Commonwealth legislation

Health Insurance Act 1973 - Declaration of Quality Assurance Activity under section 124X (QAA No. 3/2004)

RepealedCTH

This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Collection

legislative instrument

Plain English Summary

2/10 complexity

What this does: This document officially declares three healthcare accreditation programs as "quality assurance activities" under the Health Insurance Act 1973.

The three programs are:

AGPAL and QPA: Both accredit general medical practices against the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) standards
QIP: Accredits optometry practices against the Optometrists Association Australia standards

Why it matters: By declaring these as quality assurance activities, they receive special legal protections under Part VC of the Act. This means:

Information gathered during accreditation assessments is generally confidential
Doctors and health professionals can speak candidly about mistakes or improvements without fear their comments will be used against them in court (this is called "privilege")
The accreditation bodies and participants get legal protection from certain types of lawsuits when conducting these quality reviews

Essentially, this makes it safer for healthcare providers to participate honestly in quality improvement programs.

JSON API Health / NDIS / medicines

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Current sections

Direct links to the current provisions in Health Insurance Act 1973 - Declaration of Quality Assurance Activity under section 124X (QAA No. 3/2004).

SCHEDULE

QAA No. 3/2004

DECLARED QUALITY ASSURANCE ACTIVITY TO WHICH PART VC OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE ACT 1973 APPLIES

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Item Description of Quality Assurance Activity

________________________________________________________________________________

Organisation engaging in activity: Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL).

Title: Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL).

Description: The Activity is for the accreditation of general practices against the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for General Practice.

Organisation engaging in activity: Quality Practice Accreditation Proprietary Limited (QPA).

Title: Quality Practice Accreditation Proprietary Limited (QPA).

Description: The Activity is for the accreditation of general practices against the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for General Practice.

Organisation engaging in activity: Quality Improvement Practice Proprietary Limited (QIP).

Title: Quality Improvement Practice Proprietary Limited (QIP).

Description: The Activity is for the accreditation of optometric practices against the Optometrists Association Australia (OAA) Practice Standards.

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.

SCHEDULE SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE

QAA No. 3/2004

DECLARED QUALITY ASSURANCE ACTIVITY TO WHICH PART VC OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE ACT 1973 APPLIES

Item Description of Quality Assurance Activity

________________________________________________________________________________

Organisation engaging in activity: Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL).

Title: Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL).

Description: The Activity is for the accreditation of general practices against the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for General Practice.

Organisation engaging in activity: Quality Practice Accreditation Proprietary Limited (QPA).

Title: Quality Practice Accreditation Proprietary Limited (QPA).

Description: The Activity is for the accreditation of general practices against the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for General Practice.

Organisation engaging in activity: Quality Improvement Practice Proprietary Limited (QIP).

Title: Quality Improvement Practice Proprietary Limited (QIP).

Description: The Activity is for the accreditation of optometric practices against the Optometrists Association Australia (OAA) Practice Standards.