ON the 24th of December 2018, the Royal Commission into the Quality and Safety of Aged Care in Australia officially called for members of the public to make submissions using an online form. The form is designed to capture information that is relevant and consistent with the areas of inquiry set out in the Royal Commission's Terms of Reference.
The deadline for public submissions has been extended to 30 June 2020.
Not all questions will be relevant to every person or entity making a submission, but completing as much of the form as possible will assist to identify issues and trends. Please also consider suggestions as to how you think aged care can be improved.
- Transcripts
- Legal Financial Assistance for people engaging with the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Attorney-General's Department)
Making a submission
It's a good idea to save responses to your questions before filling out the online form, then simply copy and paste your responses as you will not be able to save your responses and come back to it.
Your submission to the Royal Commission can be completed using the online submission form. To view and prepare for the four page online form questions, you can download the submission form as a PDF document and complete it offline, either digitally or by printing and then scanning the document.
This form can then be submitted by beginning the online submission form (as an attachment) and uploading your completed form when prompted, or emailing it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
If you are having difficulty using the online form, simply download and complete the PDF and email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The word limit on the online form for free text is 20,000 characters (approx. 5 A4 pages), however, you can also provide supporting material by attaching a maximum of five files.
Download a sample file to see what 20,000 characters looks like.
(Please note that not all file types can be uploaded to the Royal Commission. Accepted file attachment types are JPG, GIF, PNG and PDF with a file size limit of 10 MB per file).
Frequently Asked Questions
The following questions are provided as a guide only:
Q: Where can I find the Royal Commission's Terms of Reference?
The Terms of Reference can be found further down this page or on the Royal Commission's website.
Q: How do I make a submission?
You can make a submission to the Royal Commission using the online Submission form - you may want to first view the questions to assist with making your submission.
Q: Can I start the online submission process and then come back later to complete it?
No. You need to think about how to prepare your final draft of your submission in its totality prior to making your submission using the online Submission form, although the online form will allow you to navigate between the 4 pages of the submission saving your responses.
Q: Can I view all of the questions before I make my submission?
You can view the questions to prepare your submission by downloading the submission form as a PDF document.
Q: Is there an interpreting service I can use to assist me with my submission?
Yes. Try contacting the Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing where they have a comprehensive list of resources for multilingual health and aged care information for consumers.
Q: Can I make a submission without using the online Submission form?
Yes. If you are not comfortable using the online Submission form, the Royal Commission would still like to hear from you. You can:
- Write to the Royal Commission: Royal Commission into Aged Care, GPO Box 1151 Adelaide SA 5001.
- Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Telephone: 1800 960 711 (between 8:00am-8:00pm AEDT Mon-Fri except on public holidays).
Q: Can I make more than one submission?
Yes. When filling out the online Submission form, you will be asked "Have you already made another submission to the Royal Commission?" and if you have done so, you will be asked to enter a Reference number provided by the Royal Commission.
Q: Can I make a submission about more than one aged care service provider?
Yes. If you are concerned about the conduct of more than one aged care services provider then the Royal Commission has advised that you should complete a separate submission for each provider.
Q: Is there provision to enter text describing my experience in the online submission form?
Yes. On Page 3 of 4 of the online Submission form, there is provision to enter formatted free text with a word limit of 20,000 characters. This is approximately six A4 pages of text, however, you can also provide supporting material by attaching a maximum of 5 files (limit of 10MB per file).
Q: Does the Royal Commission support file attachments to submissions?
As part of your submission, you can also provide supporting material by attaching a maximum of 5 files. Accepted file types are JPG, GIF, PNG and PDF with a file size limit of 10 MB per file and maximum of 5 files can be uploaded. Please note that not all file types can be uploaded (using the online Submission form) to the Royal Commission.
Q: When do submissions close?
The Royal Commission will continue to accept submissions until at least the end of June 2020. It might be timely to send your submission as soon as possible so that it may be able to better inform public hearings due to be scheduled around Australia.
Q: Do you have any concerns about the aged care service having enough skilled staff to look after you or someone close to you - and how did this impact on the delivery of care?
- Write down how many staff were present in your experience - were there Registered Nurses?
- How many nurses to the number of residents?
- Were they present during the day/night/weekends?
- What about Personal Carers or other care staff?
- How many were non-care staff?
- Were the skills appropriate to the tasks of looking after your loved one? Were they qualified?
- Could staff understand the issues (medical and non-medical) you raised?
- Did you see any bullying, assaults or threatening behaviour by staff members?
Q: Are or were your concerns or complaints taken seriously by the aged care service?
- Did you feel comfortable and supported escalating any issues or complaints?
- Were there owners or managers present when an issue could not be resolved?
- Were there managerial staff present who could answer your queries and concerns?
Q: Do you have any concerns regarding sub-standard or unsafe aged care services delivered, including any of the following areas:
- Clinical care;
- Medication management;
- Quality of food, Nutrition (including malnourishment) (was the food cooked onsite, brought in frozen, microwaved?)
- Dehydration;
- Oral or Dental health;
- Restrictive practices - eg physical or chemical restraints;
- Palliative care;
- Skin care (wound treatments; pressure sores, etc);
- Mistreatment, neglect or abuse;
- Physical or sexual abuse, assault, unexplained bruising, etc.
Provide as much information and evidence especially if you contacted a third party such as police and law enforcement to address mistreatment, neglect or abuse. These instances may not only be physical but can also be mental/psychological, emotional and financial. Provide as much detail on your knowledge and awareness of elder abuse or neglect in this section.
Q: Did you have any difficulties getting information about care of your loved one?
If possible, provide records such as dates of calls, copies of emails, photos and other materials.
Q: Did you find the aged care service receptive to complaints?
If possible, provide records such as dates of calls, copies of emails, photos and other materials.
Q: Did you feel there were any barriers for you or your loved one to exercise 'choice' and 'control' with regards to the aged care services received?
Barriers can include physical (prevention of seeing your loved one), non-physical (lack of communication, emotional manipulation etc), legal (use of lawyers and other professionals to threaten/harass/intimidate you or your loved one) and others.
Q: Did you feel you were receiving value for money with regards to service delivery?
Write the amount you or your loved one were required to pay upfront (the fixed amount) at the commencement of services, and the ongoing (the variable amounts) fees you or your loved one were required to pay for the use of their services such as food, laundry, continence pads etc and assess whether the amount you paid was value for money - was it adequate/inadequate in the delivery and provision of these products and services?
Provide copies of contracts, invoices, bank statements, pension statements, shopping receipts (to compare eg how much the daily food given to you and your loved one vs the market rate of bought store food if there was no in-house chef) etc to show this.
Q: Did you seek help from any of the following government or funded agencies and were they able to assist?:
1: Aged Care Complaints;
2: Government funded aged care advocacy or peak organisations;
3: Minister for Ageing/Aged Care
4: Department of Health (or previously: Department of Health & Ageing or Department of Social Services)
5: Did you or a family member or friend participate in any interviews from the Aged Care Quality Agency and were they helpful? (or it's predecessor, the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency)
If possible, provide records such as dates of calls, copies of emails, photos and other materials.
Q: What changes would you like the Royal Commission to recommend?
Provide a list of recommendations on what you believe needs to happen for the Royal Commission to meet its future-proof objectives. Recommend on addressing the failures and weaknesses you see in the current system and provide reasons why these changes are necessary.
Q: How will my information be used?
The information you give to the Royal Commission is provided to help the Royal Commission with its work and will be used only for the purposes of the Royal Commission.
The Royal Commission may contact some individuals or entities that make submissions. The Commission will not contact everyone who makes a submission, but will ensure that all submissions are recorded, reviewed and used to inform the Commission's work.
The information you provide may be published by the Royal Commission during its proceedings or in its reports without revealing the identity of the person or entity who supplied the information. At the conclusion of the Royal Commission all of its records, including submissions will become subject to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act). Royal Commissions are not subject to the FOI Act while they are in operation.
If you need any independent help with making a submission or organising attachments, please contact us and our volunteers will try and provide assistance where possible.
Updates: You should check the official Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety website for any official news or information regarding the progress of the Royal Commission. You can also subscribe to our free eNews to be kept updated.
To date, more than 300 public submissions have been received. Approximately 81% of these submissions have been about care provision. The most common concerns are about substandard or unsafe care and staffing issues, including staff ratios, with about 54 per cent and 59 per cent of the submissions raising these issues respectively.
A common theme arising to date from submissions, are incidents related to residential aged care and include elder abuse, medication mismanagement, overuse of psychotropic medications, issues of food safety, not responding in a timely manner to residents requiring assistance, and inadequate wound management leading to death. It also appears that record keeping and record management is an issue for some providers.
Online submission form questions
The collapsible section below, summarises the Submission form process and questions you may choose to familiarise yourself with prior to preparing a submission.
You need to think about how to prepare your final draft of your contribution in its totality prior to making your submission, as although the online form will allow you to navigate between the 4 page online form saving the responses, there is no provision to save your response and come back to it at a later time.
Royal Commission: Terms of reference
The terms of reference for the Royal Commission are included in the Letters Patent, which the Administrator of the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia signed on 6 December 2018.
Suggestions for writing a submission
Submitting to a Royal Commission is a very personal matter. This is your own aged care story. Do not rush into writing it until you feel you are ready to do so. It takes time and energy (both emotional and physical) to write your account.
If you are making a submission via your computer, make sure you save a copy of the document (If you don't have a computer or can't type, write it out on a piece of paper or a journal; see if you can find someone to type it out later by using stenographer services).
Step 1:
- Pick the issue/s you think your submission will best fit the Commission's investigation. View the Submission form questions (above) to help with this.
- Write your submission honestly and in a free-flowing manner. Don't worry about spelling or grammar at this stage! This will be your first draft.
- Stick to the facts and write about the impact the issues you have raised has had on you and others such as your family and friends personally, financially and emotionally.
- If you have evidence (such as emails, receipts, mementoes, personal effects, diary entries, calendar entries, notes, notebooks, photos, audiotapes, video footage, transcripts, internet chats etc.) to back up the issues you have raised, find them now. They are useful reminders to help you write about the events and they will help corroborate the account you have written.
- A suggestion is to write your submission using a timeline from the first point of concern you had and from then onwards. Dates are useful and having a timeline will clarify your submission.
- For your first draft, write as much as you can. Now, find a trusted person to read your draft. Ask what their thoughts are, and what ways you can improve your arguments without asking you to change the facts and evidence in your story.
- Try one of the support helplines below if you can't find someone to listen to you. Reading it aloud to someone face to face or over the phone will help strengthen and improve your writing.
Step 2:
After you have done your first draft, it is time for your second draft. This is the time where you make sure you check your spelling and grammar are correct. Don't forget the Commission team are seasoned lawyers. Being able to write in an eloquent and convincing manner will help them understand your story.
A word-processing document for example, usually uses 11 or 12 point size font, 1.5 spacing, page numbers and headings when necessary. Having a clear submission will help the Commission's work and will allow them to read your submission more easily.
If you use a word-processor you can easily perform a "Word count" (eg, in MSWord: Tools; Word count) prior to filling out the online Submission form. You will be able to determine your 20,000 character limit for the "free text" field on page 3 of the submission form. (Don't forget you can also provide additional or supporting material by attaching a maximum of 5 files).
Now, think about the things in your submission that you can expand on and write on what you feel the Commission should also investigate. Note, Issue 5 asks the Commission to investigate other matters it considers necessary. By the way, congratulations! You have written up your submission. We hope it has been a cathartic experience.
About Royal Commission hearings
A Royal Commission can take evidence in a number of ways for different purposes, including conducting formal hearings. Hearings may either be open or closed, or restricted to a certain class of persons. Evidence given in a closed hearing will not be made publically available and will be used in a way that protects an individual's identity.
Royal Commissions can refer information about suspected or alleged crimes to relevant law enforcement authorities or share relevant information with other ongoing inquiries.
Information about hearings and how individuals can participate in the Royal Commission will be made available on its website Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Royal Commission powers
The Royal Commission has broad powers to gather information and assist with its investigations and inquiries. These are sometimes called coercive powers because they can compel an individual to participate in the inquiry. The Royal Commission has the power to:
- summons witnesses to appear before it and require them to answer questions under oath or affirmation, and
- summons witnesses to produce a document or other material piece of evidence.
If summoned, there are very few grounds on which a person can refuse to give evidence to a Royal Commission. Failure to comply with a summons issued by a Royal Commission may result in an individual receiving a fine or in some circumstances imprisonment.
In some circumstances a search warrant and/or arrest warrant might be issued if a person fails to comply with a summons. It is an offence to intentionally provide false or misleading evidence to a Royal Commission or by intentionally insulting or disturbing it.
If you need support
Writing about your experience may trigger post-traumatic stress (PTS) or unpleasant memories. Please have a conversation with someone if you think the thought of writing, or the act of writing about this will make you upset. You will be helping the Royal Commission's work when you make a submission but please look after yourself first, especially your mental health. We need your story to help the Commission's investigation.
The following numbers may be useful before, during and/or after your submission:
- Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
- Cancer Information and Support: 13 11 20
- Carers Australia: 1800 242 636
- Elder Abuse Helpline: 1800 628 221
- Epilepsy Foundation: 1300 761 487
- Griefline: 1300 845 745
- Lifeline: 13 11 14
- Mensline Australia: 1300 789 978
- Mental Health Help Line: 1800 011 511
- Motor Neurone Disease Association: 1800 777 175
- National Dementia Help Line: 1800 100 500
- National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline: 1800 880 052
- Open Arms – Veterans and Families Counselling: 1800 011 046
- QLife: 1800 184 527
- Parkinson's Australia: 1800 644 189
- Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
If you have found a useful support group number that can be added to the above list, please let us know.
Thank you for reading this guide. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve it, please let us know. We are all volunteers at Aged Care Crisis and will do our best to try and help where we can. Please email us if you have any feedback, questions or need some help.
