The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care will develop national safety and quality standards for virtual care.
The commission said that in 2025, more than 11 million Australians had a telehealth consultation, reinforcing the need for nationally consistent standards to assure the safety and quality of virtual care, across all health settings.
It will develop the standards with the support of the Australian Government and Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Ageing, and Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Virtual care is any interaction between a patient and clinician, or clinicians, that occurs remotely with the use of information technologies. It has become an essential part of how Australians access health services.
The commission said the virtual care standards would establish clear, consistent expectations for high-quality care delivered virtually, whether through hospitals, primary and community healthcare, or commercial providers. It will consider a range of options for implementing the standards, working closely with government and partners.
The commission will develop the standards as part of a national approach to strengthen clinical governance, which aims to drive high-quality care and better outcomes for patients. Clinical governance is the combination of organisational culture, systems and structures that enables everyone in a health service to deliver care that is high-quality and continually improving.
The standards will be structured around the commission’s work to elevate clinical governance in health services and provide best practice, contemporary guidance on governing for consistently high- quality care. They will build upon the recently released National Model for Clinical Governance.
Conjoint Professor Anne Duggan, CEO of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, said the standards would bring the same rigour to virtual care that Australians already expect from in-person health services.
“Virtual care is an established and growing part of our health system, and it is important that the same expectations of safety and quality apply whether care is delivered in-person or virtually,” she said in a media release on 19 June 2026.
“Our leadership in clinical governance describes how health services can provide the right culture, structures, support and leadership to deliver high-quality care. Applying this to virtual care will provide a nationally consistent approach regardless of how or where care is delivered.
“We will work closely with our partners, including the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and the Australian Digital Health Agency, alongside clinicians, consumers and industry, to ensure the standards reflect best practice and support National Digital Health Infrastructure as a way to uplift and drive consistency in application across the health system.”
Minister Butler endorsed the commission’s work to develop national virtual care standards.
“Australians deserve the same assurance of safety and quality when they receive care through virtual services as when they walk through the door of a hospital or clinic. These standards will ensure quality and safety are built into virtual care from the ground up,” he said.
The commission expects to publish the standards by the end of 2027.
Australian Teleaudiology Guidelines
Meanwhile, Audiology Australia (AudA), in collaboration with the Hearing Health Sector Alliance and other bodies across the sector, released the Australian Teleaudiology Guidelines in July 2022 to support teleaudiology implementation. AudA said the guidelines would encourage continued use of telehealth options alongside in-person care after increased demand for remote services during Covid-19.
“These guidelines are for audiologists and audiometrists and cover services from screening to diagnosis, assessment, rehabilitation, coaching and support,” the guidelines state.
“These guidelines were created to support the delivery of hearing services safely and effectively through teleaudiology and enhance access to high quality hearing care across Australia.
“Audiologists and audiometrists can safely and effectively deliver most hearing services using teleaudiology, with or without a trained assistant who is in the same location as the client.”
The guidelines state that synchronous teleaudiology appointments are preferred to asynchronous because they allow live (or real time) interactions with the client and other people such as significant others or trained assistants.
“Synchronous appointments may take place using different devices such as a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer and may use modes such as apps or videoconferencing,” the guidelines state.
“Videoconferencing platforms with live captions are recommended over audio-only options. Captions are of great assistance to people who have diminished hearing and people whose first language is not English or spoken.”
The guidelines include helpful advice for delivering different clinical services.
Access the Australian Teleaudiology Guidelines.
