QIC Health and Community Service Standards: Update on the 8th Edition

The development of the QIC Standards 8th Edition is now in its final stages following an extensive consultation process with clients, assessors and stakeholders. The upcoming 8th Edition will continue to uphold a strong focus on person-centred, safe, and quality-driven service delivery, while introducing a stronger emphasis on sustainability, cultural responsiveness, and digital inclusion to better support health and wellbeing outcomes. The new edition of the QIC Standards will ensure they remain aligned with current best practices and needs of communities.

The QIC Standards were originally developed by the Quality Improvement Council (QIC) in the 1990s and have long since played a vital role in embedding continuous quality improvement across health and community services organisations in Australia. Since the QIC-QIP merger in 2013, QIP has been the exclusive provider of accreditation against the QIC Standards.

Feedback review and next steps

To ensure the QIC Standards 8th Edition reflect client and industry needs and practices, earlier this year QIP collected direct feedback from clients and assessors. All feedback was collated and thoroughly reviewed as part of this comprehensive consultation process. Based on the information gathered, numerous indicators have been updated to improve their clarity, relevance and usability, ensuring the final QIC 8th Edition Standards are practical and user-friendly. Several key themes have emerged from the consultation feedback, including:

• Clearer terminology: Requests for more consistent and easily understood language across indicators
• Cultural inclusivity: Calls for greater emphasis on culturally safe and inclusive wording
• Actionable measures: Desire for more actionable, measurable indicators to facilitate quality improvement actions
• Operational relevance: Suggestions to better align the standards with day-to-day operations.

In response, many indicators have been refined. For example, terminology has been adjusted to be more inclusive. Indicator 1.1 has been updated to use “vision and purpose” instead of “mission” to accommodate diverse organisational language and to be culturally appropriate for Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. Another update includes Indicator 1.3 on sustainability which was broadened to include financial and operational factors, not just environmental ones. This thorough review process will ensure that the final version of the QIC Standards 8th Edition reflects real-world insights and evolving needs of the sector, reinforcing QIP’s commitment to continuous quality improvement.

The updated 8th Edition of the QIC Standards is now undergoing final refinement and will soon be submitted to the QIP Board for approval. Once reviewed by the Board, QIP will develop and communicate a comprehensive transition plan to support all accredited organisations in preparing for and adopting the new QIC Standards 8th Edition. We are committed to supporting our clients through a smooth transition, and look forward to officially launching the QIC Health and Community Services Standards 8th Edition as the next step in promoting safe, person-centred, and quality-driven services.

Access the full QIC Standards 8th Edition consultation report by clicking here.

QIP would like to thank all clients, assessors and stakeholders who participated and contributed their feedback on the draft of the QIC Standards 8th Edition.