three new year staffing resolutions for aged care leaders in 2026.

A new year always brings a fresh set of challenges - and opportunities - for aged care leaders. But 2026 isn’t just another year. It’s the first full year operating under the new Aged Care Act and strengthened Quality Standards, and the sector is already feeling the pressure around workforce stability, care minutes, transparency, and governance.

That’s why the smartest New Year’s resolutions aren’t about big ideas - they’re about practical, achievable staffing strategies that help you stay compliant, reduce pressure on your team, and deliver consistent, person-centred care.

resolution 1: use care minute data as a workforce planning tool - not a stress point.

Care minutes are central to residential aged care operations and meeting them will continue to shape your daily operations. But in 2026, the opportunity is to make your data work for you, not against you.

how to approach it:

understand the makeup of your minutes.

Rather than just checking whether you’re meeting the requirements, use the data to see where your clinical leadership is most effective - and where you’re stretched thin. Are RNs providing clinical leadership? Are PCAs spending time on meaningful engagement?

link care minutes to resident outcomes.

Patterns around falls, wounds, behaviour, and incidents tell you where your staffing mix is working - and where pressure is building.

use insights to roster proactively, not reactively.

Identifying peak times, risk periods, and staffing pressure zones makes shift planning more predictable - and allows you to bring in agency staff only when they genuinely add value. This is where a transparent agency staffing model with predictable rates can make budgeting far easier over the year.

resolution 2: make retention a team-wide priority - not just an HR issue.

Residential aged care continues to feel the impact of workforce shortages, and turnover places huge pressure on residents and permanent teams. The strongest facilities in 2026 will be those where leaders - and not just HR - own the retention strategy.

what this looks like in practice:

flexibility that supports real-life needs.

Things like adjusted start times, split shifts, or school-hours shifts can be game-changing for your team.

visible, achievable career pathways.

Supporting PCAs to progress, ENs to specialise, and RNs to step into leadership not only boosts retention but strengthens your pipeline.

reducing burnout at the source.

Consistent staffing levels, smarter rostering, and predictable agency support help ease the daily pressure that pushes good staff to leave.

Retention becomes easier when your permanent team isn’t stretched to breaking point and when agency staffing is used strategically - not reactively.

resolution 3: strengthen your digital workforce governance.

Residential aged care requires tight oversight, clear records, and real-time visibility - especially under the new compliance expectations.

what to focus on:

connect your core systems.

When rostering, HR, payroll, and clinical systems aren’t speaking to each other, errors - and compliance risks - creep in.

automate credential checks.

Registrations, police checks, mandatory training - all of it needs to be tracked and verified continuously. Manual processes just aren’t sustainable anymore.

increase visibility of agency spend.

A real-time dashboard with transparent and predictable costs every time you use an agency worker - no surprises, no hidden loadings, and easier budget forecasting for the year ahead.