Aged Care Quality Standards
ACQS25-5.16 Active pain and symptom management with specialist access
Clause and reference 15-30(16) of the Aged Care Rules 2025 · our reference ACQS25-5.16
The requirement
Each person's pain and symptoms are actively managed, with specialist care for palliative and end-of-life needs reachable when it is needed.
Our wording of the requirement: our statement of what the clause asks, not the instrument verbatim. Source: Aged Care Quality Standards on the compliance desk.
The evidence to bring
- Symptom assessment and management records
- Anticipatory medicine availability
- Specialist palliative care referrals
What assessors commonly find
- Pain not assessed for people who cannot communicate it
- Anticipatory medicines unavailable after hours
What evidence do I need?
For ACQS25-5.16 Active pain and symptom management with specialist access, the evidence to bring is: Symptom assessment and management records; Anticipatory medicine availability. It sits under Standard 5 - Clinical care and the instrument's own clause is 15-30(16). Keep every record dated, signed and current, and name who owns it.
Answer the reviewer first
Show me symptom assessment and management records, and tell me who owns it and when it was last reviewed.
That is the question a quality assessor opens with for this requirement. Have the record on the desk and the date it was last reviewed to hand.
Read your own evidence against this clause
Paste your policy or evidence pack and the reading marks, line by line, whether a phrase from this requirement appears and quotes your own words when it does. It is a reading of your text, not a compliance result; a quality assessor decides whether a requirement is met. Read your pack, free See the paid reading