Quality Improvement Council

The Quality Improvement Council (QIC) is a registered company established with the aim of promoting quality in health and community services throughout Australasia. It does this primarily through its Standards and Accreditation Program. This program is based on the Australian Health and Community Services Standards, which are a copyright publication of QIC. The program is implemented by several organisations under licence from QIC. In Victoria the licensed provider is Quality Improvement and Community Services Accreditation (QICSA).

QIC Board

A Board of Directors governs QIC; and it is the QIC Board that grants accreditation.

Quality Improvement in Community Services Accredition

QICSA is an Incorporated Association under Victorian law and as such does not operate for the financial benefit of any of its members. While QIC sets the conditions for the implementation of the Standards and Accreditation Program, there is sufficient flexibility in the licence conditions to allow QICSA to respond to particular Victorian Government policy positions and the structural characteristics of Victoria’s primary care sector.

QICSA Management

The QICSA program operates out of the Australian Institute for Primary Care at La Trobe University. The overall policy direction, however, is set by QICSA, which in turn is subject to the national QIC licence conditions. Operating from a respected tertiary education and research institution provides a strong assurance that the education, research and academic aspects of QICSA activities are of a high standing. It also enables substantial value to be added to the services available to accredited organisations.

QICSA Council

Both the structure of the QICSA Council and the process for the appointment of its members have been designed to ensure that the program operates effectively and is responsive to the issues that confront the relevant industry sectors.

The QICSA Council consists of up to 12 members who are appointed by organisations that represent a range of the service types accredited through QICSA.

Members of the QICSA Council are appointed as follows.

For two-year terms:

For one-year terms:The Council has the power to appoint up to a further four individuals for one-year terms. Currently these are filled by a representative of General Practice Divisions Victoria, a women’s health service representative and a rural multipurpose service representative.

Service Types

There are now a wide variety of service types interested in QIC’s Standards and Accreditation Program. The range of services accredited by QIC include: