Hand hygiene is a high priority action for the prevention of healthcare-associated infection.

For the NHHI, hand hygiene compliance is audited by direct observation of healthcare workers by specially trained auditors. There are two categories of hand hygiene auditors: Gold Standard Auditors and General Auditors.

Annual validation is a method of ensuring all auditors remain up-to-date with their knowledge of the 5 Moments definitions and audit practices. This ensures valid and reliable data for the NHHI.

General auditor training is only able to be conducted by a validated Gold Standard Auditor. General auditors are not able to train others.

The Commission is currently in the final stages of consultation with the states and territories, and the private sector, to develop a new auditor training framework for General Auditors and Gold Standard Auditors. The new framework and supporting resources will be available by the end of April 2023. The Commission will continue to provide information on the status of this project on this website.

Hand hygiene is an essential element of infection prevention and control practice and one of the easiest activities to undertake, with appropriate guidance.

Hand hygiene compliance is assessed against a national benchmark set by the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council; the current national benchmark is 80%. There are three national hand hygiene audits conducted each year. The latest report on audit data for the period July 2022 to October 2022 is now available. 

Responses have been prepared to frequently asked questions (FAQs) to support auditing and other aspects of implementation of the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI). 

Please let us know if you have further questions to include.

Instructions for training, and frequently asked questions, have been developed to support auditor training for hand hygiene.

Answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about hand hygiene are available to support use of the Commission's online learning system.

Data on hand hygiene compliance are collected by states and territories for all public health organisations, and by many private health organisations, and reported nationally three times per year for the National Hand Hygiene Initiative. 

The National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI) operates a Help Desk to support users of the NHHI Learning Management System (LMS) and the Hand Hygiene Compliance Application (HHCApp).

The Help Desk team endeavours to respond to your enquiry as quickly as possible. You will receive a response within 5 business days.

During this time, please use the Contact Us form at the link below to submit your enquiry to the Help Desk. 

The National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI) Learning Management System (LMS) hosts a suite of online learning modules designed to support healthcare workers' education on hand hygiene practices, hand hygiene auditor training, and infection prevention and control across health service organisations. 

A range of promotional materials is available to support implementation of the National Hand Hygiene Initiative.

The Manual includes information on all aspects of the NHHI and a practical step-by-step guide to implementing and sustaining hand hygiene programs in Australian healthcare facilities. 

All general auditors who successfully complete training must be entered on the Auditor Register by the Gold Standard Auditor who conducted their training.

There are a number of tools available to support hand hygiene auditing in acute and non-acute healthcare settings.

Hand hygiene compliance auditing is conducted to assess the effectiveness of hand hygiene programs in Australia, as part of the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI). Hand hygiene compliance is assessed across both public and private Australian hospitals, consistent with AHMAC endorsed benchmark of 80 per cent.

Instructions and responses to frequently asked questions have been developed to support use of the HHCApp.

The 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene approach was designed by the World Health Organization to minimise the risk of transmission of microorganisms between a healthcare worker, the patient, and the environment.

Alcohol-based handrub is the recommended product for hand hygiene practice in healthcare settings.