--- title: National Model for Clinical Governance (2026) topic: national-model-clinical-governance type: HG Reference jurisdiction: Australia (national) lastReviewed: 2026-09-05 publisher: Holistic Governance publisherUrl: https://hg-au.com canonicalUrl: https://hg-au.com/topics/national-model-clinical-governance.md --- # National Model for Clinical Governance (2026) > The 2026 National Model for Clinical Governance, released by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) on 1 June 2026, is Australia's current national guidance on how health services govern for high-quality care. It **replaces the 2017 National Model Clinical Governance Framework**, which the Commission now designates a legacy document available for reference only. The 2026 model is a short, principles-based document built around a definition of high-quality care and **six foundations of clinical governance**, aimed squarely at boards and executives. ## What is clinical governance? Clinical governance establishes the conditions for high-quality care: an environment and culture in which everyone in a health service works together, and with patients and consumers, to deliver high-quality care. It makes everyone — from the board to the bedside — accountable, with the **governing body carrying ultimate accountability**. Clinical governance is not separable from corporate governance: safety and quality of care is a core governing-body responsibility alongside financial and legal duties. ## What changed in the 2026 National Model? The 2026 model signals a deliberate strategic shift from its 2017 predecessor: 1. **Clinical governance is elevated to the highest level of organisational leadership** — the model is primarily written for board members and executives, and makes their role in governing for high-quality care explicit. 2. **The main focus moves from accreditation compliance to organisational culture** — from demonstrating conformity with assessable requirements to building an organisation in which delivery of high-quality care is the core focus of everyone, every day. 3. **It is short, simple and principles-based** — key actions and clarified roles rather than an exhaustive framework, accompanied by a **practical guide to implementation** with tools for reviewing arrangements, identifying gaps, planning implementation and monitoring delivery. ## What are the six foundations of clinical governance? The 2026 model defines high-quality care and describes six foundations required to achieve it: 1. **Leading systems and organisational culture** 2. **Partnering with patients, carers and consumers** 3. **Building a healthy workforce culture** 4. **Enabling high-quality and integrated clinical practice** 5. **Managing and reducing risk** 6. **Using data for better care** ## Who does the 2026 model apply to? The national model is for **public and private health services in the acute sector, including day hospitals**. It is primarily intended for board members and executives (or equivalent) responsible for directing and implementing clinical governance systems, while being written to be understood by the whole workforce. ## What happened to the 2017 framework and its five components? The 2017 National Model Clinical Governance Framework organised clinical governance into five components: **governance, leadership and culture; patient safety and quality improvement systems; clinical performance and effectiveness; safe environment for the delivery of care; and partnering with consumers.** The Commission now designates it a **legacy document, available for reference only**, and directs health services to use the 2026 model when next reviewing their clinical governance arrangements. The 2017 components remain practically relevant for now: the assessable actions of the [NSQHS Standards](https://hg-au.com/topics/nsqhs-standards.md) Clinical Governance Standard (Standard 1) and Partnering with Consumers Standard (Standard 2) were built on them, and organisations' existing clinical governance frameworks are commonly structured around them. Expect assessment-facing material to progressively align with the 2026 model's language of high-quality care and the six foundations. ## Does the model apply to aged care and disability providers? Directly, it is an acute-sector document. But its logic is sector-portable, and Australian aged care regulation now runs on the same principles: - The [Aged Care Act 2024](https://hg-au.com/topics/aged-care-act-2024.md) places statutory duties on providers (s 179) and personal due diligence duties on certain responsible persons — governing body members and executive decision-makers (s 180, s 12(1)(a)–(b)) — the "governing body carries ultimate accountability" principle given legislative force. - The [Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards](https://hg-au.com/topics/strengthened-aged-care-quality-standards.md) require governance arrangements (Standard 2, The Organisation) and clinical governance for clinical care (Standard 5, Clinical Care) that map closely onto the model's foundations. - The 2026 model's culture-first shift mirrors where aged care regulation is heading: outcomes and organisational culture over checklist conformity. The model is also a reference point for governing emerging clinical risks: clinical AI oversight, for example, sits naturally inside the foundations of enabling high-quality clinical practice, managing and reducing risk, and using data for better care (see [Clinical AI Governance](https://hg-au.com/topics/clinical-ai-governance.md)). ## What does the governing body actually have to do? Under the 2026 model, boards and executives govern, lead and plan for high-quality care by: 1. Building a shared language and understanding across the workforce of high-quality care and the six foundations. 2. Designing and resourcing the systems, culture and leadership that make high-quality care everyone's core focus. 3. Monitoring performance — receiving and interrogating meaningful clinical indicators, incident and complaint themes, and improvement outcomes, and responding when performance deteriorates. 4. Partnering with patients, carers and consumers at every level, including governance. 5. Using the practical guide to implementation to review current arrangements, identify gaps and monitor delivery. 6. Satisfying itself the systems work — through assurance (audit, deep dives, external review), not assertion. The recurring board-level failure is the gap between *receiving reports* and *being able to show how the board knows* — the difference between reporting and assurance. (See [Board Responsibilities under the Aged Care Act 2024](https://hg-au.com/topics/aged-care-board-responsibilities.md) for the aged care statutory expression of this.) ## What are common weaknesses found in clinical governance reviews? 1. Clinical governance framed as the quality manager's system rather than the governing body's accountability. 2. Committee structures that filter and soften clinical risk on its way to the board. 3. Incident and complaint systems that record and categorise but cannot evidence closed-loop learning. 4. Credentialing and scope-of-practice registers that are static documents rather than live controls. 5. Consumer partnership present in care delivery but absent from organisational governance. 6. No defined assurance map — the board cannot say which obligations are covered by which evidence source. ## Related Holistic Governance references - [NSQHS Standards (Second Edition)](https://hg-au.com/topics/nsqhs-standards.md) - [Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards](https://hg-au.com/topics/strengthened-aged-care-quality-standards.md) - [Board Responsibilities and Responsible Person Duties under the Aged Care Act 2024](https://hg-au.com/topics/aged-care-board-responsibilities.md) - [Clinical AI Governance](https://hg-au.com/topics/clinical-ai-governance.md) - Services: [Clinical governance framework design](https://hg-au.com/healthcare.html) ## Sources - ACSQHC — 2026 National Model for Clinical Governance (released 1 June 2026): https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/clinical-topics/clinical-governance/2026-national-model - ACSQHC — 2026 National Model: Practical guide to implementation: https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/clinical-topics/clinical-governance/2026-national-model-practical-guide-implementation - ACSQHC — National Model Clinical Governance Framework (2017, legacy — reference only): https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/resources/national-model-clinical-governance-framework - ACSQHC — Clinical Governance Standard (NSQHS Standard 1): https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/standards/nsqhs-standards/clinical-governance-standard --- *This reference document is maintained by [Holistic Governance](https://hg-au.com) as general information and decision support, not legal advice. Verify against the current ACSQHC publications before acting.*