Consultation on the Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare
Public consultation now open
We are reviewing the Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare (second edition).
You are invited to provide feedback on the new and revised clinical practice recommendations and good practice statements to inform the development of the third edition of the Guidelines.
We are interested in whether the clinical practice recommendations and good practice statements:
- provide clear and actionable recommendations
- support best clinical practice and patient and healthcare worker safety
- reflect current clinical practice.
The consultation is open from Monday 31 August and closes Tuesday 29 September 2026.
Download the Information sheet with background on the consultation and frequently asked questions.
How to have your say
You are invited to have your say by completing our survey on proposed changes to the Guidelines.
You can provide feedback on some or all parts of the new and revised clinical practice recommendations and good practice statements in the Guidelines.
When you provide feedback, it is important to refer to the Recommendations summary to understand what changes are being proposed and to help navigate the survey.
We welcome feedback from healthcare workers, infection prevention and control professionals, healthcare organisations, consumers, carers, researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders with an interest in infection prevention and control in Australian healthcare settings.
Summary of proposed changes
| Section | Change type | Key change |
|---|---|---|
| Part A - Conditional recommendation 21: Contact precautions | Revised | Removal of routine use of gloves and gowns; Personal protective equipment (PPE) use now based on assessment of anticipated exposure risk. |
| Part B - Good practice statement: Respiratory precautions | New | To provide guidance for the appropriate use of respiratory precautions based on a local risk assessment. |
| Part C - Conditional recommendation 24: Droplet precautions | Revised | Addition of protective eyewear as part of the minimum requirements for PPE for droplet precautions. |
| Part D - Good practice statement 26: Airborne precautions | Revised | Downgrade the recommendation to a good practice statement. Addition of protective eyewear as part of the minimum requirements for PPE for airborne precautions. Update terminology to particulate filter respirator (PFR). |
| Part E – Conditional recommendation 27: Airborne precautions (use of P2 respirators) | Removed | Remove repetition. Recommendations for the use of PRF is included in the Good practice statement 26. |
| Part F –Conditional recommendation 32: Contact precautions for multi-resistant organisms | Removed | Remove repetition. Recommendations for contact precautions for multi-resistant organisms is now included in the revised Conditional recommendation 21-Contact precautions. |
| Part G – Good practice statement: appropriate use of alcohol-based hand scrub for pre-operative and pre-procedure hand hygiene | New | Support healthcare workers to decide if alcohol-based hand scrub is a suitable option for pre-operative and pre-procedure hand antisepsis. |
| Part H – Good practice statement: appropriate handwashing basin placement | New | Support healthcare services determine appropriate hand-washing basin placement to reduce the risk for infection transmission and environmental colonisation from waterborne pathogens. |
Next steps
Following the consultation, we will:
- Review and analyse the survey feedback
- Use the feedback to finalise the recommendations for the Guidelines
- Use the feedback to inform future updates to the Guidelines
- Release the third edition of the Guideline in late 2027
Supporting reports
The Commission has developed two technical reports and a dissemination plan on the processes used to develop the new and revised clinical practice recommendations for the Guidelines.
The systematic reviews on transmission-based precautions and waterless models of care are included in the technical reports. These reports include information on the evidence used to support the revision of the Guidelines.
More information
- Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare
- Information sheet on the consultation
- Recommendations summary to complete the survey
- Have your say on the revised Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare
Contact
If you have questions about the consultation or survey, please email our team.