Audiology Australia has undertaken a thorough review of the Professional Practice Standards, dating from 2013, to ensure it is up-to-date and reflects current best practice. The review was supported and guided by the Professional Practice Standards Working Group.

The Working Group revised the two parts of the Professional Practice Standards - Part A Practice Operations, and Part B Clinical Standards, and combined them into a new document, the Audiology Australia Professional Practice Guide (2022) [the Guide]. The Guide incorporates two main sections: Fundamental Audiology Practice, and Clinical Practice.

The Guide is a resource that has been developed by Audiologists, for Audiologists and audiological practices. It is designed to help audiology practices and clinics deliver safe, high quality health care and embrace continuous quality improvement as good business practice. It has been developed to ensure it reflects current best practice in audiology while remaining flexible to meet individual client requirements and being clinically applicable. We encourage you to review the Guide and read the sections that are relevant to you, your clinic and your clients.

The Audiology Australia Board has approved the Professional Practice Guide and it can be accessed here.

The review

The primary goal of the review was to ensure the document was up-to-date and reflected current best practice. Given its substantial size, a further goal was to streamline the document and improve its ease-of-use. The two original documents (Practice Operations, and Clinical Standards) were combined into one new document, the Guide. The Guide incorporates two main sections: Fundamental Audiology Practice, and Clinical Practice.

The Working Group made significant changes to the layout and content, which have significantly shortened the overall length of the document and made it easier to navigate.

The decision taken in the review to change the title from Standards to Guide reflects the fact that the document includes standards in the Fundamental Audiology Practice section, and recommendations or guidelines in the Clinical Practice section. The term Guide also more accurately describes the document as a resource on a wide range of clinical and practice considerations, rather than mandatory standards that must be met.

Consultation

The information within the original Practice Operations (which became the Fundamental Audiology Practice section in the new document) first went to members for consultation in 2019.

In 2021, the Working Group sought feedback from a number of experts on individual domains of the Clinical Standards section. With this valuable input, the previous document was updated.

To seek feedback from our membership on the revised draft, a survey was conducted in June and July 2022. Thank you to all those who were able to contribute feedback through each consultation stage during the project. Your expertise, knowledge and significant efforts in reviewing the draft were greatly appreciated and have significantly added to the quality of the final product.

Contact

For further information, please contact Georgie Bodman at Audiology Australia via georgie.bodman@audiology.asn.au