Quality Standards Resource Centre

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 provides guidance on ensuring informed consent in healthcare settings. It outlines legal, ethical, and professional requirements for obtaining consent, supports person-centred care, and ensures compliance with Australian healthcare standards. It highlights the importance of providing accurate information about interventions and alternatives, ensuring people have sufficient knowledge of potential risks and benefits. 

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 culturally appropriate palliative care education and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It includes resources, videos, and training materials aimed at improving understanding, communication, and care practices in end-of-life care, integrating cultural beliefs and values to enhance quality care for Indigenous Australians.

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 information and strategies for supporting older adults with age-related dual sensory loss or deafblindness. It includes a resource booklet and video developed to help aged care workers understand and address the needs of people with combined vision and hearing impairments to reduce isolation and enhance care.

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.