Aged Care Quality Standards
Standard 6 - Food and nutrition
ACQS25-6.3 Nutritious, appetising food with variation and choice
Clause and reference 15-35(3) of the Aged Care Rules 2025 · our reference ACQS25-6.3
The requirement
People are given food and drink that answers their nutritional needs and is appetising and flavoursome, choice and variety in what they eat and drink, and a say in how much.
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
- Menus with dietitian review at least annually
- Meal observation records including texture modified meals
- 24-hour access to snacks and drinks
What assessors commonly find
- Texture modified meals unappetising or unidentifiable
- No menu review by a dietitian
What evidence do I need?
For ACQS25-6.3 Nutritious, appetising food with variation and choice, the evidence to bring is: Menus with dietitian review at least annually; Meal observation records including texture modified meals. It sits under Standard 6 - Food and nutrition and the instrument's own clause is 15-35(3). Keep every record dated, signed and current, and name who owns it.
Answer the reviewer first
Show me menus with dietitian review at least annually, 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