Acronym
ACSQHC
Type
Standards Development Organisation
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) is the national health care standards agency for all health services, general practices, pathology and medical imaging providers in Australia.
The commission has developed national care standards for all health services (National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards), as well as more specific standards for general practices and allied health (Primary and Community Healthcare Standards), mental health services (Mental Health Standards for Community Managed Organisations), and clinical care delivered in aged care settings (Aged Care Quality Standards).
The Commission works in partnership with patients, carers, clinicians, the Australian state and territory health systems, the private sector, managers, and healthcare organisations to achieve a safe, high-quality and sustainable health system. A result of their work in the development of clinical standards that help to ensure safe healthcare for Australians.
Key functions of the Commission include; developing national safety and quality standards, developing clinical care standards to improve the implementation of evidence-based health care, coordinating work in specific areas to improve outcomes for patients, and providing information, publications and resources about safety and quality.
Browse the ACSQHC standards website.
Resources
Acute Anaphylaxis Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Nov-21
This clinical care standard describes the care that patients should receive when they have anaphylaxis. It applies to adults, children and infants, including those who experience anaphylaxis while in a healthcare facility.
Acute Coronary Syndromes Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Dec-19
This clinical care standard describes the care that patients with a suspected ACS should receive, from the onset of symptoms through to discharge from hospital. It addresses recognition of an ACS, rapid assessment, early management and early initiation of a tailored rehabilitation plan.
Acute Stroke Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Oct-19
This clinical care standard describes the care that patients should receive when they are or may be having a stroke. It covers recognition of stroke, rapid assessment, early management, and early initiation of an individualised rehabilitation plan.
Antimicrobial Stewardship Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Nov-20
This clinical care standard describes the care people of all ages should receive when they have or may have infection or require an antimicrobial for prophylaxis.
Cataract Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Aug-21
This clinical care standard describes the care that should be received by people aged 18+ who have cataract, in all healthcare settings.
Clinical care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples using aged care services
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Mar-24
This literature review provides recommendations for aged care services to provide high-quality clinical care in a culturally safe and responsive environment for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Updated
Jan-20
This clinical care standard describes the care that should be received by adults undergoing colonoscopy for screening, diagnosis, surveillance or treatment.
Delirium Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2016
Updated
Sep-21
This clinical care standard describes the care that should be received by adults when they have delirium.
Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Scheme Standards
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2016
These standards provide a consistent statement on the level of care consumers can expect from diagnostic imaging practices.
Environmental Sustainability and Climate Resilience Healthcare Module
Category
Supplementary Resource
Organisation
ACSQHC
ID
D23-51832
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Draft
Created
Nov-23
The document provides a framework of environmental sustainability and climate resilience actions that use a health service organisation’s existing governance, safety and quality systems.
Guidelines for approved pathology collection centres v3
Category
Guideline
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
3
Access
Open
Status
Active
Updated
2013
These guidelines set out minimum requirements for medical pathology specimen collection. The requirements apply to approved collection centres, hospital collection points and any collection activity connected to an approved pathology authority.
Health Insurance (Accredited Pathology Laboratories-Approval) Principles 2017
Category
Regulation
Organisation
ACSQHC
ID
F2023C00713 (C13)
Type
Standard
Version
13
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Aug-23
This document is a compilation of the Health Insurance (Accredited Pathology Laboratories-Approval) Principles 2017, it provides the principles by which decisions are made on the approval, refusal, and variation or revocation of approval of a premises as an accredited pathology laboratory.
Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Oct-17
This clinical care standard describes the care that should be received by women of reproductive age who have heavy menstrual bleeding.
Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Clinical Care Standard - Evidence Sources
Category
Supplementary Resource
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Oct-17
This document lists the evidence sources that were used to develop the Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Clinical Care Standard 2017.
Hip Fracture Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Updated
Sep-23
This clinical care standard describes the care that should be received by people with a suspected hip fracture, from presentation to hospital through to completion of treatment and discharge from hospital.
Implementation Guide - Venous Thromboembolism Prevention Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Dec-20
This document supports local implementation of the Venous Thromboembolism Prevention Clinical Care Standard.
Literature review: Safety and quality in diagnostic imaging
Category
Supplementary Resource
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Jul-22
This literature review describes the national and international standards that underpin diagnostic imaging, as well as strategies to improve patient safety, quality and unwarranted variation in diagnostic imaging.
Low Back Pain Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Sep-22
This clinical care standard describes the care that should be received by patients aged 16+ who present with low back pain, with or without leg pain
Management of Peripheral Intravenous Catheters Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
May-21
This clinical care standard describes the care that should be received by people using peripheral intravenous catheters (PIVCs), commonly known as cannulas.
National Safety and Quality Cosmetic Surgery Standards
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2023
The National Safety and Quality Cosmetic Surgery Standards have been developed to protect the public from harm and improve the quality of cosmetic surgery in Australia.
National Safety and Quality Digital Mental Health Standards
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2020
The National Safety and Quality Digital Mental Health (NSQMH) Standards were developed to improve the quality of digital mental health service provision and protect users from harm.
National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards v2
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
ID
NSQHS Standards
Type
Standard
Version
2
Access
Open
Status
Active
Updated
May-21
The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS Standards) provide a quality assurance mechanism for testing whether systems are in place to meet safety and quality standards.
National Safety and Quality Mental Health Standards for Community Managed Organisations
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2022
The National Safety and Quality Mental Health (NSQMH) Standards for community managed organisations were developed to protect the public from harm and to continuously improve the quality of service provision.
National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards, Edition 1
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
1
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2021
This document presents the Primary and Community Healthcare Standards that prescribe a nationally consistent framework, which all primary and community healthcare services can apply when delivering health care to patients.
Opioid Analgesic Stewardship in Acute Pain Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Apr-22
This clinical care standard describes the care that patients of all ages should receive when they are prescribed opioid analgesics for acute pain in acute care settings.
Osteoarthritis of the Knee Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
May-17
This clinical care standard describes the care that should be received by patients aged 45+ when they have knee pain and may have knee osteoarthritis.
Performance measures for Australian laboratories reporting cervical cytology v3
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
3
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2015
This document sets out measures and standards for the day-to-day performance of a laboratory reporting cervical cytology.
Requirements for cervical screening v1
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
1
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2023
This document describes the standard of care consumers can expect from pathology laboratories that test self-collected vaginal swabs, specifying the minimum standards that pathology laboratories must meet.
Requirements for human medical genome testing utilising massively parallel sequencing technologies
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
1
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2017
This document outlines the minimum best-practice requirements for medical pathology laboratories that conduct human genetic testing using massively parallel sequencing - also known as next-generation sequencing.
Requirements for information communication and reporting v5
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
ID
D22-32436
Type
Standard
Version
5
Access
Open
Status
Active
Updated
2022
The document outlines a framework for the communication of pathology information within the request-test-report cycle.
Requirements for laboratories reporting tests for the National Cervical Screening Program
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
2
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2019
This document sets out the minimum requirements for best-practice use of human papillomavirus (HPV) nucleic acid testing for cervical screening
Requirements for laboratory testing for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV)
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
4
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2023
This document sets out the minimum standards for good pathology practice in Australia for testing for HIV and HCV.
Requirements for medical pathology services v3
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
3
Access
Open
Status
Active
Updated
2018
The Requirement for Medical Pathology Services (Third Edition 2018) outlines standards for good medical pathology practice.
Requirements for medical testing for human genetic variation
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
3
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2022
This standard sets out the expected level of practice required by laboratories for medical testing of heritable and non-heritable human genetic variation.
Requirements for medical testing of microbial nucleic acids
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
2
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2013
This standard sets out the requirements that apply to tests for detecting, characterising and quantifying nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) in medical pathology laboratories that test for microorganisms that can or may cause disease in humans.
Requirements for point of care testing
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
2
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2021
This standard sets out the minimum requirements for governance, management systems, staff training, safety, environmental issues, and specimen and result integrity related to the performance of point of care testing.
Requirements for procedures related to the collection, processing, storage and issue of human haemopoietic progenitor cells v6
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
6
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2021
This document outlines the standards that must be met by laboratories and other facilities involved in donor selection, collection, processing, storage and issue or disposal of directed minimally manipulated: haemopoietic progenitor cells (HPC), cord blood, and donor lymphocytes.
Requirements for quality control, external quality assurance and method evaluation
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
6
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2018
This document outlines the general features that an internal quality control system and an external quality assessment program must have in order to provide an effective monitoring strategy for the various pathology disciplines.
Requirements for semen analysis
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
1
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2017
This document sets out the minimum requirements for best practice in performing pathology-based semen analysis.
Requirements for supervision in the clinical governance of medical pathology laboratories v7
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
7
Access
Open
Status
Active
Updated
2023
This document outlines the role and responsibilities of the designated person described in the Tier 2 document - the key medical practitioner leading a medical pathology service.
Requirements for the communication of high risk pathology results
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
1
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2020
This document outlines the minimum best-practice standards for the management and communication of high-risk pathology results by the pathology service.
Requirements for the development and use of in-house in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs) v4
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
4
Access
Open
Status
Active
Updated
2018
This document outlines the principles and assessment criteria by which in-house in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs) must be designed, developed, produced, validated and monitored for use by medical laboratories in Australia.
Requirements for the estimation of measurement of uncertainty
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2007
This document provides guidance for pathology laboratories on an acceptable degree of variation in measurements.
Requirements for the facilities and operation of mortuaries
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
3
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2013
This document outlines the minimum best practice for mortuaries in hospitals and forensic units, including design, construction, provision of services and communication.
Requirements for the packaging and transport of pathology specimens and associated materials
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
5
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2022
This document sets out the expected policies, procedures and practices that laboratories should use when packaging and transporting pathology specimens and associated materials.
Requirements for the performance of anatomical pathology cut-up v4
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
4
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2013
These requirements set out minimum training and performance standards for anatomical pathology cut-up (grossing).
Requirements for the retention of laboratory records and diagnostic material v9
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
9
Access
Open
Status
Active
Updated
2022
This document describes minimum standards for retention of laboratory records and materials by medical pathology services.
Requirements for transfusion laboratory practice v5
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
ID
D22-40385
Type
Standard
Version
5
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2022
This document outlines practice standards that assure the safety, quality and efficacy of transfusion testing, associated transfusion laboratory practice, and non-transfusion related blood group immunohaematology testing.
Requirements for use of digital images as an alternative to direct microscopy v1
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
1
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2021
This document sets out minimum practice requirements for the accreditation of laboratories that use digital technology for primary morphological diagnosis and second opinions.
Requirements for validation of self-collected vaginal swabs for use in the National Cervical Screening Program
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Version
1
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
2019
This document sets out the minimum requirements that a laboratory must meet in order to offer testing of self-collected vaginal swabs for human papillomavirus (HPV) as part of the National Cervical Screening Program as an in vitro diagnostic medical device.
Sepsis Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Jun-22
This clinical care standard describes the care that should be received by patients of all ages (including neonates and older people) presenting with signs and symptoms of sepsis in primary and community care, acute and non-acute settings.
Stillbirth Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Nov-22
This clinical care standard describes the care that should be received by pregnant women to reduce their chance of experiencing a stillbirth.
The National Clinical Trials Governance Framework and user guide for health service organisations conducting clinical trials, Edition 1
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
ID
National Clinical Trials Governance Framework
Type
Standard
Version
1
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Feb-22
The National Clinical Trials Governance Framework supports the integration of clinical trial services into routine hospital care.
Third and Fourth Degree Perineal Tears Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Created
Apr-21
This clinical care standard describes the care that women should receive when they are pregnant or experience a third or fourth degree perineal tear during birth.
Venous Thromboembolism Prevention Clinical Care Standard
Category
Standard
Organisation
ACSQHC
Type
Standard
Access
Open
Status
Active
Updated
Jan-20
This clinical care standard describes the care that patients aged 18+ should receive to reduce their risk of developing hospital-acquired VTE both in hospital and following discharge.