The short answer
A Priority 1 incident must be notified to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission within 24 hours of the provider becoming aware of it.
A Priority 2 incident is any other reportable incident that does not meet the Priority 1 criteria. It must be notified within 30 calendar days of awareness. That is 30 calendar days, not business days.
These are always Priority 1
These are Priority 1 no matter how the individual case looks. You do not assess severity first:
- Unexpected death
- Any sexual conduct: unlawful sexual contact or inappropriate sexual conduct
- Unexplained absence from care reported, or that reasonably should be reported, to police
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission deliberately removed the severity assessment for sexual conduct, so the whole category is always Priority 1 and cannot be under-classified onto the 30 calendar day clock.
The rest are assessed against the Priority 1 trigger
For the remaining categories, an incident is Priority 1 if either of these is true:
- It caused, or could reasonably have caused, physical or psychological injury requiring medical or psychological treatment; or
- There are reasonable grounds to report it to police.
If neither is true, the incident is still reportable, but as Priority 2 on the 30 calendar day clock. Inappropriate use of a restrictive practice is reportable regardless of severity: if it does not meet the Priority 1 trigger, it is reported as Priority 2.
Priority at a glance
| Category | Priority | Report within |
|---|---|---|
| Unexpected death | Always Priority 1 | 24 hours |
| Unlawful sexual contact | Always Priority 1 | 24 hours |
| Inappropriate sexual conduct (not unlawful contact) | Always Priority 1 | 24 hours |
| Unexplained absence reported (or that should be reported) to police | Always Priority 1 | 24 hours |
| Unreasonable use of force | Assessed: P1 or P2 | 24 hours / 30 calendar days |
| Psychological or emotional abuse | Assessed: P1 or P2 | 24 hours / 30 calendar days |
| Neglect | Assessed: P1 or P2 | 24 hours / 30 calendar days |
| Stealing or financial coercion by a staff member | Assessed: P1 or P2 | 24 hours / 30 calendar days |
| Inappropriate use of a restrictive practice | Reportable; P1 or P2 | 24 hours / 30 calendar days |
Indicative summary of the classification logic. Confirm each case against current ACQSC guidance and your own policy.
A worked example
A care worker uses more force than is reasonable while assisting a person to transfer, and the person is left with bruising but needs no treatment. There is no suggestion the matter should go to police. Because it did not cause injury requiring medical or psychological treatment and there are no grounds to report to police, this would likely be assessed as Priority 2 and reported within 30 calendar days.
Change one fact: the same incident causes a fracture requiring hospital treatment. Now it caused injury requiring medical treatment, so it would likely be Priority 1 and reported within 24 hours. The category is the same; the trigger changes the priority.
These examples are illustrative. The actual classification is a judgement for your nominated delegate.
Primary source
This page is based on guidance published by the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) under the Aged Care Act 2024 and the Aged Care Rules 2025, in force from 1 November 2025.