Rostering in aged care is not just about filling shifts — it is a compliance function that directly determines whether your facility meets the 215 care minutes target, 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
The 215 care minutes per resident per day requirement (including 44 RN minutes) is a facility-wide average. 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
Every shift in a residential aged care facility must have at least one registered nurse on-site. Rostering software should validate this at two points: when the roster is being built (flagging any shift without an RN), and in real-time as shifts progress (alerting if an RN calls in sick and no replacement is rostered).
The most common 24/7 coverage failures occur during overnight shifts, weekends, and public holidays — exactly when replacement staff are hardest to find. Proactive roster validation gives managers time to arrange cover before gaps occur.
The Rostering module in Statura Care validates RN coverage across every shift period and generates a 24/7 RN coverage register that documents the RN on each shift — audit-ready evidence for ACQSC assessment contacts.
SCHADS penalty rate calculation
The SCHADS Award applies penalty rates for evening, night, weekend, and public holiday work. These rates must be calculated on a per-15-minute segment basis — when a shift crosses from one penalty band to another, each segment is costed at the correct rate.
Rostering software with built-in SCHADS calculation shows the true cost of every shift before it is published. This allows managers to make informed decisions about staffing patterns, overtime exposure, and shift design. Without this visibility, the actual payroll cost of a roster can be significantly higher than expected — creating budget overruns that only become apparent at pay day.
The built-in calculator covers all 15 SCHADS classification levels, evening/night/weekend/public holiday penalties, overtime at 150%/200%, casual loading at 25%, and minimum engagement validation for part-time and casual workers.
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
The Rostering module provides care minutes compliance validation at roster planning stage, 24/7 RN coverage tracking with gap alerts, SCHADS penalty rate calculations per 15-minute segment, skills-based shift allocation linked to workforce training records, overtime threshold monitoring, and shift cost forecasting.
All roster data feeds into the Care Delivery module for actual vs planned comparison, and into the Reporting Hub for governing body staffing reports. Combined with the care worker mobile app for shift acceptance, clock-in/out, and real-time location tracking, Statura Care provides end-to-end roster management from planning through to payroll.
Learn more on our aged care rostering software page.