HACC national service standards

Page content: HACC national service standards | Program national standards instrument & guidelines | Quality Improvement Strategy for Victoria | Seeking consumer views on quality of services

HACC national service standards

The HACC national service standards were introduced in 1991 to provide agencies with a common reference point for internal quality controls by defining particular aspects of service quality and expected outcomes for consumers in seven key areas:

1. Access to Services
2. Information and Consultation
3. Efficient and Effective Management
4. Coordinated, Planned and Reliable Service Delivery
5. Privacy, Confidentiality and Access to Personal Information
6. Complaints and Disputes
7. Advocacy

Following the agreement of all State and Territory Ministers responsible for the HACC Program, the National Service Standards were gazetted on 17 May 1995. States and Territories are now required to include the Standards in all service agreements. Monitoring and compliance with the Standards is a major part of service reviews.

Refer to Section 3.4 of the HACC program manual.

HACC Program national standards instrument & guidelines

The HACC National Service Standards Instrument (the Instrument) has been developed to measure the extent to which individual agencies are complying with the Standards through a service assessment process. The Instrument measures the quality of services against the National Service Standards.

Electronic copies of the Instrument can be accessed from the Australian Department of Health & Ageing website.

Quality Improvement Strategy for Victoria

In Victoria, the Department of Human Services engaged an independent contractor to undertake assessment of all HACC funded agencies against the Standards Instrument in 2003-04. The work carried out by the contractor includes the development of a training kit incorporating the Standards Instrument with evidence examples to assist agencies to prepare for self assessment prior to a site visit by an independent assessor.

A key feature of the assessment process is the assessment summary and action plan completed for each agency. Agency results include whether an agency has met the 25 performance questions and the overall score achieved. Each agency receives a score (0-20) with a rating (High, Good, Basic, Poor) and the action plan highlighting areas requiring improvement and practical suggestions to achieve improved outcomes. Consumer feedback is also a major part of the implementation process (further details are provided below).

All HACC funded agencies were assessed by June 2004. Agencies will then undergo an assessment against the Instrument on a triennial basis as part of DHS commitment to continuously monitor and improve the quality of services provided to HACC clients.

Ongoing monitoring of agency action plans is the role of Regional Departmental staff. A range of options is available to assist agencies to improve the quality of their performance and to develop and support a culture of continuous quality improvement in the HACC program.

Seeking consumer views on quality of services

Incorporation of feedback from those people receiving HACC services is recognised as an important component of quality assurance in the HACC program. It is an independent means of validating the outcome of appraisals and, as such, assists in identifying those agencies that may be performing poorly or well against the Standards.

A number of consumer appraisal tools have been developed specifically for the HACC Program by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and form a part of the independent assessment process. The framework for including consumer appraisal into the process can be accessed from the Commonwealth Department of Health & Ageing HACC website.

Agencies are encouraged to seek feedback from their consumers at regular intervals. Use and or modification of the consumer surveys from this website requires acknowledgment of the Department of Health and Ageing to satisfy copyright requirements.

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