DEX Stage 3 Changes 11/08/2026
Overview of Changes
The Department of Health's Data Exchange (DEX) system has introduced a new set of mandatory reporting fields for CHSP providers, known as Stage 3. These changes went live in the DEX production environment overnight.
Key dates:
- 1 July 2026 — Stage 3 fields apply based on a session's delivery date, not the date it's exported to DEX. This means any session delivered on or after 1 July 2026 must carry the new Stage 3 data — including sessions already delivered between 1 July 2026 and now.
- 11 August 2026 — Stage 3 went live in the DEX production environment.
Because the requirement is tied to delivery date rather than export date, sessions delivered from 1 July 2026 onward need this data captured before they can be exported. If you have Supports already delivered since 1st July 2026, without the new fields completed, these will need to be re edited to add in the new fields.
**Action Point - Add new available stage 3 data to all existing supports from 01.07.2026 to Now
What's new at a session level
Two fields apply broadly across all DEX Program Activities:
| New field | Applies to |
|---|---|
| Session delivered by a subcontractor (Yes/No) | All activities |
| Volunteer involved in direct service delivery (Yes/No) | All activities except Allied health and therapy services, Equipment and products, Nursing care, Personal care, and Therapeutic services for independent living |
What's new for specific service types
Some service types have additional mandatory (or, in the case of Transport, optional) fields:
Meal delivery
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Session Location (Home/Community)
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Meals cooked offsite (Yes/No)
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Texture modified items (Yes/No)
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Meal type fields: Main meal, Light meal, Dessert, Beverage, Snack
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Engagement time spent with client (minutes)
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Respite services (Community and centre-based respite, Flexible respite, Cottage respite)
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Meals provided (Yes/No), Texture modified items (Yes/No), and the same meal type fields as above
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Flexible respite only: Session Location (Home/Community) and Overnight (Yes/No)
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Individual social support
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Session Location (Home/Community)
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Transport (Direct and Indirect transport) — these fields are optional, not mandatory
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Engagement time spent with client (minutes)
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Trip distance (km)
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Trip travel time (hours and minutes)
Direct Transport
Indirect
Action Items
With Stage 3 now live, there are a few sync actions to run so CareMaster has the latest DEX reference data, activities, and outlet links. These should be done as soon as possible, and can be re-run at any time if DEX updates its reference data.
Begin with an overall Re-Sync
1. Sync Reference Data
Reference data drives the drop-down options shown throughout CareMaster's DEX screens (e.g. Household Composition, Accommodation Type). Keeping it in sync ensures the correct codes are sent to DEX.
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Go to Admin → Integrations → DEX → Reference Data
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Click Sync reference data
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Confirm the sync has completed — the reference data count will update
2. Sync Activities
Activities are the DEX Program Activities your organisation is approved to deliver against. These need to be current before new services can be linked to them.
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Go to Admin → Integrations → DEX → Activities
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Click Sync from DEX
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Review the imported activities list — you can click the eye icon next to an activity to review its Service Types
3. Sync Outlets and Activity Links
Outlets represent your organisation's physical/service locations in DEX, and each outlet needs to be linked to the activities it delivers. All CHSP funded services must have an Outlet Activity assigned before supports for that service can be submitted to DEX.
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Go to Admin → Integrations → DEX → Outlets
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Click Sync Outlets to bring in outlet records from DEX
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Click Sync Outlet → Activity Links to bring in which activities are linked to each outlet
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Tip: All three of these can also be run together from the DEX Dashboard using the Bulk Import Data button, which downloads Organisation, Outlets, Activities, Outlet → Activity links, and Reference Data in a single action.
DEX Stage 3 Changes — Available Now
Supports form — new required fields for sessions from 1 July 2026
The Supports form now presents the new Stage 3 fields relevant to each service type when you create or edit a Support with a delivery date of 1 July 2026 or later (e.g. subcontractor and volunteer flags for all services, meal fields for Meal delivery, location for Individual social support, and so on). These fields must be completed for the support to be considered compliant with Stage 3 requirements.
Supports with Stage 3 data upload successfully to DEX
Supports with the new fields completed export and upload successfully to DEX — the new data is included as part of the standard export process.
DEX Stage 3 Changes — Coming Soon
The following functionality is still being developed and will be released in an upcoming update:
Service Exports — exclusion flagging for incomplete Stage 3 data
When previewing a DEX Service Export, any support that doesn't meet the Stage 3 data requirements for its service type will be flagged and excluded from the export, with a clear reason shown (similar to how existing exclusion reasons, such as "Not linked to a DEX Client," are currently displayed).
Service Organisations — default values for Stage 3 fields
You'll be able to set default values for each of the new DEX Stage 3 data fields at the Service Organisation level (similar to how Unit Cost and Fee Charged defaults work today). This will save time by pre-filling the Stage 3 fields on new supports, rather than requiring manual entry every time.
This article will be updated as further Stage 3 functionality is released. If you have questions about specific field requirements or open items, please check with the product team.