A Hidden Billion Dollar Opportunity? Why Communication Competency is Aged Care's Most Critical Success Metric

Written in partnership with Seshnie Taylor, Founder & CEO - Vocare.

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Australian aged care providers diligently track bed occupancy rates, medication errors, and staff-to-resident ratios. Yet they're systematically overlooking the one metric that drives all others: communication competency. This oversight represents a multi billion dollar opportunity hiding in plain sight.

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Recent research reveals a stark reality: while 43% of aged care staff were born overseas (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2024) —significantly above the national workforce average of 30%—the sector continues to treat communication as a "soft skill" rather than the strategic lever it truly is. This fundamental misunderstanding is costing providers far more than they realise.

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The Communication Crisis in Numbers

Communication isn’t just a soft skill — it’s a strategic asset in aged care. From clinical handovers to everyday interactions, confident and effective communication underpins safety, quality, and workforce stability. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission identifies structured communication as essential for safe, high-quality care delivery (Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, 2025). In facilities with diverse teams — including many highly skilled CALD staff — targeted communication strategies enhance care outcomes, strengthen team cohesion, and support regulatory performance. Rather than reflecting individual shortcomings, communication challenges often stem from systemic gaps in training, documentation, and cultural responsiveness. Addressing these proactively can unlock substantial value: even modest gains in communication capability can lead to measurable improvements in staff retention, incident reduction, and resident satisfaction.

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Aged care workforce turnover in Australia is extremely high—recent sector data estimates that up to 25% of the workforce leaves their roles annually, with peer-reviewed research showing that a similar proportion spend less than one year in care support roles (Kelly, 2024), the cost of replacing a single aged care worker ranges from 30-70% of their annual salary (HCPA, 2025). When communication barriers contribute to this exodus, the financial impact becomes staggering.

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Communication barriers can increase the likelihood that residents experience preventable adverse events (PAEs). American studies identified that by addressing communication gaps in healthcare, facilities could reduce PAEs by over 670,000 cases and generate cost savings of up to AUD $10.2 billion annually. These costs include extended hospitalisation, treatment of complications, legal fees, and insurance claims (Hurtig et al., 2018).

Extending this research to the Australian aged care system, and understanding cost implications that communication barriers pose to staff retention, resident outcomes and operational efficiencies, it is estimated that the sector could stand to save billions of dollars if it addresses communication competency.

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Beyond Language: The Multicultural Advantage

Australia's aged care workforce diversity isn't just a demographic reality—it's a competitive advantage waiting to be unlocked. Workers in inclusive, culturally diverse teams are 11 times more likely to work effectively together, 9.5 times more likely to be innovative, and 3 times less likely to leave their organisation (Settlement Services International, 2024).

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The benefits extend directly to care quality. Over 31% of aged care residents were born overseas (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2025), with 12% of residents preferring to speak languages other than English (O’Dwyer et al., 2023). This percentage increases among residents with dementia, who often revert to their primary language as cognitive abilities deteriorate. Having multilingual staff isn't just culturally sensitive—it's clinically essential for reducing aggression and improving outcomes for residents with dementia.

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The New Quality Standards Imperative

The strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, effective from November 2025, explicitly emphasise communication requirements. Standard 3.3 mandates that providers ensure "critical information relevant to the delivery of funded aged care services is communicated effectively" to individuals, between workers, with supporters, and with health professionals (Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, 2025).

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This isn't merely compliance—it's a fundamental shift toward recognising communication as a quality differentiator. The new Aged Care Act's Statement of Rights specifically includes older people's right to "communicate their wishes, needs and preferences" and "have their culture and identity respected" (Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 2025).

 

From Reactive Compliance to Proactive Intelligence

Leading aged care providers are shifting from annual performance reviews and generic diversity training to continuous, objective measurement of communication competency. This approach enables predictive intervention before problems escalate into turnover or incidents.

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Research consistently demonstrates that effective communication skills are strongly associated with measurable improvements in staff retention, reduction in incidents, resident satisfaction, care quality, and overall team performance. Aged care organisations that foster open, structured, and supportive communication—both among staff and with residents—report higher retention, fewer adverse events, and stronger outcomes across key quality indicators (Thwaites et al., 2023; ARIIA, 2023).

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Technology as an Enabler, Not a Replacement

Innovative providers are utilising AI-powered simulation tools, such as Dementia Australia's "Talk with Ted," to provide care staff with real-time, adaptive feedback on their communication skills. These tools offer immersive, measurable training experiences to support workforce capability and enhance human-to-human interaction, rather than replace it (Dementia Australia, 2021).​

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Recommendations for Implementation​

For HR executives ready to transform communication from cost centre to profit driver, the framework is clear:

• Measure First: Implement communication competency assessment tools that provide continuous, objective data rather than relying on annual reviews or incident reports.

• Invest Strategically: Calculate your organisation's communication opportunity cost. Research shows that effective communication training in healthcare settings can reduce turnover while improving patient outcomes.

• Think Systematically: Address communication challenges through targeted recruitment and training programs that acknowledge existing staff skills while building specific competencies for multicultural care environments (Settlement Services International, 2024).

• Hire For Communication Skills: Use targeted recruitment to fill the communication skills gaps you have identified. Delivering specific workplace vocabulary training before work placements and during employment can strengthen understanding and outcomes on all fronts.

• Monitor Continuously: Establish feedback loops that capture both quantitative metrics (turnover rates, incident reports, satisfaction scores) and qualitative insights from staff, residents, and families.

• Embed & Scale: Make communication improvements sustainable by integrating them into induction, compliance, and career pathways so they become part of organisational culture.

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Summarising The Competitive Advantage

As the sector faces unprecedented workforce pressures and new regulatory requirements, organisations that hire for and develop communication competency as their most valuable asset will thrive. Research consistently shows that companies with strong communication practices are 3.5 times more likely to outperform peers and drive 47% higher total return to shareholders (Market Inspector, 2024). 

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In aged care, where trust, safety, and dignity are paramount, this advantage becomes even more pronounced. Providers with diverse, well-supported teams delivering culturally responsive care will not only meet compliance requirements—they'll redefine excellence in the sector.

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Workplaces that invest in clarity and connection today will thrive tomorrow. Aged care providers who understand that effective communication isn't just about understanding—it's about delivering safer, stronger, and more connected care, and these providers will reap the rewards of investing in communication competency. The question isn't whether your organisation can afford to invest in communication competency. 

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It's whether you can afford not to.

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References 

• Australian Research and Innovation Institute in Aged Care (ARIIA), “Communication and relationships” (2023, ARIIA Knowledge and Implementation Hub), www.ariia.org.au/knowledge-implementation-hub/clinical-governance/clinical-governance-themes/communication-and-relationships

• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Government, “People using aged care (GEN Aged Care Data, 30 April 2025), www.gen-agedcaredata.gov.au/topics/people-using-aged-care 

• Dementia Australia, “World-first AI Avatar in dementia education set to improve care” (2021), www.dementia.org.au/media-centre/media-releases/world-first-ai-avatar-dementia-education-set-improve-care 

• Department of Health and Aged Care, Australian Government, “Aged Care Worker Survey 2024 report”, www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-12/aged-care-worker-survey-2024-report.pdf 

• Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Australian Government, “About the new rights-based Aged Care Act” (2025), https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/aged-care-act/about

• HCPA, “Reducing staff turnover in healthcare settings: Evidence-based approaches” (2025, 25 April), www.hcpassociation.com.au/post/reducing-staff-turnover-healthcare-evidence-based-approaches/

• Hussein, S., Ismail, M., & Manthorpe, J., “An international review of the challenges associated with securing care workers from abroad. International Journal of Care and Caring”  (2018) 3(1). 123–134, https://doi.org/10.1332/239788219X15473079319595

• Kelly, C., “Staff leave in their thousands, data shows” (2024, Australian Ageing Agenda), www.australianageingagenda.com.au/executive/staff-leave-in-their-thousands-data-shows 

• Market Inspector, “Workplace Communication Statistics (2025)” https://www.market-inspector.co.uk/communication-in-the-workplace

• O'Dwyer, M., Polacsek, M., Porter, T., Rittinghausen, N., & Tribuzio, L., “Who speaks my language? Linguistic diversity among people living in Australian residential aged care facilities” (2024) Australasian Journal on Ageing, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.13275

• Settlement Services International, “New training program equips aged care workers with skills to support culturally diverse seniors” (12 January 2024, Media Release), www.ssi.org.au/media-centre/media-releases/new-training-program-equips-aged-care-workers-with-skills-to-support-culturally-diverse-seniors/ 

• Thwaites, C., McKercher, J. P., Fetherstonhaugh, D., Blackberry, I., Gilmartin-Thomas, J. F.-M., Taylor, N. F., Bourke, S. L., Fowler-Davis, S., Hammond, S., & Morris, M. E., “Factors impacting retention of aged care workers: A systematic review” (2023) 11(23) Healthcare, 3008. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11233008