Quality in Queensland
New system gets the thumbs up
Minister for Communities, Disability Services and Seniors, Warren Pitt, has announced the formal accreditation of the new Queensland Disability Sector Quality System by the internationally recognised Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ).
Minister Pitt said this by was an important step in the implementation of the quality system throughout the sector.
"It guarantees an independent audit process that is impartial, transparent and internationally recognised," he said.
"The Disability Sector Quality System aims to establish a consistent level of quality and continuous improvement in the delivery of services to people with a disability in Queensland .
"Most importantly, the quality system ensures that people with a disability, their families and carers will have a say in how services are best provided to them," Minister Pitt said.
Quality system delivers greater peace of mind
As the father of a son with an intellectual disability, Tony Lanigan rates having peace of mind about the services his son receives as a top priority.
"I naturally have great concern for the well-being of my son," said Tony.
The Disability Sector Quality System encourages people with a disability to have a say about the services they receive.
"The quality system will help to encourage two-way communication between my son and his provider and will reassure me that our concerns will be addressed," said Tony.
Quality means getting better all the time
All disability services recurrently funded or delivered by Disability Services Queensland will commit to a cycle of continuous improvement as a part of the new Disability Sector Quality System.
Organisations providing services to people with a disability now need to progress through the system's cycle of internal assessment, improvement and external audit every three years, with audit visits every 12 months.
As part of the cycle, service providers will evaluate their own processes against the ten Queensland Disability Service Standards and seek feedback from service users. Each organisation's performance will be assessed by an external audit team and, for those standards not met, organisations must take actions to improve.
Susan Collins, Executive Officer of ACROD Queensland, said if organisations moved through the steps in the continuous improvement cycle there should be no surprises at the time of the audit.
DSQ and ACROD (Qld) are working to support service providers adopting the new quality system through information sessions, resources, workshops and financial assistance.
For more information about the quality system go to:www. disability.qld.gov.au/quality/or call Disability Information Service on freecall 1800 177 120 or TTY freecall 1800 010 222
Last updated November 2007