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Accreditation for homelessness providers

Last published 26 Aug 2023

From 30 June 2024, all DCJ-funded NSW homelessness providers are required to be accredited with one of the following standards and accreditation programs:

  • Australian Service Excellence Standards (ASES) by the Department of Human Services South Australia (DHS SA), at the certificate level as a minimum.
  • QIC Health and Community Service Standards (QIC) by Quality Innovation Performance (QIP).
  • Accreditation Alliance Australia–New Zealand (AAA-NZ) Quality Standards for Community Based Services by the Te Wana Trust, at the accreditation level as a minimum.
  • Evaluation and Quality Improvement Program (EQuIP) by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS)

The ASES Policy Framework: Implementing a new quality framework for specialist homelessness services in NSW outlines the policy intent, contractual requirement and high level process for funded homelessness services to achieve accreditation by 30 June 2024 (an updated framework will be released soon to include the additional standards and accreditation programs).

Who/Which providers need to become accredited?

The requirement for accreditation applies to the contracts of the following programs from 1 July 2021:

  • Specialist Homelessness Services Program (SHS)
  • Homeless Youth Assistance Program (HYAP)
  • Other programs funded by DCJ to deliver services to people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

This requirement also applies to organisations who are subcontracted to deliver these programs by a lead provider.

What is the accreditation process?

The main steps and average timeframes involved to achieve accreditation are as follows:

  • Self-assessment and evidence preparation (12-18 months)
  • Site visit with assessor (external review) (2-3 days)
  • Complete Quality Action Plan (ASES) or Quality Improvement Plan (QIC or EQuIP) or Quality Workplan (AAA-NZ) (6 months)
  • Accredited

The time it takes will vary between organisations, based on their prior experience with accreditation. However, as a guide, the self-assessment process and collating the required evidence will take around 12-18 months to complete. If a quality improvement plan is needed after the external assessment (on site review), organisations will have up to 6 months to complete the actions required prior to achieving accreditation.

Once accreditation has been achieved, organisations are required to maintain accreditation, and demonstrate continued compliance with the standards.  As review cycles can vary between standards, please work with the standard owner and assessor, of your chosen standard and accreditation program, to plan for reaccreditation.

What do organisations need to know about assessment scoping when preparing for accreditation?

As a reminder, SHS providers can seek an accreditation assessment for their organisation in the following ways:

  • For their whole organisation (corporate functions and all service areas)
  • For their DCJ funded homelessness service area only (corporate functions and for the DCJ funded homelessness service area).
  • For a combination of service areas including their DCJ funded homelessness service area (corporate functions, the DCJ funded homelessness service area and a combination of other service areas of the organisation’s choice).

When engaging the assessor, SHS providers need to be clear from the outset about which type of accreditation they are seeking and to present the details of all their DCJ funded homelessness services. Importantly, the DCJ funded homelessness services must be included in the assessment scope. DCJ reviews the accreditation certificates and reports to verify that DCJ funded homelessness services were included in the assessment.

For information about the different assessment scoping options please contact standard owners and assessors.

Who conducts the external review?

For those undertaking ASES

There are nine assessment bodies certified to accredit against ASES, each certified for other accreditations and with different cost structures and office locations. Providers are encouraged to contact assessors directly to discuss their accreditation needs. Contact details are available on the ASES website.

The Department of Human Services South Australia (the ASES owners) has produced the How to choose an ASES external assessor guide to help organisations know what to consider when choosing an external assessor.

South Australia has also produced A guide to ASES sampling and scope of assessment so service providers have a better understanding of:

  • who in the organisation might need to speak with the assessor during the external review
  • which aspects of accreditation they will likely be discussing.

For those undertaking QIC

Quality Innovation Performance Limited (QIP) developed and is the exclusive provider of the QIC Standards. QIP is a not-for-profit accreditation organisation that is part of the Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL) Group of Companies.

For more information about the QIC, please visit the website or contact QIP at info@qip.com.au or 1300 888 329.

For those undertaking AAA-NZ

The Te Wana Trust is the exclusive provider of the AAA-NZ Standards. The AAA-NZ gives particular consideration to being responsive to services and reviewers that work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori, Pacific Nations and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse clients. The Te Wana trust approach to accreditation is to support and walk with organisations through the assessment process. Capacity building is a core part of the assessment, and this is based on an understanding that every organisation and sector type is different.

For more information about the AAA-NZ please visit the Te Wana Trust website or  get in touch with the Te Wana Trust via email at admin@tewana.org.nz.

For those undertaking EQuIP

For more information about assessors for the EquIP standards please visit the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) website.

Who pays the accreditation costs?

For existing homelessness providers with less than $5m in total annual revenue undertaking accreditation – Accreditation Support Grant

DCJ has made a commitment to subsidise the accreditation costs for existing homelessness providers with less than $5m in total annual revenue to gain accreditation the first time. This support is available to lead providers and their subcontractors. Subsequent rounds of accreditation will be the responsibility of these organisations.

Funding of $16,000 per organisation is now available through the Accreditation Support Grant.

Homelessness NSW has been engaged by DCJ to administer the Accreditation Support Grant and to provide tailored support to organisations. For more information, please visit the Homelesness NSW website or contact ASESsupport@homelessnessnsw.org.au or (02) 6188 6441

For existing homelessness providers with more than $5m in total annual revenue

Providers with more than $5m in total annual revenue will be required to pay the assessor’s costs themselves.

For prospective Core and Cluster Providers seeking support for accreditation costs

Please refer to the Core and Cluster Sector Capacity and Capability Building Program for more information on support with the costs of accreditation.

How to get started

The first few steps are to:

  1. Visit the Homelessness NSW website to view uploaded resources developed specifically to support homelessness providers to achieve ASES accreditation or visit the website of other approved accreditation bodies/ owners.
  2. Decide when the external assessment and site visit will take place for your organisation. It is recommended that the site visit occurs no later than October 2023.
  3. Decide which accreditation program and assessor your organisation will use. 
  4. Select an accreditation program/assessor and sign a service agreement. The service agreement will include the dates of your site visit.

Some things to note when planning when your assessment:

  • Site visits generally take 2-3 days to complete depending on the size of the organisation.
  • It is recommended that organisations finalise their assessment by early 2024 and send their accreditation certificate and report to DCJ via the SHSProgram@facs.nsw.gov.au mailbox by 8 March 2024, to allow enough time to meet DCJ timeframes

Tools and resources to support providers

For providers undertaking the ASES

Homelessness NSW has been engaged by DCJ to administer a range of supports to help homelessness providers achieve ASES accreditation including:

Supports Available

How this can help you

To access this support

ASES Evidence Guide and workbook

These guides help providers know exactly what type of evidence to submit against each Standard for both the Certificate and Award level of ASES.

Request the evidence guide and workbook using the link below. Electronic copies will be emailed to the address provided.

Request an ASES Evidence Guide and Workbook

How to guides – steps to the ASES process

Eight handy guides have been designed to break down each step of the ASES process to make planning easier.

Homelessness NSW website

One-to-One ASES Strategy Sessions

These personalised sessions give you access to an ASES specialist. The sessions are designed to set organisations up with tools to begin the ASES work or unpack areas that are needing more insight to prepare for the ASES assessment.

These sessions are by appointment only and are offered based on organisational needs

To learn more please contact

ASESsupport@homelessnessnsw.org.au

Accreditation Support Grant

The grant provides one-off financial support, of up to $16,000, to homelessness service providers with under $5m revenue, undergoing accreditation for the first time.

Homelessness NSW Website

‘ASES to Greatness’ Podcast - Peer Support

In this podcast series covers interviews with NSW homelessness services who have recently achieved their ASES accreditation for the first time.

Service managers and project leads share their experiences.

ASES to Greatness Podcast Series

Mentors

South Australian based ASES accredited homelessness providers offer one-on-one guidance, support, and advice to a provider undertaking accreditation

South Australian ASES Mentors

Breaking New Ground Service Provider Portal (BNG SPP)

DCJ will continue to subsidise access to the BNG SPP for providers with less than $5m in annual revenue. Many providers have used the portal to conduct the self-assessments against the SHS Standards.

Funded subscriptions are available by emailing a request to:

ASESsupport@homelessnessnsw.org.au

For providers undertaking QIC

Providers who choose to be accredited with QIC will have access to the following supports as a part of their service agreement with QIP:

  • a dedicated Client Liaison Officer
  • access to the online QIP accreditation hub which includes a self-assessment tool
  • education and resource library containing useful documents, interpretive guides, customisable templates, fact sheets, checklists
  • QIP communications with industry and organisational news, helpful tips and standards information
  • marketing collateral to support self-assessment and promoting accredited status including a framed A3 certificate, display stickers, customisable media release and digital files.

To access these supports, providers can contact QIP at info@qip.com.au or 1300 888 329.

For providers undertaking AAA-NZ

The Te Wana Trust offer a range of options to assist organisations to improve their quality systems and outcomes for service users, staff and community. Organisations do not have to be highly advanced or knowledgeable in quality systems to benefit from the program – training and resources are provided. This flexible approach means the Te Wana Trust can customise the assessment to meet the individual requirements and needs of organisations and funding agencies.

For more information about the support available, please visit the Te Wana Trust website or  get in touch with the Te Wana Trust via email at admin@tewana.org.nz.

For those undertaking EQuIP

For more information about supports for the EquIP standards please visit the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) website.

For prospective Core and Cluster Providers seeking accreditation support

Please refer to the Core and Cluster Sector Capacity and Capability Building Program for more information on support to achieve accreditation.

Where can I get more information?

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Last updated: 26 Aug 2023