Alkira Gardens: Why Australia’s Aged Care Reform Was Necessary

Throughout our latest blog series, we've explored how the new Aged Care Act 2024, and Aged Care Rules 2025 are reshaping Australia's aged care sector - from strengthened whistleblowing protections to mandatory training requirements for providers. But how (and why) did these reforms become unavoidable? The answer lies in cases like Alkira Gardens.

In 2017, Shannon Ruddock begged NSW’s Calvary Hospital not to return her dying father to his nursing home. Vincent Paranthoiene's final weeks at Alkira Gardens exposed systemic failures so severe they became a watershed moment for the Royal Commission. Had today's reforms been in place - including mandatory pain assessment documentation, enforceable staffing standards, genuine accountability - his suffering may have been prevented.

What Happened‍

Vincent Paranthoiene, 81, developed terminal cancer while at Alkira Gardens, a care facility in Miranda, NSW operated by The Sisters of Our Lady of China Health Care. Three months passed before staff recognised something was wrong and, despite prescribed pain medication every four hours, he frequently didn't receive it. When asked if he was in pain, he ‘always’ said yes. His daughter even performed pain assessments herself - work the facility should have undertaken daily. 

Following Vincent’s death in 2017 and giving evidence at a Perth hearing conducted by the Royal Commission, Shannon Ruddock advocated for a rigorous form of accreditation before an aged care home could provide palliative care.

The Royal Commission subsequently found Alkira Gardens ‘failed to provide either adequate or quality palliative care’ and ‘lacked the physical and organisational capacity’ to deliver what they promised. 

Key failures included:

• Inadequate staffing for residents with complex needs
• High staff turnover destroying continuity of care
• No pain assessments conducted on multiple days
• Staff untrained in cancer pain management
• Federal sanctions during his residency for failing accreditation
• No meeting records kept when family complained

Why Reforms Were Necessary

This case wasn't isolated. Prominent palliative care specialist, Joshua Cohen, who serviced 4,000 beds across 66 aged care facilities through Calvary Hospital, testified that pain management failures like Alkira's were common throughout residential aged care. 

The Royal Commission heard that with 60,000 of 160,000 deaths occurring each year in Australia’s aged care facilities, the sector was accepting residents requiring specialised end-of-life care without systems in place to deliver it. Critically, without safe whistleblowing mechanisms, such systemic failures went unchallenged.

What’s Changed for Providers

• Enforceable standards over promises: The Aged Care Act 2024 now requires facilities to prove - not just promise - capabilities. 
• Mandatory training saves lives: Reforms now mandate appropriate staffing ratios and specialised end-of-life training. 
• Documentation creates accountability: New transparency requirements ensure clinical documentation is non-negotiable. 
• Safe reporting mechanisms matter: Reformed complaint mechanisms and secure reporting prevent families fighting alone.
  
  

Mr Paranthoiene's experience - and his daughter's courage in exposing it - ensured that systemic neglect could no longer hide behind opacity and empty promises. Today’s reforms exist because his case proved that aged care's fundamental structures were broken.

Today, Alkira Gardens is compliant with Quality Standards, with satisfied consumers and families - proof that accountability works. The challenge now is ensuring every provider understands and implements these requirements before history repeats itself.

How Veremark Helps

The new Aged Care Rules 2025 demand rigorous compliance across training, documentation, workforce standards and whistleblowing protections. Veremark’s end-to-end encrypted solution streamlines compliance, allowing providers to focus on what matters most - delivering quality care to residents.

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