Quality Standards Resource Centre

This resource provides information on the causes, treatments, and prevention of falls in older people. It outlines risk factors, such as home hazards and health conditions, and offers practical tips for reducing falls, including lifestyle changes, home modifications, and medical assessments. The document emphasises the importance of fall prevention in aged care settings.

This Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care clinical care standards provides guidelines for managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to reduce hospitalisations and improve outcomes. It includes quality statements, care indicators, and palliative care considerations to support best practices and enhance the quality of life for people with COPD. This resource may apply to healthcare contexts outside of aged care. 

This resource explains the purpose of a goals of care document, which outlines a person’s medical treatment goals and end of life care preferences. It describes how healthcare providers create and upload these documents to health records, supporting informed decision-making and access to care preferences.

This page provides resources about palliative care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers, and resources to support the non-Indigenous workforce provide culturally-responsive palliative care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This resource outlines how health service organisations can support advance care planning within the Comprehensive Care Standard (National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards). It highlights the importance of documenting a patient’s preferences for future care and ensuring systems are in place to act on these plans. It also provides actions related to policies, sharing decisions, comprehensive care, and clinical handover. 

This resource outlines best practices for documenting patient information related to medication history and adverse drug reactions. It provides guidance on obtaining the best possible medication history (BPMH), reconciling medications at care transitions, and recording known allergies. The resource helps aged care providers ensure accurate medication management, reduce errors, and prevent harm from adverse drug events. 

This resource may apply to healthcare contexts outside of aged care. Please consider the applicability of this resource to your care setting.

This resource provides guidance on ensuring appropriate patient placement in healthcare settings to prevent the spread of infections. It supports healthcare workers in assessing and allocating beds based on infection risks, promoting effective use of PPE, dedicated equipment, and environmental cleaning as part of transmission-based precautions. 

This survey resource provides a framework for assessing antimicrobial prescribing practices in aged care and other health settings. It supports health facilities in evaluating the appropriateness of antimicrobial use through audit tools and data collection, contributing to antimicrobial stewardship and improved patient care quality.

This provider poster is an educational tool is part of the Commission’s resource bundle to improve antibiotic use for urinary tract infections in aged care services.

The National Palliative Care Standards provide guidance for all health professionals and aged care services to deliver high-quality generalist palliative care. They support improved experiences and outcomes for people receiving care, and are intended for use across diverse care settings. Resources like audit tools and fact sheets are available to aid self-assessment and adherence to these standards​.

This resource provides evidence-based information and resources on palliative care for health professionals, patients and carers. It covers clinical practice, education, research, and service delivery. The platform aims to improve understanding, decision-making, and quality of care for people with life-limiting illnesses and their families.

This resource provides information and resources on wound prevention and management. It offers clinical guidelines, educational materials, and support for health professionals, caregivers, and people affected by wounds. The focus is on best practices, evidence-based care, and promoting awareness to improve wound healing outcomes across various settings.

This resource offers tools and information for clinicians supporting people with blindness or low vision across a range of settings including aged care. It includes free patient materials, brochures in multiple languages, fact sheets on eye conditions, case studies, tips on communication, assistive technology recommendations, and professional development webinars to enhance patient care and referral processes. This resource may apply to healthcare contexts outside of aged care. Please consider the applicability of this resource to your care setting.”

This resource provides the 2021 Australian guidelines on wound healing interventions for diabetic foot disease (DFD) and foot ulcers (DFU). It includes evidence-based recommendations for healthcare professionals on appropriate practices, such as sharp debridement, exudate control, adjunctive treatments, and decision-making pathways to enhance wound healing and improve patient outcomes.

This resource provides free training materials for hearing assistance in aged care and hospital settings. It includes a Good Practice Guide, instructional video, poster series, and training modules. The resources aim to equip staff, volunteers, and family carers with knowledge to support people with hearing loss effectively.

This resource provides downloadable tools to support the management of pain in residential aged care facilities. It covers comprehensive pain assessment, pain management strategies for communicative and non-communicative residents, complementary therapies, opioid considerations, and quality indicators, aiming to enhance care practices and improve residents' quality of life.

This resource, Mob Smiles, provides culturally appropriate oral health information for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes brochures, posters, and fact sheets tailored for different life stages such as children, teenagers, elders, and pregnant women. The content focuses on dental care, healthy habits, and oral health education.

This guide focuses on palliative and end-of-life care, detailing general principles, illness trajectories, the role of general practitioners, and practical recommendations for patient-cantered care. It provides consensus-based guidelines for initiating advance care planning, symptom management, team-based end-of-life care, medication use, and supporting both patients and their families. It includes information on the transition from chronic disease treatment to a palliative approach and includes tools for clinical decision-making.

This guide outlines a palliative care approach for patients with life-limiting conditions, focusing on improving quality of life through early assessment, pain relief, and addressing psychosocial and spiritual needs. It describes the role of general practitioners in delivering person-centred care, engaging families, and ensuring collaborative, holistic support in both residential aged care and community settings.

This guide serves as a reference for general practitioners managing common clinical conditions in aged care. It includes principles of diagnosis, management, and patient-centred care, with considerations for multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and palliative care. The guide aims to support tailored healthcare plans based on individual patient needs in residential and community settings.