The majority of antimicrobial use in Australia occurs in the community, that is in general practice, community health services, aged care homes and other non-hospital settings.
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Reducing avoidable hospital readmissions supports better health outcomes, improves patient safety and leads to greater efficiency in the health system.
This page includes links to Australian and international resources to support antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs in health service organisations and in aged care and primary care. AMS programs help to improve patient safety and in the prevention and control of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Antimicrobial Stewardship in Australian Health Care (the AMS Book), initially published in 2018, continues to be updated and enhanced with additional evidence, information, and topic areas to inform antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) strategies, interventions, and implementation across a range of healthcare settings.
Based on advice, feedback and discussions with clinical experts and health services from across Australia, the Commission has compiled a list of FAQs and resources that may assist health services in the prevention and reduction of hospital-acquired complications (HACs).
Explore these resources and share your feedback.
Effective surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in acute and community settings informs strategies for infection prevention and control and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS).
This national standard describes best practice care for the care of cataract including referral, assessment, decisions about surgery and post-operative care.
The Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard Topic Working Group provided expert advice on the review of the Standard.
Data on antimicrobial use in Australian hospitals are collected by the National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (NAPS) and the National Antimicrobial Utilisation Surveillance Program (NAUSP).
NAPS also collects data on antimicrobial use and infections in aged care homes.
About 1 million colonoscopies are performed in Australia annually. The Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard describes the safe, appropriate and high-quality use of colonoscopy. The updated version was released in September 2025.
APAS collects, analyses and reports on de-identified patient-level antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data from routine susceptibility testing results.
AGAR collects, analyses and reports on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data on selected priority organisms that cause bloodstream infections.
This page provides resources and a reference table of medication safety alerts, notices and guidance issued by the Australian states and territories and by international organisations using the APINCHS classification. There could be other more recent alerts, advice and guidance related to other medicines or practice areas which may be relevant to you or your organisation.
In Australia, the APINCHS acronym and classification provides a framework to assist clinicians to focus on a group of medicines known to be associated with high potential for medication-related harm. APINCHS does not encompass all high risk medicines, but it is a valuable tool to raise clinician awareness and to educate them about medication safety systems.
Categorisation of and policy relating to high risk medicines may vary between states, territories and health service organisations. This means that health service organisations should have systems and process in place for the safe use of high risk medicines.
High risk medicines (HRMs) are medications that have an increased risk of causing significant patient harm or death if they are misused or used in error.1
Medicine shortages and discontinuations can potentially compromise patient safety. Guidance and resources are issued, which advise on:
- strategies on conserving medicines during medicine shortages and associated safety considerations
- strategies and safety considerations during periods of medicine discontinuations.
A discharge summary consists of curated health information to support safer transition and follow-up care after a patient’s discharge from hospital. High-quality and timely discharge summaries enhance patient safety. Electronic discharge summary (EDS) systems can support high-quality and timely discharge summaries through standardisation to reduce errors, improve efficiency and accountability.
These briefs summarise the evidence on the effectiveness of safety interventions that aim to improve medication administration.