Aged Care Worker Scope of Practice: Home and Community Settings

Scope of practice refers to the range of tasks and activities an aged care worker is qualified, trained and authorised to perform in their role. In home and community settings, where workers often operate alone in private homes without immediate supervision, the boundaries of their roles are particularly important. Failing to recognise and uphold those boundaries can result in harm to the individual, personal liability for the worker and non-compliance for the provider.

This Training Module discusses how to identify what is and isn’t within your scope when delivering services in home and community settings, how to maintain professional boundaries and respectfully decline out-of-scope requests, and how to recognise and use the correct escalation pathways when a concern, safety issue or out-of-scope request arises.

Aged care workers delivering services in home and community settings, including personal care workers, domestic assistance workers and community care workers who provide direct support in older people's private homes.