Quality Reporting

About Quality Reporting

How Quality Reporting works, how it was developed, and how it affects service providers.

What is Quality Reporting?

Quality Reporting is the process for improving services for service recipients.
It applies to service providers funded for:

• Community Aged Care Packages (CACP)
• Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH)
• Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia (EACHD) and
• the National Respite for Carers Program (NRCP).

Quality Reporting requires providers to report on how their services meet standards and other expectations. The focus is not on service delivery itself but on the processes and systems providers have in place to ensure service quality, and how these might be improved. It is important to note that Quality Reporting is not about accreditation; it is about accountability and improving service delivery.

How was it developed?

Quality Reporting was developed over three years by the Department of Health and Ageing in consultation with providers of community care. It arose from a view put strongly by the community care sector during a Government review – that community care needed a quality system that was flexible enough to cater to the needs of different types of providers. The Quality Reporting model was chosen because it places a strong emphasis on local needs, focusing on improvements that will work in each particular situation.

How does it work?

Quality Reporting requires providers, once every three years, to report on their systems for delivering quality services. It involves four steps:

1. The service provider fills out a Quality Report, documenting systems and highlighting potential improvements.
2. The service provider sends the Quality Report to the Department for review.
3. A Department officer makes a site visit to discuss the Report.
4. The Department informs the provider of the outcome of the Quality Review process.

The emphasis is on reporting how services are being improved to meet standards and expectations of service recipients, the community and the Government.

Continuous quality improvement

The ultimate aim of Quality Reporting is continuous quality improvement. This means that improvement in service delivery should be seen as a normal part of operations. Quality Reporting is a mechanism for helping providers report on what is already being done, and a way for the Government to review this and support providers in making improvements.

The wider context

Quality Reporting is part of the overall reforms for community care, outlined in the document The Way Forward, released in August 2004. This new strategy is designed to strengthen community care and support its growing contribution to the lives of older Australians and people with a disability. Quality Reporting is an important part of the Way Forward strategy.

The essence of the reforms is to streamline community care, with common approaches to assessment, access, eligibility and other matters. Accountability and consistency in quality of service are highlighted.

Quality Reporting is one of three parts in the accountability framework for community care. The other parts are annual financial reporting, and reporting on the range and volume of services provided to recipients.
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