When you walk into a hospital or health service, what should you be able to expect?
That you will be listened to. That staff will communicate clearly with you. That your care will be safe and coordinated. That your culture, circumstances and individual needs will be respected. That the people important to you can be involved where appropriate. And that if something goes wrong, you will be treated openly, honestly and with respect.
Australia is currently reviewing the national standards that help set those expectations.
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has released the initial draft of the third edition of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, known as the NSQHS Standards, and is asking consumers, carers, families, health workers and organisations to have their say. Consultation closes Friday 25 September 2026.
Why do these standards matter?
The NSQHS Standards provide a nationally consistent statement about the level of care consumers can expect from health services. They also provide a way of assessing whether health services have the systems they need to deliver safe, high-quality care.
That means they are much more than a document sitting on a shelf.
They influence how health services approach safety, communication, clinical governance, infection prevention, medication safety, comprehensive care and partnering with consumers.
The existing eight standards are being redesigned into three more integrated standards:
Clinical Governance, covering how health service leaders and organisations take responsibility for safe, high-quality care.
Person-Centred Practice, covering the systems that support care that is safe, effective, accessible, integrated and centred around the patient.
Safe Clinical Systems, covering the systems and processes designed to prevent avoidable harm and support safe care.
There is also a stronger proposed emphasis on how patients actually experience care, rather than focusing only on whether particular clinical processes have been followed.
That makes consumer input particularly important.
Safety looks different from the patient side
A health service may have policies, procedures and reporting systems in place, but consumers experience safety in much more immediate ways.
Did someone explain what was happening?
Were you able to ask questions?
Did staff listen when you said something did not feel right?
Could you understand the information you were given?
Were your family, carer, kin or support people included appropriately?
Were your cultural needs understood and respected?
Did information follow you when you moved between services?
Did you know who was responsible for your care?
Were you treated as a partner in decisions about your own health?
These are themes HCCWA hears repeatedly from consumers. Recent conversations with hundreds of consumers have highlighted the importance of whole-person care, recognising the role of families and significant others, compassionate transitions between services, and ensuring consumers are involved in decisions about how healthcare is designed, delivered and evaluated.
Those experiences need to be reflected in the standards health services are expected to meet.
What should we expect?
The consultation gives consumers an opportunity to consider some fundamental questions.
Do the proposed standards reflect what safe, high-quality healthcare looks like from your perspective?
Do they put enough emphasis on communication, respect and partnership?
Do they adequately address accessibility, equity and cultural safety?
Will they help prevent consumers from falling through gaps when they move between hospitals, specialists, primary care and other services?
Do they make it clear enough that consumers, carers and families should have a meaningful role in their own care?
And importantly, would you be able to recognise the standards being put into practice when you actually use a health service?
The Commission says it wants consumer feedback specifically to help ensure the Standards focus on patient experience and outcomes. Feedback from this consultation will be used to refine the next draft, which is expected to be piloted in health services in 2027 before the third edition is finalised and implemented in later years.
Your experience is evidence
You do not need to be a healthcare professional to contribute.
If you have been a patient, supported someone receiving care, navigated a hospital or health service, experienced excellent care or seen where the system could have worked better, you have knowledge that matters.
Consumers can provide feedback through the Commission’s consumer survey, provide written feedback or contact the Safety and Quality Advice Centre to share feedback verbally.
National standards shape expectations across Australian healthcare. Consumer voices should help shape those expectations too.
Have your say by 25 September.