National Quality Framework for Drug and Alcohol Treatment Services now available
February 2020
On 28 November 2019, the National Quality Framework for Drug and Alcohol Treatment Services was endorsed by the Ministerial Drug and Alcohol Forum.
Governments and the peak AOD bodies have worked together to develop the National Quality Framework which provides a nationally consistent quality benchmark for providers of AOD treatment services and includes strong clinical governance requirements. It is an important step in improving the quality of AOD treatment services and ensuring a consistent approach across Australia.
Significantly it includes a list of accreditation standards (on page 12) that AOD specialist treatment service providers must meet. The Framework includes a transition period of three years during which time treatment service providers must work towards meeting the requirements. The transition period started on 28 November 2019 and will finish on 28 November 2022.
The list of accreditation standards was developed as part of a collaboration between NCETA and the Queensland Network of Alcohol and Other Drug Agencies (QNADA) (on behalf of the State and Territory AOD Peaks Network) after they were commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Health to:
- Identify the quality standards and frameworks used within the Australian AOD sector
- Map the identified standards and frameworks against the principles of the National Quality Framework.
As part of the Framework’s implementation AOD treatment service providers are required to obtain accreditation with at least one of the accreditation standards to be compliant with the National Quality Framework.
The National Quality Framework for Drug and Alcohol Treatment Services is available for download from Department of Health website.
