Commercial Lawyers for Home Care & Aged Care Businesses

Service agreements, care worker contractor and employment arrangements, privacy, acquisitions, shareholder and supplier agreements — for home care and aged care operators running a commercial business inside a reforming regulatory system.

Who we help

Common legal issues

Situations we are usually brought in on

• “Your home care agreement template predates Support at Home.”

  Pricing structures, client contributions, service lists and exit provisions have changed. Agreements that still reference the old package framework create billing disputes and compliance findings.

• “A contracted support worker asks for superannuation and leave after eighteen months of regular shifts.”

  Care work delivered on a roster set by the provider, at the provider's clients, is difficult to characterise as independent contracting. Exposure includes superannuation, SCHADS entitlements and potential sham contracting findings.

• “A family member disputes fees charged during a client's hospital stay.”

  The service agreement's suspension and fee provisions, and how they were explained to the client and representative, decide the outcome. Ambiguous suspension terms are a recurring source of complaints.

• “You are acquiring a provider with 300 home care clients.”

  Client transition, consent to transfer of care records, workforce transfer, approval and registration requirements, and how package funding moves all need to be built into the sale agreement and timeline.

• “A rostering platform suffers a data breach affecting client health records.”

  Your notification obligations, the vendor's contractual responsibilities and your response plan all come into play at once. The vendor agreement should have addressed this before it happened.

• “Two directors disagree about whether to sell to a larger group.”

  Without a shareholders agreement with clear decision-making and exit provisions, a disagreement of this kind can paralyse the business.

FAQs

Do home care service agreements need to be updated for the new Aged Care Act?

In most cases, yes. The Aged Care Act 2024 and the Support at Home program change funding categories, client contributions, service lists and provider obligations. Agreements based on the previous home care package framework are likely to be inconsistent with the new requirements. Timing depends on your provider category and transition arrangements.

Can care workers be engaged as independent contractors?

Some genuinely can, particularly allied health professionals running their own practices. Support workers delivering rostered personal care for one provider are much harder to characterise as contractors, and the Fair Work Act's employee definition and the ATO's superannuation rules both look at the substance of the arrangement.

What privacy obligations apply to home care providers?

Providers handle health information, so the Privacy Act applies regardless of turnover. That means compliant collection notices, consent, secure storage, controls over staff and contractor access, vendor due diligence and a data breach response plan. Aged care legislation adds its own information handling requirements.

What is involved in buying a home care provider?

Due diligence on approvals, compliance history, client agreements, workforce arrangements and funding; a sale agreement that deals with approval and registration transfer, client consent and transition, workforce transfer and any earn-out; and a communication plan for clients and families. The regulatory approval pathway often sets the timeline.

How is this page different from your NDIS provider and home care compliance pages?

Those pages focus on the regulatory frameworks. This page covers the commercial side of running a care business: contracts with clients, staff and suppliers, ownership and transactions. Many providers need both, and we link between them.

Do you advise on Quality Standards compliance or Commission audits?

We advise on the documents and contracts that support compliance, such as service agreements, policies and subcontractor terms. For clinical governance and audit preparation, we work alongside aged care quality consultants.

Do you offer fixed fees for care providers?

Yes. Service agreement updates, employment and contractor documents, and acquisition work are quoted as fixed fees once we understand the scope. Providers that need ongoing support can use a fractional general counsel arrangement.

Related industries

• NDIS providers
• Health and allied health overview
• Childcare centres