Model Accreditation Approach – Resource Hub

This resource hub consolidates information and resources for specialist medical colleges’ accreditation teams on the model approach for accreditation of specialist medical training settings.  It is intended to support specialist medical colleges in implementing accreditation processes and practices in line with the model approach.

In September 2023, Australian Health Ministers issued Ministerial Policy Direction 2023-01: Medical College Accreditation of Training Sites directing the Medical Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) to require the AMC to work with specialist medical colleges and jurisdictions on the implementation of the recommendations of the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman’s report, Processes for progress – Part one: A roadmap for greater transparency and accountability in specialist medical training site accreditation.

This work led to the development of:

• Model Standards for specialist medical college accreditation of training settings;
• Model Procedures for specialist medical college accreditation of training settings;
• A suite of supporting documents to assist colleges in achieving a standardised approach to the accreditation of training settings.

These documents were developed collaboratively with colleges, and with input from jurisdictional health departments.

The Model Standards are a common set of standards relevant to training outcomes to be used by colleges for the accreditation of training settings.

The model standards allow colleges to add college-specific requirements (CSRs) and extra wording to intent statements if there are requirements that are unique to a college, and they support one of the criteria under the standards. CSRs and additions to intent statements are optional and are considered by exception. CSRs are subject to review and approval by the AMC under an agreed governance process.

The Model Procedures are a set of model accreditation procedures which colleges may use as a basis for their own procedures document. Colleges are required to adopt certain parts of the model procedures for consistency and to ensure due process. This includes:

• Risk-based decision making – using the model risk matrix to support risk-based decision making in accreditation.
• Procedural fairness – adopting the processes for procedural fairness ensuring that training settings have the opportunity to respond to proposed accreditation decisions before they are finalised.
• Common terminology – using common terminology to:
  • determine how criteria within the model standards are assessed;
  • describe accreditation decisions.

• Communication protocol and contact list
• Procedure for developing model standards

Communiques

• July 2025

Further information about the joint project with specialist medical colleges and jurisdictions to implement the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman report / Ministerial policy direction 2023-01 – Medical college accreditation of training sites is available on the AMC website.