Serious Incident Response Scheme

In residential aged care services in Australia, a Serious Incident Response Scheme (SIRS) will commence from 1 April, 2021. The SIRS will be administered by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (the Commission) and will set new arrangements for providers of residential aged care to manage and take reasonable steps to prevent incidents, with a focus on the safety, health, well-being and quality of life of aged care consumers.

​The SIRS includes both incident management and reportable incident obligations to strengthen aged care systems and build providers' skills so they are more able to respond to incidents and provide aged care recipients with the support they need

Why do we need a SIRS?

One of the key changes the SIRS will bring is changes to compulsory reporting. At present service providers do not have to report a sexual assault by a resident with cognitive impairment. The lack of reporting here means the real extent of the problem is not being documented. Under the SIRS framework - all incidents of sexual assault are required to be reported. 

SIRS and sexual assault

KPMG was engaged by the Department of Health to conduct research into the prevalence of serious incidents in residential aged care. The Prevalence Study for a Serious Incident Report Scheme reviewed 178 residential aged care homes and identified an estimate of 1730 incidents of sexual assault nationally. It is worth noting that staff were asked to rate the impact of the incidents on residents and 58% said the sexual assault had no impact on the victim. 

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