Responsibility: Australian Government
Response: Accept
Status: In progress
What has been achieved to date
The Joint Statement on the inappropriate use of psychotropic medicines outlines the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC), the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NDIS Commission) commitment to work together to reduce the inappropriate use of psychotropic medicines to protect the safety and quality of health care for people living with cognitive disability or impairment.
ACSQHC, ACQSC and the NDIS Commission are working to establish how evaluation and reporting could be progressed.
Further, ACSQHC released a national Psychotropic Medicines in Cognitive Disability or Impairment Clinical Care Standard (2024), designed to ensure safer, more effective treatment practices. This Standard represents a significant milestone in health care, outlining clear steps to promote responsible and appropriate use of psychotropic medicines. The Standard provides practical guidance and encourages consistent practices across all healthcare settings, with an aim to improve the quality of care and enhance the overall well-being of people with cognitive disability or impairment.
The NDIS Commission manages the application and assessment of new NDIS behaviour support practitioners and there has been a significant increase in the number of behaviour support practitioners in the market. The NDIS Commission has released policy and practice guidance documents to support, improvements to quality of behaviour support planning, and reductions in the use of restrictive practices.
What the Disability Royal Commission said in the final report
The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission should:
- publish joint annual progress reports on implementation of measures under the Joint statement on the inappropriate use of psychotropic medicines to manage the behaviours of people with disability and older people
- commission an independent evaluation of these measures to determine whether they have resulted in a reduction in the use of psychotropic medicines against people with cognitive disability. The evaluation should be co-designed with people with cognitive disability and their representative organisations and its results should be publicly reported.
Australian Government Response July 2024
The Australian Government accepts this recommendation in full, as there are safety and quality issues arising from the misuse and overuse of psychotropic medicines. To improve health outcomes for people with cognitive disability or impairment, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care is finalising the Psychotropic Medicines in Cognitive Disability or Impairment Clinical Care Standard (Clinical Care Standard) to provide national clinical guidance on the appropriate management, and use of, psychotropic medicines for people with cognitive disability or impairment.
The Australian Government recognises there is a lack of accessible information and guidance for the health and disability sectors on the use and management of psychotropic medication for people with cognitive disability and will ask the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care to provide advice and a plan to further promote the implementation of the Clinical Care Standard, and other measures to minimise and evaluate psychotropic related harms.
More recommendations
View progress on other recommendations made by the Royal Commission.