Mental Health Standards for CMOs - FAQs

Community managed organisations directly involved in providing mental health services are strongly encouraged to be accredited against the NSQMH Standards to improve the safety and quality of care.

Decisions about the regulation of standards are made by governments across Australia and not by the Commission. It is not expected that the standards will be mandated by legislation.

It is possible, however, that funding bodies will require use of the standards as a condition of funding arrangements.

The Commission will develop a range of resources to support implementation. These include a guide for service providers which will describe practical strategies and best practice examples to help CMOs meet individual actions in the standards and self-assessment tools to help service providers track their progress toward meeting actions.

The Commission will also work with consumers and carers to develop a guide to the NSQMH Standards for CMOs for consumers and carers.

In addition, the Commission will map the alignment between the NSQMH Standards for CMOs and other existing sets of standards that CMOs may be already accredited.

Not all actions in the NSQMH Standards will apply to all CMOs.

The Commission will provide clear guidance for service providers, assessors and consumers and carers about the process to determine if an action is not applicable in a specific context.

CMOs can begin implementing the NSQMH Standards now.

The Commission will develop supporting resources and finalise the accreditation scheme arrangements over the next 12 months, with the scheme to go live in early 2024.

The NSQMH Standards have been purpose designed and apply to all CMOs that provide mental health services.

Decisions about which sets of standards are required by funding bodies will be made by those bodies. However, if you are a community managed service provider that provides mental health services, these are likely to be the most fit-for-purpose standards for your organisation.

All safety and quality standards developed by the Commission are aligned in structure and intent and focus on embedding robust governance frameworks and processes for partnering with consumers and carers in the planning, development, delivery and evaluation of safe and high-quality healthcare services.

In certain circumstances, a regulator or funder of a CMO may mandate accreditation to a particular standard. If there is no requirement to adhere to a particular standard, a CMO may choose to implement the standard that is most applicable to their service context.

The NSQMH Standards for CMOs have been designed to be align with the NDIS Practice Standards, using translatable concepts across the two documents.

The Commission will work with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Agency to minimise duplication in accreditation processes.

The Commission approves accrediting agencies to be able to assess against a set of standards.

The Commission will approve agencies after a call for applications, and following an assessment process with an industry based panel.

Following an application and assessment process, approved accrediting agencies will be listed on the Commission’s website in 2023.