Quality Improvement and Community Services Accreditation (QICSA) is one of Australia’s leading accreditation and quality improvement providers for the health and community service sectors.
QICSA’s purpose is to benefit the Australian community by enabling continuous quality improvement in community and health organisations. We assist service provider organisations to review and improve the safety and quality of their services and the robustness of their organisational systems.
QICSA’s key areas of business are:
Accreditation review
Capacity building including training and support
Standards development and piloting
Consultancy.
QICSA was established in 1990 and is a member-based organisation incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act (Vic) 1981. QICSA is based in Melbourne, Victoria. Until June 2011, QICSA operated as a business unit within the Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing, a research organisation of La Trobe University. In July 2011 QICSA separated from La Trobe University and now operates independently.
QICSA’s activities are funded through government contracts, accreditation fees and our consultancy services.
QICSA has an exclusive license to implement the Quality Improvement Council (QIC) Standards and Accreditation program in Victoria, and a non-exclusive license to operate in Queensland and the Northern Territory. In addition to the QIC program, QICSA operates a number of related health and community services accreditation assessments and projects, including the Homelessness Assistance Service Standards (HASS) Accreditation Program, and Community Service Organisation Registration reviews (under contract from the Victorian Department of Human Services).
QICSA’s accreditation services utilise a peer review model. Our pool of over 100 trained reviewers is sourced from staff working in health and community service organisations. Our reviewers therefore have contemporary knowledge of better practice in one or more sectors within the scope of our activities, and offer a range of expertise to organisations being reviewed. All of QICSA’s permanent staff also have substantial sector experience.
QICSA itself is accredited by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) as a licensed provider of the QIC Standards and Accreditation Program.
Capabilities
QICSA’s capabilities include:
Over 20 years’ experience in implementing Standards and Accreditation programs
A sound contemporary knowledge of issues, risks and methodologies in quality improvement
Strong foundations in stakeholder and community engagement
Close working relationships with a wide range of health and community sector organisations
A deep knowledge of good practice across a range of sectors
A balanced and experienced core staff team, and a highly skilled reviewer pool with strong sector links
Substantial experience in Standards development and piloting
Collaborative relationships with other accreditation and consulting agencies.
