Partnership Opportunities

Opportunities are listed newest first.

Email Reference:  Optimising Lighting for Night Shifts: Enhancing Wellbeing and Productivity in Older Aged Care Workers 

Partner Seeking:
Residential aged care providers Melbourne Metro area
To partner with:
Researcher
Problem to be solved

Night shift work places significant strain on the aged care workforce—particularly older staff aged 55+ who make up a growing proportion of the sector. Fatigue, circadian disruption and reduced alertness increase the risk of medication errors, care quality issues, staff injuries, and unplanned leave. These challenges directly affect workforce stability, retention, and operational continuity.

The strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards highlight the need for safe working environments, evidence‑based fatigue management and staff wellbeing, yet most providers lack data to inform improvements.

This project explores whether, and which, enhanced night shift lighting conditions can improve alertness, wellbeing and shift tolerance for workers, supporting safer care and a more sustainable workforce.

Brief description of the opportunity
RMIT researchers are seeking residential aged care partners to participate in a multi‑stage research project examining how lighting environments influence the wellbeing and performance of night‑shift staff, especially older workers.
The partnership will involve:

• Interviews/ rostering data collection with HR managers
• Environmental scans of current lighting conditions at night‑shift workstations (non‑intrusive, silent, no surveillance).
• Recruiting voluntary personal care shift staff participants to complete surveys and short wearable‑sensor monitoring (7–10 days; gift cards provided).
• Understanding staff experiences, fatigue triggers and operational realities.
• Co‑designing appropriate and acceptable lighting improvements with workers and management.
• Testing the feasibility of enhanced lighting solutions based on research findings and workplace needs.
• Providing de‑identified insights back to each provider to support policy, rostering and environmental improvements.

No funding is required from providers, and participation levels are flexible.
Providers will help facilitate site access, staff recruitment and sharing non‑identifiable HR information (e.g., roster patterns, night shift volumes, general wellbeing concerns).

Benefit to the partner / aged care provider

• Evidence‑based insights into staff fatigue, sleep quality and night‑shift tolerance.
• Data to support compliance with the strengthened Quality Standards (staff wellbeing, work environment, fatigue risk management).
• Practical recommendations for low‑cost improving lighting conditions and night‑shift operations.
• Support for retention strategies, especially for older workers.
• Opportunity for co‑design with researchers and early access to study results.
• Participation in a research project that directly addresses workforce sustainability, recruitment and retention.

Personal care shift staff participating in the study (surveys and monitoring) would be offered gift cards *
Ethics permission for this study will be acquired after partners/participating aged care providers have been identified.

Email reference: Care Minutes: Compliance, Cost and Workforce Planning

Partner seeking: Residential aged care providers; Australia-wide
To partner with: Technology provider

Problem to be solved:

Care Minutes requirements have become a significant compliance and funding consideration for residential aged care providers, and recent funding changes have tied delivery more directly to funding outcomes. While many organisations have established processes to calculate and report Care Minutes, maintaining compliance can be challenging as occupancy, resident needs, workforce availability and rostering requirements change over time.

Providers often rely on manual reconciliation across multiple systems and spreadsheets to monitor performance against targets. This means emerging risks may not be identified until late in a reporting period, reducing the opportunity to make workforce adjustments before financial or compliance impacts occur.

Because performance is often only visible after a reporting period closes, providers can respond in two costly ways: falling short of a target and losing funding, or deliberately staffing above target as a buffer against uncertainty, adding labour cost that funding does not match. Both stem from limited real-time visibility of delivery against target.

This monitoring and reconciliation effort often falls to facility managers and senior clinical and operational staff, drawing significant time away from direct care leadership and workforce development. There is growing interest in whether more proactive and automated approaches could improve visibility of performance, support workforce planning decisions, and reduce administrative burden.

This opportunity explores whether continuous monitoring and forecasting of Care Minutes performance, using information drawn from existing organisational systems, can help providers identify and respond to emerging risks earlier, and hold delivery closer to target.

Brief description of the opportunity:

This opportunity is a 90-day co-design pilot with one or more residential aged care providers to test an approach to Care Minutes monitoring, forecasting and workforce planning in a live operational environment.

The pilot will operate alongside existing provider processes and use information from current systems to identify emerging risks, forecast performance against Care Minutes targets, and support decision-making before a compliance gap or unnecessary over-delivery occurs. The approach can begin with information provided from existing systems, with deeper integration as the pilot progresses.

Participating providers will contribute to co-design and evaluation activities, provide operational feedback, and assist in benchmarking outcomes against their current monitoring and reconciliation processes. Evaluation will consider the time spent on monitoring and reconciliation, how closely delivery can be held to target, and instances of both under- and over-delivery. The technology provider will cover implementation, integration and support costs for the duration of the pilot.

Benefit to the aged care provider:

• Free access to the platform for the duration of the pilot.
• Implementation, integration and support provided at no cost during the pilot period.
• Improved visibility of Care Minutes performance and emerging risks.
• Opportunity to identify potential compliance issues earlier and support proactive workforce planning.
• Potential to reduce unnecessary over-delivery and its unfunded labour cost while maintaining compliance.
• Potential reduction in time spent on manual monitoring and reconciliation activities.
• Evidence on the time currently spent monitoring and reconciling Care Minutes, and on how closely delivery can be held to target.
• Opportunity to contribute to the design and refinement of an emerging aged care solution.

Access to pilot findings and benchmarking against existing processes.

Email Reference: Co-design an AI-Powered Aged Care Compliance Platform

Partner Seeking
Residential aged care providers (ideally small to medium independent providers with approximately 30–80 beds)

Location

Preferred: Queensland and New South Wales

Open to: All Australian states and territories

To Partner With

Technology provider
Problem to be Solved

Residential aged care providers are facing increasing documentation, compliance and governance requirements across areas such as care documentation, SIRS reporting, Standards monitoring and care minutes tracking. Many smaller and independent providers continue to rely on paper-based, spreadsheet-based or other manual processes, creating administrative burden, limiting visibility of compliance obligations and increasing the risk of missed reporting requirements.

This opportunity will explore whether an AI-supported compliance and documentation platform can improve workflow efficiency, strengthen compliance oversight and reduce administrative workload while maintaining human review and accountability for all official records.

Solution to be Trialled
An Australian-built aged care compliance and documentation platform that supports:

• Care note documentation
• AI-assisted voice-to-note drafting
• SIRS incident tracking and deadline monitoring
• Standards Dashboard monitoring
• AN-ACC care minutes visibility
• Complaints management
• Dignity of risk documentation
• Key personnel and workforce suitability records (Aged Care Act 2024 Part 3.3)

The platform uses AI to assist staff in generating structured documentation drafts, with all content reviewed, edited and approved by authorised staff before becoming an official record.

Brief Description of the Opportunity

This opportunity offers residential aged care providers the chance to participate in a six-month co-design and pilot program focused on improving compliance and documentation processes.

The partnership is structured in two stages:

Stage 1 (Months 1–2): Demonstration and Structured Feedback
Providers will explore the platform through a pre-populated demonstration environment containing de-identified dummy data. No live resident data is required, and providers are not expected to change current systems, migrate information or alter existing workflows. Participants will take part in guided demonstrations and provide structured feedback on usability, workflow fit and practical value.

Stage 2 (Months 3–6): Optional Live Pilot

Providers who wish to continue may choose to participate in an optional live pilot involving selected real-world workflows and facility data, subject to their own governance, privacy, consent and internal approval processes.
Providers are encouraged to involve a small project team of approximately 3–5 staff members, such as a Director of Nursing or Facility Manager, Registered Nurses and care workers. During Stage 1, participation is expected to require approximately 1–2 hours per week.
Participating providers will play an active role in co-designing the solution by testing functionality, identifying improvements and helping shape future product development for the aged care sector.
Benefit to the Aged Care Provider
Participating providers will receive:

• Access to the full six-month engagement pathway at no cost through participation in the pilot via an ARIIA Partnership Program introduction
• A low-risk opportunity to explore an aged care-specific compliance and documentation platform
• No requirement to use live resident data during the demonstration phase
• Opportunity to influence platform development through structured co-design and feedback
• Exploration of potential reductions in documentation and administrative burden
• Improved visibility of compliance obligations, SIRS deadlines and governance activities
• Opportunity to trial digital approaches to care documentation, Standards monitoring and care minutes management
• Exposure to emerging AI-supported tools designed specifically for residential aged care
• Training, demonstrations and ongoing support throughout the engagement period

Email reference: AI-Assisted Falls Reporting Pilot

Partner seeking: Residential aged care providers; Australia-wide

To partner with: Technology provider

Problem to be solved:

Preparing Quality Indicator (QI) reports- such as falls resulting in major injury—requires time-intensive manual consolidation across spreadsheets, PDFs, and scanned records.

This creates duplication, errors, and delays, increasing pressure on clinical and quality staff and impacting audit readiness under strengthened regulatory requirements.

Solution to be trialled:

An AI-assisted workflow that consolidates exported data (CSV, Excel, PDFs, scans) into structured QI reporting outputs, with all records reviewed and approved by clinical staff.

Secure, file-based integration minimises system complexity and provider burden.

Brief description of the opportunity:

This is a 6-week co-design pilot testing a single falls reporting workflow in a live environment.

Providers will supply exported data, nominate reviewers, and participate in onboarding, testing, and feedback. The technology partner provides setup, training, and support, plus an end-of-pilot outcomes report.

Benefit to the aged care provider:

• Free pilot access, implementation, and support
• Reduced report preparation time (target ≥30%)
• Improved accuracy and audit readiness
• Reduced manual data entry
• End-of-pilot insights and recommendations
• Opportunity to co-design and shape the solution

Email reference: Automated Assembly of Compliance Evidence 

Partner seeking: Residential aged care providers and home care providers (including mixed providers); Australia-wide 

To partner with: Technology provider 

Problem to be solved: The commencement of the Aged Care Act 2024 has significantly increased compliance obligations across the sector, including strengthened Quality Standards, expanded SIRS reporting, mandatory Quality Indicators, care minute targets, and stronger regulatory enforcement. 

Currently, much of this compliance burden is absorbed by the direct care workforce through manual evidence collection, fragmented systems, and reactive audit preparation. Registered nurses, clinical leads, and quality managers spend substantial time on retrospective documentation and spreadsheet reconciliation instead of resident care. 

Because providers typically operate 4–6 disconnected systems (clinical, rostering, compliance, finance, MAR, home care), compliance evidence is often incomplete, delayed, or disconnected from the operational record by the time the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission conducts an assessment. This exposes providers to regulatory risk while further stretching an already pressured workforce. 

This opportunity addresses whether continuous, in‑the‑flow‑of‑work compliance evidence collection, drawn automatically from existing clinical and operational records, can reduce documentation burden while improving the completeness and timeliness of evidence for regulatory assessment. 

Brief description of the opportunity: This opportunity is a 3–6-month co-design pilot with one or more aged care providers to implement a compliance essentials module set in a live production environment. The pilot focuses on testing a single, integrated platform designed specifically for the Aged Care Act 2024, where compliance evidence is collected continuously as staff complete their normal work, rather than through duplicate data entry into separate compliance systems. 

The partner will provide the operational environment, nominate staff to actively participate in the pilot, contribute to co-design and evaluation activities, and collaborate on a documented case study (with consent). 

Benefit to the aged care provider:  

• Free production access to the module set for the duration of the pilot. 
• Free implementation, training and technical support throughout the pilot period. 
• Potential reduction in time spent on retrospective compliance documentation, with time redirected back to direct care. 
• Improved completeness and timeliness of SIRS, Quality Indicator and Quality Standards evidence. 
• Increased staff capability and confidence in compliance through real‑time, work‑aligned compliance signals and dashboards. 
• Direct influence over the design of compliance technology built specifically for the new Aged Care Act, with meaningful access to the engineering and product team. 

Email reference: AI-Enabled Cleaning, Laundry & Operational Visibility Pilot for Aged Care  

Partner seeking: Residential aged care providers; Australia-wide (Victoria preferred) 

To partner with: Technology provider 

Problem to be solved: Residential aged care providers face increasing compliance and operational risk due to limited real-time visibility across cleaning, laundry and workforce activities. Many services still rely on manual, paper-based or retrospective systems, making it difficult to verify task completion, respond to issues proactively, and demonstrate compliance with the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards. 

This lack of integrated operational data increases the risk of missed or unverified cleaning activities, infection control gaps, lost resident clothing, audit findings and reputational impact. Workforce shortages and rising operational costs further heighten the need for efficient, data driven systems that reduce administrative burden while strengthening accountability and transparency. 

Brief description of the opportunity:  This partnership opportunity invites residential aged care providers to participate in a 6–12-week pilot of an AI‑enabled operational compliance and visibility platform within a live care environment. The pilot is flexible in scope and can be implemented in a single facility or defined area (such as one wing, cleaning services or laundry operations). Providers may trial individual modules or a broader end‑to‑end solution, depending on operational priorities. 

An AI‑enabled operational compliance and visibility platform designed for residential aged care, providing real‑time verification and reporting across cleaning, laundry and workforce operations. The solution uses in‑facility location signals and garment identification technology to automatically confirm when cleaning tasks are completed, track the movement of resident clothing and linens, and capture time‑stamped operational data. This removes reliance on manual checklists, paper records and retrospective reporting. 

Information is brought together in a central dashboard that provides live operational oversight, audit‑ready evidence and practical insights to support proactive decision‑making. The platform helps providers strengthen compliance with the Aged Care Quality Standards, improve operational efficiency, and reduce administrative burden — without collecting resident clinical or health data. The system can be trialled as a standalone solution during the pilot, with future integration into existing systems explored if required. 

The technology provider will deliver end‑to‑end onboarding, including hardware deployment, system configuration, staff training, go‑live support and ongoing monitoring throughout the pilot. Minimal infrastructure is required from the provider, with no changes to existing IT systems. Participating providers will host the pilot, enable staff participation, provide operational feedback, and collaborate in evaluation and co‑design to ensure the solution is practical, scalable and aligned with real‑world aged care needs. 

Benefit to the aged care provider: 

Participating providers will gain: 

• Improved real time visibility across cleaning, laundry and workforce operations. 
• Stronger compliance and audit readiness aligned with the Aged Care Quality Standards. 
• Reduced risk of missed tasks, lost garments and unresolved complaints. 
• Time savings through automated reporting and reduced manual documentation. 
• Practical operational insights to support continuous improvement. 
• Opportunity to co-design and influence an emerging aged care specific solution. 
• Low risk participation, with hardware provided and minimal or no upfront cost during the pilot. 

There is no obligation to continue beyond the trial period. Providers may choose to progress to a subscription-based model post pilot if value is demonstrated.

Email reference: Intergenerational Mentorship Platform to Combat Loneliness 

Partner seeking: Residential aged care providers (Southern Queensland)  

To partner with: Technology provider 

Problem to be solved: Loneliness is one of the most critical challenges facing older Australians in aged care, with over half of residents experiencing chronic social isolation. This contributes to cognitive decline, reduced emotional wellbeing and health impacts. Workforce shortages mean staff often lack the time required to deliver personalised social connection. Strengthened Quality Standards (Standard 1) now expect providers to move beyond basic care to actively facilitate meaningful social roles, individuality, and a high quality of life for residents.  

Brief description of the opportunity: This partnership will pilot an AI driven platform that reconnects older adults with purpose by matching them with university students based on shared professional backgrounds and personal interests. The pilot will run over 1 month with users engaging in sessions 1 hour per week. The project will co-design and test a scalable model that facilitates online and in-person mentorship sessions, restoring resident identity and promoting intergenerational relationships. Partners will play an integral role in shaping the platform, including:  

• Pilot Hosting: Identifying interested residents and enabling their first mentorship sessions with students (staff would support setting up sessions, 10-15 minutes per session).  
• Feedback & Co Design: Residents and staff would provide feedback about the software and the program design, as well as integration with existing workflows. 
• Outcome Tracking: Supporting measurement of resident engagement, wellbeing, and operational impact.  
• Operational Testing: Collaborating on safety, scheduling and workflow processes to prepare for sector-wide scalability.  

This opportunity includes free access to the platform during the trial and will test the AI engine for automated matching and scheduling. 

Benefit to the aged care provider:  

• Free trial access to the technology, plus 50% off the first year after commercial launch.  
• Improved compliance with the Strengthened Quality Standards (Standard 1) concerning identity, purpose and meaningful social participation.  
• Reduced staff workload, freeing up clinical and lifestyle teams for core duties.  
• Co-design influence, allowing partners to shape the platform to fit real-world operational needs.  
• Enhanced reputation as a leader in relationship-centred, innovative, intergenerational care. 

Email Reference: Contactless Hand Hygiene Trial  

Partner Seeking: Residential aged care providers (Victoria only) 

To partner with: Technology provider 

Problem to be solved: Hand hygiene non‑compliance remains a leading and preventable cause of infection transmission in residential aged care. Existing infrastructure typically relies on separate soap dispensers, taps and drying facilities, creating multiple touchpoints, workflow friction and cross‑contamination risk. Under the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, providers are required to demonstrate active, evidenced infection prevention practices at the point of care, yet many facilities operate with legacy infrastructure not designed to support consistent compliance. This opportunity addresses the issue by improving hand hygiene through better design, rather than increasing training or monitoring burden. 

Brief description of the opportunity: This partnership offers Victorian residential aged care providers the opportunity to participate in a 90‑day, no‑cost trial of a patented, contactless 3‑in‑1 hand hygiene solution. The solution integrates touch‑free soap dispensing, controlled water delivery and integrated air drying into a single wall‑mounted unit, delivering a complete hand‑washing sequence with no surface contact. 

Three to four units will be installed at high‑frequency hygiene points within the facility. The technology partner will supply, install and support the devices at no cost. Providers will nominate a staff champion, support brief staff feedback surveys, and participate in a structured end‑of‑trial debrief. Subject to outcomes, a Phase 2 extension may incorporate automated usage data to support quality improvement and audit evidence. 

Benefit to the aged care provider:  

• Free access to innovative contactless hand hygiene infrastructure during the trial. 

• Installation, consumables and technical support provided at no cost. 

• Reduced cross‑contamination risk and simplified hand hygiene workflows. 

• Practical evidence to support Aged Care Quality Standard 3 compliance. 

• Opportunity to contribute to evidence‑based sector innovation. 

• Early involvement in shaping a future infection prevention solution. 

Email Reference: AI‑Enabled Palliative Care Assessment  

Partner Seeking: Residential and home care providers; Australia-wide 

To partner with: Research provider/technology provider  

Problem to be solved: Aged care staff often identify palliative care needs too late, especially in rural and regional areas. Delayed recognition leads to unmanaged symptoms, unnecessary hospital admissions and missed opportunities for proactive end‑of‑life planning. Workforce shortages and limited specialist access mean generalist staff rely on manual tools that are time‑consuming and inconsistently applied. This project addresses these challenges by digitising an evidence‑based Palliative Care Assessment Toolkit (PCAT) into an AI‑enabled app that supports earlier, more consistent identification of residents and clients who may be approaching end of life. 

Brief description of the opportunity: Partner organisations will trial and evaluate the newly developed AI‑enabled PCAT tool following its April release. The tool guides staff through six clinical domains, generates care recommendations, and provides dashboards that track symptom progression and risk levels. Providers will nominate staff for a short (30–60 min) training session, use the app with approximately 15–20 residents or clients over a three‑month period, and participate in a feedback interview or focus group. The app is free to use and ethically approved, with de‑identified data retained for research. 

Benefit to the aged care provider: Partners gain access to a no‑cost, AI‑enabled decision support tool, training for staff, improved confidence in recognising palliative care needs, and the opportunity to shape a scalable national resource.

Email Reference: Multilingual AI Documentation Trial

Partner Seeking: Residential aged care providers; Australia-wide 

To partner with: Technology provider  

Problem to be solved: Aged care workers face a significant and growing administrative burden due to fragmented documentation systems, manual note‑taking, repeated data entry, and duplicated reporting across roles. This reduces time available for direct care, contributes to workforce fatigue and turnover, increases operational costs, and elevates compliance and clinical risk. 

The proposed AI-assisted solution addresses this by automating notes and reports, standardising documentation, improving accuracy, supporting multilingual care, and embedding compliance into everyday workflow — reducing duplication, burden, and risk while strengthening care quality. 

Brief description of the opportunity: This opportunity invites residential and home care providers to co‑design and pilot an AI‑assisted clinical and care documentation suite that streamlines administrative workflows and enhances care delivery. 

Over a 12–16-week pilot, partners will: 

• Map real workflows and validate end‑to‑end care documentation steps. 
• Test the solution in live shifts and provide practical feedback. 
• Review documentation outputs for accuracy, completeness and compliance. 
• Influence workflow configuration, templates, and the product roadmap. 

The technology partner provides free access for the trial period, supported onboarding, workflow mapping, and structured feedback cycles. The aim is to build a scalable, sector‑ready solution that reduces admin burden and improves workforce efficiency in aged care. 

Benefits to the aged care provider: 

• Free access to the AI platform during the pilot. 
• Opportunity to shape templates, workflows, and configuration to suit your service model. 
• Direct influence on the product development roadmap. 
• Minimal disruption through structured change‑management and staged onboarding. 
• Early exposure to AI‑enabled digital health workflows, building capability and readiness. 
• Preferred commercial pathway post‑pilot (e.g., early‑adopter or discounted pricing). 
• Improved documentation accuracy, reduced duplication, and more time for direct care. 

Email Reference: Communication Tools for Strengthening Person-Centred Care 

Partner Seeking: Residential aged care providers (NSW only) 

To partner with: Technology provider 

Problem to be solved:  Every shift, aged care workers face residents they cannot meaningfully communicate with. Language barriers, dementia, hearing loss, aphasia - often in combination. The consequences are real: preventable falls, medication hazards, care refusal, failed consent, and staff frustration from situations where no current solution works safely & efficiently.

The scale is significant. More than 30% of residents come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Over 50% experience cognitive impairment. Up to 75% have hearing loss. The strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards demand communication access, informed content & more person-centred care - yet no purpose-built tool exists to deliver it for residents who struggle to communicate with staff.  

Solution to be trialled: A staff-operated assistive communication app, functional on existing hardware, built specifically for complex clinical communication. Unlike generic translation apps, our system addresses language barriers, hearing loss, and communication impairment simultaneously, in a single interface. Staff set it up in seconds. It delivers verified phrases in text, audio, and visual formats - adapted instantly to each resident's needs and capabilities. No live generative AI risk. No personal data collection. Fully offline capable. Secure & policy compliant by design.

Brief description of the opportunity: The pilot will validate usability, workflow integration, and effectiveness — positioning the partner as a co-designer of a solution being adopted sector-wide. Over 8–12 weeks (flexible start), the partner organisation will co-design and pilot the app with selected staff and residents across varied communication needs. The partnership involves: 

• Trialling the software across real care scenarios with frontline staff.  
• Structured feedback through surveys, focus groups, and workflow observations.  
• Collaborative input into iterative design improvements.  
• Optional participation in a formal research component with academic support. 

Benefit to the aged care provider:  

• Early access to an innovative communication tool before market release.

• Significantly discounted pricing at MVP launch.
• Direct co-design input — the solution is shaped around your operational reality. 
• Optional co-authorship on research publications. 
• In-app acknowledgement as a pilot innovation partner.
• Immediate clinical benefit — improved staff–resident communication, safer care, reduced incident risk, and stronger alignment with revised Aged Care Quality Standards.
• Peace of mind — privacy-safe, offline-capable, and built by clinicians with extensive frontline aged care experience.
• A privacy‑safe, offline‑capable tool architected specifically for complex communication environments, developed by clinicians with aged care experience.

Email reference: Automated Assembly of Compliance Evidence 

Partner seeking: Residential aged care providers and home care providers (including mixed providers); Australia-wide 

To partner with: Technology provider 

Problem to be solved: The commencement of the Aged Care Act 2024 has significantly increased compliance obligations across the sector, including strengthened Quality Standards, expanded SIRS reporting, mandatory Quality Indicators, care minute targets, and stronger regulatory enforcement. 

Currently, much of this compliance burden is absorbed by the direct care workforce through manual evidence collection, fragmented systems, and reactive audit preparation. Registered nurses, clinical leads, and quality managers spend substantial time on retrospective documentation and spreadsheet reconciliation instead of resident care. 

Because providers typically operate 4–6 disconnected systems (clinical, rostering, compliance, finance, MAR, home care), compliance evidence is often incomplete, delayed, or disconnected from the operational record by the time the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission conducts an assessment. This exposes providers to regulatory risk while further stretching an already pressured workforce. 

This opportunity addresses whether continuous, in‑the‑flow‑of‑work compliance evidence collection, drawn automatically from existing clinical and operational records, can reduce documentation burden while improving the completeness and timeliness of evidence for regulatory assessment. 

Brief description of the opportunity: This opportunity is a 3–6-month co-design pilot with one or more aged care providers to implement a compliance essentials module set in a live production environment. The pilot focuses on testing a single, integrated platform designed specifically for the Aged Care Act 2024, where compliance evidence is collected continuously as staff complete their normal work, rather than through duplicate data entry into separate compliance systems. 

The partner will provide the operational environment, nominate staff to actively participate in the pilot, contribute to co-design and evaluation activities, and collaborate on a documented case study (with consent). 

Benefit to the aged care provider:  

• Free production access to the module set for the duration of the pilot. 
• Free implementation, training and technical support throughout the pilot period. 
• Potential reduction in time spent on retrospective compliance documentation, with time redirected back to direct care. 
• Improved completeness and timeliness of SIRS, Quality Indicator and Quality Standards evidence. 
• Increased staff capability and confidence in compliance through real‑time, work‑aligned compliance signals and dashboards. 
• Direct influence over the design of compliance technology built specifically for the new Aged Care Act, with meaningful access to the engineering and product team. 

Email Reference: AI‑Enabled Palliative Care Assessment  

Partner Seeking: Residential and home care providers; Australia-wide 

To partner with: Research provider/technology provider  

Problem to be solved: Aged care staff often identify palliative care needs too late, especially in rural and regional areas. Delayed recognition leads to unmanaged symptoms, unnecessary hospital admissions and missed opportunities for proactive end‑of‑life planning. Workforce shortages and limited specialist access mean generalist staff rely on manual tools that are time‑consuming and inconsistently applied. This project addresses these challenges by digitising an evidence‑based Palliative Care Assessment Toolkit (PCAT) into an AI‑enabled app that supports earlier, more consistent identification of residents and clients who may be approaching end of life. 

Brief description of the opportunity: Partner organisations will trial and evaluate the newly developed AI‑enabled PCAT tool following its April release. The tool guides staff through six clinical domains, generates care recommendations, and provides dashboards that track symptom progression and risk levels. Providers will nominate staff for a short (30–60 min) training session, use the app with approximately 15–20 residents or clients over a three‑month period, and participate in a feedback interview or focus group. The app is free to use and ethically approved, with de‑identified data retained for research. 

Benefit to the aged care provider: Partners gain access to a no‑cost, AI‑enabled decision support tool, training for staff, improved confidence in recognising palliative care needs, and the opportunity to shape a scalable national resource. 

Opportunities are listed newest first.

Email reference: Evaluating Care Minutes Forecasting, Cost and Workforce Planning Approaches

Partner seeking: Universities, research organisations and applied research institutes; Australia-wide
To partner with: Technology provider

Problem to be solved:

Care Minutes requirements have become a significant compliance and funding consideration for residential aged care providers, and recent funding changes have tied delivery more directly to funding outcomes. While many providers have established reporting processes, maintaining compliance can be challenging due to changing occupancy levels, resident care needs, workforce availability and rostering constraints.

Providers often rely on manual reconciliation and retrospective analysis to monitor progress against Care Minutes targets. This can make it difficult to identify emerging risks early enough to adjust workforce planning and operational decisions. Because performance is often only visible after a reporting period closes, providers can respond in two costly ways: falling short of a target and losing funding, or staffing above target as a buffer against uncertainty, adding labour cost that funding does not match. Both increase administrative workload and can affect funding outcomes.

This monitoring and reconciliation effort often falls to facility managers and senior clinical and operational staff, drawing time away from direct care leadership and workforce development. There is increasing interest in whether data-driven forecasting, predictive monitoring and decision-support approaches can help providers identify risks earlier, hold delivery closer to target, support workforce planning decisions, and reduce the effort associated with ongoing monitoring and reconciliation.

However, there is limited independent evidence regarding the effectiveness, usability and implementation of these approaches in aged care settings, particularly on their effect on workforce administrative burden and on the cost of both under- and over-delivery.

This opportunity explores whether continuous monitoring and forecasting of Care Minutes performance, using information drawn from existing organisational systems, can support improved compliance and cost outcomes, reduce administrative effort, and inform operational and workforce planning decisions.

Brief description of the opportunity:

This opportunity is a 90-day co-design pilot and evaluation involving residential aged care providers, a technology provider, and a research partner.

The pilot will assess an approach to Care Minutes monitoring, forecasting and workforce planning that operates alongside existing organisational processes. The evaluation aims to assess whether earlier visibility of emerging risks supports proactive intervention, and will consider how closely delivery can be held to target, the incidence of both under- and over-delivery, the administrative time associated with manual monitoring and reconciliation, and the usability and adoption of the approach in a live setting.

The research partner will contribute to evaluation design, implementation, data collection, analysis and dissemination activities. Participating organisations will work collaboratively to assess outcomes, identify implementation considerations, and develop practical insights for the broader aged care sector.

Benefit to the research partner:

• Opportunity to undertake applied research in partnership with residential aged care providers.
• Access to a real-world implementation environment focused on a current sector priority.
• Opportunity to contribute evidence on workforce planning, compliance management and digital innovation in aged care.
• Opportunity to generate evidence on a poorly-measured cost in the sector: the workforce time and unfunded labour associated with managing Care Minutes.
• Involvement in co-design, evaluation and knowledge translation activities.
• Potential to contribute to future funding applications and collaborative research opportunities.

Opportunity to generate practical findings that support sector improvement and inform future implementation approaches.