The new Aged Care Act has now taken effect, and it places dignity, respect and choice firmly at the heart of care. For providers, this is far more than regulatory compliance – it reflects a binding social contract where older people must be empowered to live safe, purposeful and connected lives, supported by systems that are designed to meet their needs and preferences.
This is an opportunity to turn the high-level principle of ‘dignity, respect and choice’ into operational reality and the lived experience of every person receiving care.
Now is the time for aged care providers to evolve, starting with elevating their digital capabilities. It is now impossible to think about excellent care outcomes without thinking about technology enablement. The aged care sector must shift its view of technological advancement from a back-office upgrade to a foundational enabler of frontline care. By building an ‘ecosystem of care’, providers can create a unified, connected environment in which every part of the care journey works in harmony, centred on each person’s needs and preferences to deliver the fundamental principles of the new Aged Care Act.
The problem of disconnected care
The new Act enshrines the rights of older people, and more overtly reframes aged care as rights-based, outcome-oriented and person-centred. Older people should be in control of their later-life journey, rather than passive recipients of services. This means providers asking: how do we deliver care that treats individuals as a ‘market of one’? How do we provide more choice, turn data into insights and enable the workforce to spend more time building meaningful relationships, rather than paperwork and system burden?
A common issue among healthcare providers is siloed processes and legacy systems that restrict seamless data sharing and interoperability. This causes fragmented client records, gaps, care duplication and coordination failures, which can risk medical errors, wasted resources, delays in care and reduced satisfaction and trust.
Without comprehensive, coherent and consistent information about a person’s health and wellbeing status, the very choice and respect that the new Aged Care Act is built upon is therefore difficult to make a reality.
Unlocking tailored interventions and empowering choice
To deliver care in this environment, aged care providers must be clear on the foundations that support excellent care – client records, care plans, communication tools, relationship-based care with staff that underpin the whole operation.
This means consolidating legacy systems into a single integrated platform that brings together service, client, workforce, financial and operational data in one place. This unified view enables staff to access the right information at the right time, rather than hunting through endless spreadsheets and disparate systems. This also enables early interventions so that clients are actively supported to live safe and meaningful lives their way.
With all information in one place, predictive analytics and decision-support tools can be embedded into workflows, enabling care teams to collaborate, adjust plans dynamically and personalise interventions, delivering more proactive care and better support for people across the care continuum. mecwacare and Cognizant designed these workflows using a persona-driven approach, based on a typical client scenario, named Margaret, asking questions such as “What does Margaret want?” and “How can we anticipate her needs before she asks?”
This approach helps us deeply understand the lived experiences and preferences of those in our ecosystem, unlocking more choice and tailored care for older people than ever before. It allows us to segment, personalise and anticipate the ‘next best action’ for each client, providing transparency, timely insight and clarity for older people and their families to exercise meaningful choice. Thus, we can deliver care models that flex to the individual, their family and their community. This is how dignity and respect become lived experience, not just policy statements.
Switching the focus from paperwork to people
Once this unified platform is in place, it allows staff to spend less time on administration and more time providing compassionate and person-centred care.
In fact, in the first phase of digital transformation at mecwacare, we’ve already seen significant improvements. Automation has reduced reliance on manual processing, cutting financial processing from days to seconds. Onboarding documents, which once consisted of over 20 forms, have now been consolidated into a singular questionnaire that takes just minutes to complete. Monthly reports that previously took 15 hours of manual collation are now visible in real-time dashboards.
Importantly, staff are excited by these changes, seeing the benefits of the tools that allow more meaningful time spent with clients. One manager shared that the introduction of real-time data and predictive analytics has “strengthened communication, accountability and overall responsiveness”.
As these early gains build momentum, they demonstrate the positive impact of digital transformation in the aged care sector.
Delivering meaningful experiences through human-centred design
In implementing this transformation, the guiding principle is clear: technology should serve people, not the other way around. Every aspect must be shaped by what the individual wants or needs, rather than what the system allows. This means involving frontline staff, clients and families in the design process from day one, using personas, prototyping and feedback loops to ensure solutions are truly person-centred. Effective change management is central to this approach, not a nice to have.
Anchoring care to a rights-based framework of dignity, respect and choice means shifting from compliance to genuine experience. For providers navigating the new Aged Care Act, this is more than an obligation; it’s a chance to redefine quality care for older Australians because it’s the right thing to do.
This shift also changes the approach to leadership in aged care. Servant-based leadership focuses on meaningful connections, humility and embracing technology to enhance the care experience for each individual. Leaders can now follow the client’s journey, using data to identify changes early, prompting the right conversations and timely intervention so they can walk beside the client throughout their unique care journey.
With the right foundations, service design and mindset, providers can deliver on the promise of personalised, purposeful care today and into the future.
Anne McCormack
Anne McCormack is the CEO of mecwacare
Jessica Finn
Jessica Finn is the ANZ Market Lead – Public Sector, Health and Education at Cognizant
