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Victorian Human Services Standard (HSS)

This scheme applies to Disability and Human Services providers in Victoria, to certify that they meet the Human Services Standards set down by the Department of Health and Human Service (DHHS) Victoria.

The Standards represents a set of service quality standards, including empowerment, access and engagement, wellbeing and participation.

Key Benefits

Meet Compliance Requirements

By ensuring your organisation complies with the regulatory requirements of the Victorian HSS and a selected Governance Standard, you will meet a key obligation of your funding agreement.

Build Sustainable Business Practices

Through a strategic approach, align your business to drive sustainable growth and embed a continual improvement culture.

Keeping Clients Front of Mind

Embed and promote rights for people accessing services while assuring the community and partners that you are providing services that meet clients’ needs.

What Is It?

The Standards and review process support the One DHS Strategy, to ensure people experience consistent quality of service.

The Department of Health and Human Services Standards are intended to:
  • Develop a common and systemic approach to quality review processes
  • Embed and promote rights for people accessing services
  • Assure the community and partners that organisations are providing services that meet clients’ needs
  • Build greater transparency in quality requirements between the department, service providers, clients and the community
  • Reduce the number of Standards, indicators and quality reviews required for DHS funded services
  • Foster a culture of continual improvement
Governance and Management

Achieve consistent quality-of-service through sound process controls ensuring appropriate outcomes for clients using the service.

Your processes must protect your staff, clients and stakeholders. This can be met by implementing appropriate documentation management and security. Your processes should allow for efficient problem, complaint and feedback responses including client privacy.

As well as the HSS, providers must choose a governance standard. Options include:

  • ISO 9001
  • Quality Management Systems
  • National Standards for Disability Services
  • National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards
Empowerment
Build a caring culture by empowering your clients through your services. This includes promoting their rights and helping them understand their responsibilities.
Access and Engagement

Consistently deliver services that meet the individual needs and expectations of your clients while maintaining equitable and integrated services. Through reduced complexity in entry and exit, clients can freely take part in the service, as well as use other complimentary services.

Wellbeing

Deliver services that help clients reach their goals, while promoting and upholding people’s wellbeing and safety.

Align your services to help clients reach goals and respect individual needs and cultural differences.

Participation
Promote your clients’ right to choose by supporting their decision making process in participating in community, home or work environments.
Audit Cycle

Service providers will need to maintain conformance against the HSS over a three year audit cycle, with a mid-term maintenance audit conducted.

Surveillance Audits can be conducted over either a 12 or 18 monthly cycle to align with other Standards.

NDIS Remote Auditing

On March 20, 2020, SAI Global Assurance was approved to deliver NDIS audits remotely. This factsheet outlines what you need to know about remote auditing.