The Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards (2025): Putting Identity, Autonomy and Clinical Safety at the Centre — And How Digital Advance Care Planning Makes It Possible

From 1 November 2025, Australia will implement the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards. These reforms shift aged care from “meeting baseline obligations” to demonstrating genuine, person-centred care that is culturally aware, clinically safe, and transparently governed.

This is not a compliance box-ticking exercise. It is a fundamental re-framing of what care means.

It asks a simple question of every provider:

Does the way we deliver care show that we truly understand who this person is, what matters to them, and how they want to live and be cared for — every day, and especially in clinical decision-making?

The Practical Meaning of the 2025 Standards

The reforms require care plans to be:

• Co-authored with the person and their chosen supporters
• Digitally accessible across staff, clinicians, hospitals & emergency services
• Regularly reviewed and version-tracked
• Cultural, relational, sensory, spiritual and identity-based by design
• Linked to transparent governance, consent and clinical decisions
  

The age of:

• Paper folders in nurses’ stations
• Scanned PDFs uploaded after the fact
• Out-of-date plans in circulation
• “We update this when we get time”
• No audit trail

is over.

The Standards now require evidence that the resident’s preferences are known, accessible, current, traceable, and acted upon.

What This Means for Providers — Day to Day

This is serious cultural, operational, and digital uplift.

How Evaheld Enables Providers to Meet — and Exceed — the Standards

Evaheld is not a document repository. It is a full lifecycle Advance Care Planning Software and Person-Centred Care platform that supports the resident and the provider from creation → review → governance → emergency access.

A. Guided Completion for Residents & Families

Residents and their supporters receive accessible, step-by-step guidance to complete:

• Advance Care Directives
  
• Care & Lifestyle Preferences
  
• Substitute Decision-Maker designations
  
• Cultural, identity, spiritual, sensory & relational data

This reduces staff workload and increases completion rates.

B. Provider & Clinical Dashboards Designed for Compliance

Centralised oversight ensures:

• Real-time plan status and analytics
• Real-time automated support for end users
• Review reminder
• Version comparisons and time stamping
• Alerts for missing information
• Team-based co-authoring

C. Audit-Grade Governance & Legal Defensibility

Every action is logged, including:

• View
• Edit
• Share
• Download
• Signature
• Authorisation change

This supports:

• Clinical governance
• Accreditation audits
• Restrictive practice documentation
• Coronial and legal defensibility

Unlike platforms that simply “store documents,” Evaheld provides traceability.

D. Meaningful Holistic Identity-Based Care

Evaheld stores and surfaces:

This ensures dignity is not symbolic — it is operationalised.

E. Interoperability

Evaheld integrates with:

• Clinical systems
• My Health Record
• GP & hospital workflows
• Palliative, RAC, home care & community care environments

F. Emergency QR Access

Paramedics, emergency teams and hospital admit staff can access the resident’s current plan in seconds. No searching. No delays. No uncertainty.

Plan ahead with confidence — create your free Advance Care Plan in the Evaheld Legacy Vault to record your healthcare wishes, appoint decision-makers, and give your loved ones clarity, comfort, and peace of mind.

Reference Resources

Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards

Aged Care Reform Framework (Department of Health and Aged Care)

How does Evaheld exceed the new Aged Care Act Standards?

Standard 1 — Dignity, Identity & Choice

Care must reflect identity — not just condition. Evaheld ensures personal story, cultural background, communication style and decision-making preferences are visible and enacted.

Standard 2 — Assessment & Planning

Plans must be co-authored, dynamic, and traceable. Evaheld timestamps and tracks every edit, review, author and rationale.

Standard 3 — Clinical Care

Care must align with documented treatment goals. Evaheld surfaces clinical directives at point of care, avoiding outdated or conflicting plans.

Standard 4 — Daily Living Supports

Daily life details are clinically relevant. Evaheld embeds routines, preferences and comfort needs for all staff — including agency and new hires.

Standard 5 — Feedback & Complaints

Feedback must be acknowledged, tracked and evidenced. Evaheld logs concerns, actions and resolutions, producing audit-ready summaries.

Standard 6 — Organisational Governance

Providers must demonstrate defensibility. Evaheld provides access logs, risk oversight, version histories and governance dashboards.

Standard 8 — Clinical Governance

Restrictive practices, consent and decision-maker authority must be verifiable. Evaheld provides clear, lawful documentation of who approved what, when, and under what authority.

COMPLIANCE READINESS CHECKLIST

Your organisation is prepared for 1 November 2025

if your system can:

If any item is unchecked — the organisation will not be compliant in November 2025.

Evaheld meets every requirement.

Future-Proof Your Family’s Story with the Evaheld Legacy Vault

Imagine a single, permanent home for your life's most precious layers: the laughter in your stories, the wisdom in your wishes, and the clarity of your care plans. The Evaheld Legacy Vault is that home—a guaranteed sanctuary for your legacy, designed to outlive the digital noise and ensure your voice is heard for generations.

This is more than storage; it's the one account your family will thank you for creating.

Take control of what matters most — set up your free Evaheld Legacy Vault to keep your stories, care wishes, and essential documents safe, organised, and instantly shareable with loved ones and advisers, for life.

Get Your Vault Running in Minutes with Charli, Your AI Legacy Preservation Assistant

Stop feeling overwhelmed. Charli is your proactive guide who simplifies every step—from setting up your vault and inviting family members to sending smart content requests and helping you articulate your stories. She doesn't just help you write; she helps you build, ensuring your entire legacy is preserved efficiently and authentically.

Your All-in-One Legacy Solution

• Preserve a Rich, Living History: Build a first-person narrative with video messages, audio recordings, legacy letters, and recipes—a digital heirloom where your wisdom and memories are kept safe and searchable.
• Co-Create in Family Rooms: Spark conversations and gather memories together in shared, collaborative spaces. It’s a living scrapbook that grows with every contribution from your family.
• Simplify Every Step with Charli, Your AI Legacy Preservation Assistant: From onboarding and inviting family to sending content requests and articulating your stories, Charli provides proactive guidance throughout your entire legacy-building journey—ensuring nothing is forgotten while keeping the process effortless.
• Honour Your Care Wishes: Complete your legally valid Digital Advance Care Directive with our intuitive tool. Grant loved ones and clinicians instant, secure access, ending frantic document searches for good.
• Grant Emergency Access in Seconds: Share or print your unique QR Emergency Access Card. A single scan gives first responders immediate access to your directives, enabling faster, better-aligned care when every second counts.
• Safeguard Every Essential Document: Consolidate your will, power of attorney, superannuation details, and more in one bank-grade encrypted vault. Your family will always find what they need, securely.

How to Secure Your Legacy in Minutes

1. Start Your Free Vault: Claim your personal, secure space in under a minute. No cost, no commitment.
2. Add Your People & Open Rooms: Invite family to shared Rooms to begin co-creating your story and sending content requests.
3. Build Your Legacy: Use your built-in AI assistant to help capture memories and refine your messages. Upload documents and record your care wishes. Your voice, preserved forever.

Why Thousands Are Choosing Evaheld

By starting your free Evaheld Legacy Vault, you gain:

• A Living Time Capsule — preserve your family’s identity, values, and care choices in one lasting digital home.
• With Charli, Your AI Assistant, Preserving Your Story is Effortless
• Ease & Organisation — everything important, easily shared and always up to date.
• Peace of Mind for All Generations — loved ones know exactly what you wish, and where to find it.
• Free to Begin, Forever to Keep — create your vault now and secure lifetime access

Watch our Cofounder's Story to learn why we’re so passionate about Legacy Preservation and Advance Care Planning

The Best 3 Resources to Get Started

• Create Your Legacy Statement in 10 Minutes Flat
  
• Legacy Letters for Grandchildren
  
• Learn how to preserve your family legacy today—simple steps, meaningful impact, lasting connection.

Start Your Vault — It’s Free and Forever Yours

Building your Evaheld Legacy Vault takes minutes — and protects your stories, care plans, and family legacy for generations. Give your loved ones the greatest gift of all: peace of mind that never expires.

Create your free Evaheld Legacy Vault today — safeguard your memories, protect your wishes, and keep your story alive forever.

Our Promise: No One Left Behind

Evaheld’s “Connection Is All We Have” Hardship Policy ensures that financial barriers never silence a story. If you or someone you love needs assistance, we’ll help you secure your vault — because every life, every voice, and every legacy deserves to be remembered, honoured, and preserved.