RACGP Standards: A Practical Guide for General Practices
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards shape the systems a general practice uses to protect patients, govern risk and improve care. The transition to the sixth edition creates an unusual position: the new document is available, while accreditation still runs against the fifth edition. For practice owners and managers, the immediate job is to keep current accreditation work moving and prepare for the transition without treating a checklist, software tool or self-assessment as a promise of accreditation.
Which RACGP Standards edition applies now?
As at 6 October 2026, the published edition and the edition used for accreditation are different:
| Question | Current position | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| What is the newest published edition? | The final Standards for general practices (6th edition) is dated July 2026 and supersedes the fifth edition as the RACGP's published standard. | Sixth-edition PDF |
| Which edition does the National General Practice Accreditation Scheme use? | Accreditation under the National General Practice Accreditation (NGPA) Scheme still uses the fifth edition. | Current NGPA Scheme |
| When will sixth-edition assessment begin? | The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) has not published a commencement date, transition deadline or sixth-edition assessment timetable. It says arrangements will be provided in due course. | Commission transition page |
| What should practices do now? | Continue current accreditation preparation against the fifth edition. Use the sixth edition to review systems, involve the team and plan quality improvement ahead of future assessment. | RACGP practice guidance |
The PDF's July date and the Commission's 26 August release update refer to publication. They do not set the accreditation switchover date. Avoid building a plan around an assumed 2027 deadline or another date that has not been announced.
Four terms matter here:
- Publication makes the sixth-edition document available.
- Implementation means putting its systems and processes into practice.
- Assessment is an approved agency's review of whether a practice meets the applicable requirements.
- Accreditation is the outcome awarded after a successful assessment.
The Commission separates early sixth-edition implementation from accreditation assessment. A practice can therefore improve systems against the new guidance while preparing for its current fifth-edition assessment.
What the RACGP Standards cover
The Standards for general practices set expectations for practice-wide systems that support safe, high-quality and person-centred care. They cover governance, clinical information, patient participation, workforce, privacy, digital systems, risk and continuous improvement.
They are different from RACGP clinical guidelines, general practice training standards and continuing professional development standards. They apply to an eligible general practice or health service for accreditation purposes. They do not accredit an individual clinician's notes, a software product or an artificial intelligence (AI) vendor.
The sixth edition has four core standards and an optional point-of-care testing standard:
| Standard | Main practice-system focus |
|---|---|
| Foundations of general practice | Practice planning, accountability, workforce, response planning, privacy, digital security, digital health and AI |
| Clinical governance | Clinical information systems and records, care coordination, follow-up, clinical risk, infection prevention, equipment, medicines and research |
| Patient participation | Practice information, communication, rights, cultural safety, informed consent, accessibility, complaints, engagement and access to care |
| Continuous quality improvement | Practice-wide measurement, review, leadership reporting and improvement |
| Point-of-care testing | An optional standard for practices that perform point-of-care testing |
The complete sixth-edition contents contain the authoritative wording and guidance.
The sixth edition arranges requirements as criteria and sub-criteria rather than using the fifth edition's indicator structure. This is not a one-to-one conversion. Content may be reorganised, consolidated, clarified or expanded, and a sixth-edition criterion can include new sub-criteria. Criteria are mandatory unless labelled aspirational. Consumer expectation statements explain the patient perspective but are not accreditation requirements.
Use the official fifth-to-sixth mapping only to navigate and become familiar with the new structure. It is not a compliance test. Read the full criterion and sub-criteria before deciding that an existing control carries across.
Accreditation under the NGPA Scheme is voluntary. Separate government programs can attach their own accreditation eligibility conditions or exemptions, as the current MyMedicare rules illustrate. An edition change does not automatically change every funding or incentive rule.
What has changed in the sixth edition?
Many familiar safety and quality expectations remain, although the structure and wording have changed. The RACGP highlights greater emphasis on outcomes, clinical governance, consumer engagement, quality improvement and coded clinical data. New or expanded areas include:
- practice mission, strategy, operational planning and governance risk
- document control and version management
- climate resilience and environmental sustainability
- team culture, psychological safety and workforce wellbeing
- cyber security, digital governance, privacy and data breach awareness
- governance of digital health technologies
- safe and accountable AI use for practices that use AI
- digital clinical information systems and more structured patient information
- consumer engagement, informed consent and open disclosure
- practice-wide continuous quality improvement with defined performance measures.
Who sets, runs and assesses the Standards?
Accreditation involves several organisations with distinct roles:
| Party | Role |
|---|---|
| RACGP | Develops and publishes the Standards and supporting guidance. |
| Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care | Operates the NGPA Scheme and approves independent accrediting agencies. |
| Approved accrediting agency | Conducts the assessment and awards accreditation when the applicable requirements are met. It also makes the final decision on a service's accreditation eligibility. |
| General practice | Owns its governance, implementation, records, staff preparation and evidence. |
The Commission's approved agency list names four providers for general-practice assessment. The current NGPA Scheme identifies the fifth edition as their current general-practice assessment standard.
Under the current fifth-edition process, assessors review evidence through visual inspection, interviews with key personnel and document review. Self-assessment is not a formal NGPA requirement, although an agency may require one to support preparation. It does not establish that the Standards have been met. The Commission has not yet published a sixth-edition evidence-submission format or assessor playbook.
What practice owners and managers should do now
Confirm the current baseline
Ask your accrediting agency which edition applies to your next confirmed assessment. Record the answer, your accreditation expiry date and who will monitor Commission and agency updates. Continue any fifth-edition actions already in progress.
Assign an internal owner
Nominate one person to coordinate the transition and make reporting lines clear. A practice manager may coordinate the work, while qualified clinicians retain responsibility for clinical judgements and approvals. Our guide to practice manager duties explains how coordination, governance and escalation fit together.
Review the official sixth-edition material
Use the mapping to find likely areas of change, then read the full criteria and sub-criteria. Start with systems that could affect patient safety, continuity of care, privacy, clinical records or the team's ability to act. Do not assume an existing fifth-edition indicator, policy or template proves that a sixth-edition requirement is met.
Work through existing governance
Bring transition actions into existing governance and quality-improvement meetings rather than creating a parallel accreditation project. For detailed policy registers and document control, use our medical practice policies guide. For methods to review record quality and follow up findings, use our clinical documentation audit guide.
If your practice uses AI
AI adoption is optional. Sixth-edition criteria F11.A and F11.B apply to practices that use AI and focus on safe use, clinical oversight, governance, evaluation and monitoring. The RACGP AI guidance provides the official orientation. Our guide to AI scribe data privacy covers the privacy questions that practices should address during implementation.
Lyrebird creates structured draft notes for clinician review and editing before sign-off. We do not set the RACGP Standards, operate the NGPA Scheme, assess practices or guarantee compliance or accreditation. The practice remains responsible for its AI use, clinical governance and final patient record, and its approved agency determines accreditation outcomes.
Common transition mistakes to avoid
- Abandoning fifth-edition preparation: it remains the current NGPA assessment benchmark.
- Treating the mapping as a direct conversion or audit: it supports navigation and does not replace the full sixth-edition wording.
- Confusing guidance with requirements: consumer expectation statements and aspirational criteria have a different status from mandatory criteria.
- Treating a policy, template or software tool as proof of compliance: these can support a controlled process but cannot establish that every criterion is met or guarantee accreditation.
- Assuming every funding program changes at once: program eligibility remains separate and must be handled under its own current rules.
Frequently asked questions about RACGP Standards
What are the RACGP Standards?
The Standards for general practices are the RACGP's practice-system standards for safe, high-quality and person-centred general practice care. The Commission uses them within the NGPA Scheme for general-practice accreditation.
Which RACGP Standards edition is used for accreditation?
As at 6 October 2026, the NGPA Scheme still uses the fifth edition for accreditation. The sixth edition is published and practices are encouraged to begin implementation, while formal transition timing and assessment arrangements remain pending.
Where can I find the sixth edition and its mapping document?
Use the official sixth-edition Standards for requirements and guidance. Use the RACGP mapping to navigate from fifth-edition content, then return to the full criteria and sub-criteria.
Are RACGP Standards the same as RACGP clinical guidelines?
No. The Standards address practice-wide systems and accreditation. RACGP clinical guidelines support clinical decisions in areas such as preventive care, diabetes or specific treatments.
Does using Lyrebird mean a practice meets the RACGP Standards?
No. Lyrebird is not an accrediting agency, and using it does not establish compliance or accreditation. Lyrebird creates draft clinical notes for clinician review, editing and sign-off. The practice remains responsible for implementation, clinical governance and the final patient record, while an approved accrediting agency determines accreditation outcomes.
A sound transition keeps patient care, governance and record quality visible while official arrangements evolve. If your practice is considering clinical AI as part of its documentation workflow, we can discuss how Lyrebird supports clinician-reviewed drafts within your practice's own controls.
