Key Changes to Practice Accreditation Standards in 2025
By Complete Health Partners
What Has Changed
The RACGP 5th edition standards continue to evolve, and the 2025 update cycle introduces several changes that general practices across Australia need to understand and act on. These changes reflect an increasing focus on clinical governance maturity, digital health integration, and patient safety culture.
Complete Health Partners has reviewed the updated standards in detail and prepared this summary of the key changes that are most likely to affect practice accreditation assessments this year.
Clinical Governance Requirements
The most significant changes relate to clinical governance expectations. Practices are now required to demonstrate a more structured approach to governance, including documented evidence of regular clinical governance meetings, systematic incident review, and clear escalation pathways. The updated indicators place greater emphasis on the integration of governance into daily operations rather than treating it as a periodic compliance activity.
Practices should review their clinical governance frameworks and ensure meeting minutes, action logs, and improvement activities are consistently documented.
Infection Prevention and Control
Following the national response to respiratory illness outbreaks, the infection prevention and control criteria have been strengthened. Practices must now demonstrate a more comprehensive approach to respiratory infection management, including updated triaging protocols, environmental cleaning schedules, and staff training records specific to infection prevention.
The assessment criteria place new emphasis on the practice's capacity to respond to emerging infectious threats with documented outbreak management plans.
Digital Health and Interoperability
The 2025 standards introduce expanded expectations around digital health, including active participation in the My Health Record system and demonstrated capability for secure electronic communication with other providers. Practices that have deferred digital health adoption will find this area increasingly difficult to satisfy at assessment.
Preparing Your Practice
The most effective preparation strategy involves conducting an internal gap analysis against the updated indicators well ahead of your accreditation assessment date. Key steps include:
- Reviewing your clinical governance meeting structure and documentation - Updating infection prevention and control policies and training records - Confirming My Health Record connectivity and usage - Ensuring staff awareness of changes through targeted education sessions
How We Can Help
Complete Health Partners has updated all of our accreditation support programs to reflect the 2025 standard changes. We offer gap analyses, mock assessments, and targeted remediation support to ensure your practice is fully prepared.
Contact us to arrange a pre-assessment review against the updated standards.
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*This article reflects information available as of March 2025. Practices should consult the RACGP directly for the most current standard documentation.*