Have your say on the role of consumers in accreditation

21 Feb 2024

The Accreditation Committee (the committee) invites you to give feedback on its draft proposed principles (the principles) to strengthen the involvement of consumers in accreditation.

The committee is developing the principles to ensure meaningful involvement of consumers in accreditation activities in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (National Scheme). This will support diversity of input into accreditation functions and enable responsive and person-centred processes that value and respect the views of consumers.

The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (The National Law) requires accreditation authorities to involve community and consumer groups and healthcare consumer bodies in developing accreditation standards. However, consumer involvement in other accreditation functions varies between professions.

‘We want to ensure that consumers are meaningfully engaged in and contributing to accreditation across all registered health professions,’ said Professor Andrew Wilson, independent chair of the Accreditation Committee. ‘Stronger consumer involvement will provide new insights into the design and delivery of accreditation functions and align accreditation with the needs of the community that it serves.’

The consultation on these draft principles is open until 18 April 2024.

Find out more about this consultation and provide feedback at the Accreditation Committee’s current consultations webpage.

About the committee:

The committee was established in 2021, consistent with Ministerial Council Policy Direction 2020-1 – Independent Accreditation Committee. The committee gives independent and expert advice on accreditation reform and other National Scheme accreditation matters to National Scheme entities (National Boards, accreditation authorities and Ahpra).

More information about accreditation in the National Scheme is published on the Ahpra website