What does a SIRS notification need to contain?

Under the Aged Care Rules 2025 (s165A-25(4)), a SIRS notification needs the provider's name and contact details, the details of the older person affected, the date, time and location the incident occurred, a factual description of what happened, the harm caused or reasonably expected to each person and its consequences, the immediate actions taken, the notifier's position and contact details, and the older person's level of cognition, if known. It also helps to record the date and time your organisation became aware of it, the staff involved, whether police have been or will be notified, whether the incident is reportable under any other scheme, and the planned or completed follow-up actions. Confirm the current required fields in the My Aged Care provider portal.

What should you do before lodging a SIRS notification?

Before you lodge, confirm a nominated delegate has agreed the incident is reportable, identify the category, assess the priority, and record the exact date and time your organisation became aware of it. Keep the language factual and free of speculation, inform the older person or their representative where appropriate, and keep a copy of everything you submit for your own incident register.

SIRS Notification Checklist and Report Template | Teiro

Q: Do you have to record incidents that are not SIRS-reportable?

Yes, for many of them. SIRS-reportable incidents are a subset of all incidents. The Aged Care Rules 2025 (s164-10) require your incident management system to cover incidents that have caused, or could reasonably have been expected to cause, harm to an older person, not just the eight reportable categories. An incident that does not meet the SIRS threshold may still need to be logged in your own system.

SIRS notification checklist and report template

A practical checklist of exactly what a SIRS notification needs before you lodge it with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Work down it the night before a deadline, or use it to build your own template. It is guidance, not a determination or legal advice.

This is guidance, not a determination or legal advice. Whether an incident is reportable under SIRS, and at what priority, is a judgement your organisation's nominated delegate must confirm. SIRS rules change: always verify current requirements against current ACQSC guidance and your own SIRS policy before you act. When you are genuinely unsure, the safer default we recommend is to report. The Commission says: “If you’re unsure whether an incident is criminal, it’s best to report it to the police”.

Before you start: confirm the basics

Someone with delegated authority has reviewed the incident and agreed it is SIRS-reportable
The reportable incident category has been identified (see the eight categories below)
The priority has been assessed: Priority 1 (24 hours) or Priority 2 (30 calendar days)
The exact date and time the organisation became aware of the incident is recorded (not the time the incident occurred, if different)
If the incident was disclosed after the fact (a historical disclosure), the awareness clock has been set from when your organisation first knew, not from the original event

The eight reportable incident categories

Unreasonable use of force
Unlawful sexual contact or inappropriate sexual conduct
Psychological or emotional abuse
Unexpected death
Stealing or financial coercion by a staff member
Neglect
Inappropriate use of restrictive practices
Unexplained absence from care (where there are reasonable grounds to report it to police)

Unexpected death, and unexplained absence (which is defined by reasonable grounds to report it to police), are always Priority 1, regardless of how severe the individual case seems. The whole sexual-conduct category (unlawful sexual contact and inappropriate sexual conduct) is also always Priority 1.

What your notification needs to contain

The provider's name and contact details
Details of the older person affected by the incident
Date, time and location the incident occurred
Date and time the organisation became aware of the incident
A factual description of what happened: observed facts, not conclusions or diagnoses
The harm caused, or reasonably expected to be caused, to each person, and its consequences
The older person's level of cognition, if known
Names and roles of staff involved or who responded
Immediate actions taken (first aid, medical review, police contact, family or representative notification)
Whether police have been, or will be, notified
Whether the incident has been reported under any other scheme (for example NDIS, if dual-registered)
Planned or completed follow-up actions (investigation, changed procedures, additional training, restrictive practice review)
The notifier's position and contact details (name and role of the person lodging)

Before you lodge

The notification has been reviewed by your nominated delegate or quality manager
Language is factual and free of speculation: report what happened and what you did, not what you assume caused it
The older person (or their representative) has been informed, where appropriate and consistent with your open disclosure policy
You have a copy of everything you are submitting, for your own incident register
Delegate review has not pushed lodgement past 24 hours for a Priority 1 incident: lodge first and add detail afterwards if you must
If the deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday, someone is confirmed as available to lodge within the timeframe: do not rely on a weekend or holiday extension

After you lodge

The incident stays open in your system until every follow-up action is actually completed, not just until the notification is sent
Further information is provided within 5 days of becoming aware, unless the Commission sets a different period (s165A-25(6)), and any significant new information as soon as reasonably practicable (s165A-40)
A final report is provided within 84 days if the Commission requires one (s165A-45)
Any other information the Commission requests is tracked against the same deadline discipline as the original notification
The incident and its outcome are reviewed at your next quality or clinical governance meeting

Do not confuse this with your day-to-day incident register

SIRS-reportable incidents are a subset of all incidents. The Aged Care Rules 2025 (s164-10) require your incident management system to cover incidents that have caused, or could reasonably have been expected to cause, harm to an older person, not just the eight reportable categories. An incident that does not meet the SIRS threshold may still need to be logged in your own system.

Is this reportable? Decision tool Work out the exact deadline Priority 1 vs Priority 2 Back to the SIRS guide

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.

Before and after you lodge

A checklist covers the notification itself. These guides cover the timing decisions either side of it.

Work out your exact deadline

Enter the moment of awareness and the priority to see the due date.

Confirm the priority first

Which categories are always Priority 1, and the trigger that decides the rest.

Also NDIS registered? Compare the two schemes

Two regulators, two category lists, two portals.

Generate the notification from the record

Coordinators review, confirm reportability, and record notifications with a full audit trail.

A complaints register is not the same thing

Why an incident register alone does not satisfy the separate complaints requirement.

Back to the SIRS guide

The full plain-English SIRS overview for aged care providers.

The record already exists by the time the clock is running

Teiro captures the incident at the point of care, timestamps the moment your team became aware of it, surfaces the classification question to your reviewer with the facts already attached, tracks the deadline once a priority is assigned, and produces the record you need to lodge your SIRS notification. The decision about whether something is reportable, and at what priority, stays with your organisation's delegate. Teiro makes sure that decision gets made in time, by the right person, with the facts already in front of them.

Teiro does not determine reportability, and does not submit notifications to the ACQSC or the NDIS Commission on your behalf. It produces the record your delegate needs to make the call and lodge it.