prevent further COVID-19 disasters in aged care.

A data-based aged care system would allow prompt help to individuals, and close control of care quality.

Viability supplements to regional and remote providers should be greatly increased.

Aged care should be based on reliable data, shared between consumers, providers, regulators and researchers.

Improving satisfaction levels suggest that providers are finding ways to artificially improve responses.

People often choose to move long distances into aged care homes, but have little information to help them.

Very high debt to net asset ratios for some for-profit providers make it increasingly likely that a large provider will fail.

Provided consumers are well-informed about quality and financial stability, reducing locational controls is a good idea.

Much more work is needed before a new residential aged care funding model can be safely introduced.

Complex structures increase the risks of provider failures, and make it impossible to judge profitability and capital adequacy.

Large changes in notices of non-compliance and sanctions reflect major changes in the decision-making of Commonwealth government agencies