Rostering in aged care is not just about filling shifts — it is a compliance function that directly determines whether your facility meets the home-specific care-minute targets, maintains 24/7 RN coverage, stays within SCHADS Award budget, and has the right skills on every shift.
Purpose-built rostering software transforms rostering from an administrative task into a compliance tool. This guide covers what to look for in aged care rostering software and how it addresses the specific regulatory challenges providers face.
Care minutes compliance at the roster planning stage
Residential homes use the care-minute targets applicable to their home and reporting period; the sector-wide 215/44 benchmarks are not uniform home targets. But averages are made up of individual shifts — and if your roster doesn't deliver enough care hours on any given day, your average suffers.
Purpose-built rostering software calculates projected care minutes at the roster planning stage — before shifts are published. This means the roster manager can see: projected total care minutes per resident per day, projected RN minutes per resident per day, any days that fall below target, and the staffing adjustments needed to close the gap.
This is fundamentally different from calculating care minutes retrospectively from timesheet data. By the time you discover a shortfall in last quarter's data, it's already in the system — and visible to the ACQSC. Roster-stage validation catches shortfalls before they happen.
24/7 RN coverage validation
Check the home’s 24/7 RN responsibility and any approved exemption when planning coverage. Review actual attendance as well as the roster, with a clear process for illness, late arrivals and replacement cover. A planned RN shift is not proof that the nurse was onsite and on duty.
Statura’s monthly RN report workspace records coverage evidence by home and keeps gaps of 30 minutes or more visible, including on exempt days. Your team can record reasons and alternative clinical arrangements; missing explanations do not prevent a gap being recorded. This 30-minute reporting threshold is not permission to leave shorter gaps in required coverage.
Use the workspace to review the records supporting your monthly GPMS reporting. Retain submission evidence and follow-up decisions alongside the underlying coverage review.
SCHADS penalty rate calculation
Ask to inspect how a proposed roster is costed using your workers, employment arrangements and effective rates. Compare a normal week with a changed shift, a weekend boundary and additional hours. Record which inputs are confirmed and which are estimates.
The SCHADS guide explains why shift classification matters: a 15-minute calculation interval does not establish correct award treatment. Your demonstration should show the rule applied and how the result compares with an independently checked example.
Use the payroll workflow to discuss the handoff from reviewed time to your payroll provider, including worker matching, exception resolution and reconciliation.
Skills-based shift allocation
Not all care workers are interchangeable. A shift in a dementia-specific unit requires workers with dementia training. A shift involving S8 medication administration requires an RN. A home care shift for a client with complex wound care needs requires a worker with wound management competency.
Rostering software should match worker skills, qualifications, and training records against shift requirements. This ensures that every shift has the right capability — not just the right headcount. The Workforce module maintains skills and training records that the Rostering module uses for skills-based allocation.
For home care providers, skills-based allocation also considers worker-client compatibility, travel time between visits, and geographic clustering to minimise travel costs.
How Statura Care helps with rostering
Use a representative week to evaluate rostering in Statura Care. Bring the roles, competencies and coverage you need, then ask to compare the proposed roster with actual attendance and the records used for payroll review. The care worker mobile app supports shift acceptance and clock-in/out, with location checks at clock-in and exception notes when location cannot be verified or is outside the expected area. Ask to compare a planned visit with recorded attendance, then inspect a worker-submitted travel claim and its review status.
Learn more on our aged care rostering software page.