Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module
The Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module supports organisations to address healthcare impacts on the environment and the climate risks affecting health outcomes and access to care.
Overview
The Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module is a framework of actions for health services to implement strategies that address environmental impacts and climate risks in their governance, safety and quality improvement systems. It supports health services to:
- set priorities, targets and strategies for existing and new services
- partner with consumers to design, monitor and evaluate services
- measure and address sustainability and resilience outcomes
Download the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module
Intent of the Module
Health services improve their sustainability by considering and reducing the environmental impact of harm on their patients, community and environment.
Health services improve their resilience by identifying and addressing how climate risks affect patients, consumers, community and the delivery of services.
Health services integrate sustainability and resilience into their governance, leadership and quality improvement systems to deliver person-centred and high-quality care.
We developed the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module as part of our commitment to address the health impacts of climate change and support clinicians to deliver high-quality care that protects and promotes health in a changing climate. It includes 5 actions specific to environmental sustainability and climate resilience.
You can read more about our work in sustainability including our joint statement with Australian medical colleges and the Australian Centre for Disease Control.
Where does the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module apply?
The Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module applies to organisations that have implemented our National Safety and Quality Standards.
State and territory health regulators determine which safety and quality standards health services must meet.
How to implement the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module
Health services that are integrating environmental sustainability and climate resilience into their quality improvement frameworks are encouraged to use the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module to support safe and high-quality care.
Assessment
Assessment to the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module will begin from 2026.
The assessment framework is not yet published, but will use a maturity scale rating. Each action will be rated based on a services level of maturity of integrating their adaptation and mitigation strategies into their quality improvement frameworks. Assessments may assist health services in identifying areas of focus when it comes to delivering high-quality care that is environmentally sustainable and climate resilient.
The maturity rating from assessments to the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module will not impact a health service’s accreditation status for other National Safety and Quality Standards.
Organisations can choose to be assessed to the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module when they are next assessed to their primary set of standards, such as the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards or the National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards.
For more information, please contact our National Standards team or the Safety and Quality Advice Centre. You can also sign up to receive updates about our work in sustainability and climate resilience.
Background
Development
We worked in collaboration with technical experts and consumers to develop the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module. This was informed by a literature review that was completed in 2022. The review considered environmental sustainability and climate change in relation to safety and quality.
We conducted a public consultation on the Module between October 2022 and February 2023 and received approximately 800 responses and overwhelming support for the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module.
In 2024 we piloted the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module with over 50 health services including public and private hospitals, day procedure centres and primary care organisations. Refinements were made with the support of the Commission's Advisory Group, and the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module was subsequently approved by the Commission’s standing committees and Board.
Does this relate to the National Health and Climate Strategy?
The Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's National Health and Climate Strategy describes the national approach to decarbonise the Australian health system and to build health system and community resilience to the impacts of climate change on health and wellbeing.
Action 4.5 in the strategy describes the role of standards on sustainability and resilience. The Commission worked with the Department to refine the Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience Module to ensure alignment.