Australia Drafts Virtual Care Standards for Review
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has released draft standards for telehealth and other virtual care providers.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Asthma
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The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has released draft virtual care standards covering clinical governance, person-centred practice and safe clinical systems. The feedback period on the draft concluded on 13 December.
Why it matters
The draft standards aim to fill a gap created by the rapid expansion of telehealth services and to encourage national consistency in virtual care. There are currently no endorsed standards applicable to telehealth-only providers.
The draft requires at least three approved patient identifiers at registration and episode start, a verification standard drawn from draft national guidance. No compliance or uptake figures were reported, and the method for assessing whether providers meet the standards is still under consideration.
The players
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC)
The national body responsible for developing safety and quality standards across Australia's health system, including the draft virtual care standards.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)
The peak professional body for general practitioners in Australia, which has argued that telehealth-only services should not replace comprehensive general practice care.
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
The national agency that regulates health practitioners in Australia and has published guidance for clinicians on telehealth.
The details
The draft standards state clinicians should ensure treatment decisions, including prescribing, are free from commercial influence. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency has published telehealth guidance for individual clinicians, while the Commission says virtual care providers will be encouraged to implement the draft.
Timeline
June 2026: Development of the standards began.
Earlier in 2026: The RACGP released a position statement that telehealth-only services should not replace comprehensive general practice care.
13 December 2026: The feedback period on the draft standards concluded.
Late 2027: The final virtual care standards are expected.
Health Landscape
Telehealth restrictions were substantially eased in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the draft standards now seek to set rules for the services that expanded afterwards. Earlier telehealth standards, including collaborations backed by telehealth-only companies, have not been approved.
Patients using telehealth should expect providers to verify their identity with at least three approved identifiers at registration and the start of each episode of care. Once finalised, the standards are intended to give patients a more consistent level of safety across virtual services.
The takeaway
Patients choosing telehealth should check whether a provider verifies identity and keeps treatment decisions separate from commercial interests. Consistent national standards are expected to make those checks easier once the final version is released.
What happens next
The final version of the virtual care standards is expected in late 2027, after consideration of possible assessment options including an accreditation scheme.
Further reading
Explore more on Asthma to see how health standards and care delivery are discussed across the category.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Racgp.
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