Review of the national pathology accreditation standards
The Commission, in partnership with the NPAAC, is undertaking a review of the national pathology accreditation standards.
The proposed review schedule is below. This is up to 2024 only and may not include all current national pathology accreditation standards. The schedule below is grouped by year and may not be in the exact order of review.
National pathology accreditation standards are issued as accreditation material to provide guidance to laboratories and accrediting agencies about minimum standards considered acceptable for good laboratory practice.
For enquiries about the NPA Scheme or the resources, email pathology@safetyandquality.gov.au.
Proposed review schedule
2023
Tier 2
- Requirements for medical pathology services
Tier 3A
- Requirements for supervision in clinical governance of medical pathology laboratories
- Requirements for the communication of high-risk pathology results
Tier 3B
- Requirements for the estimation of measurement uncertainty
- Requirements for quality control, external quality assurance and method evaluation
- Requirements for medical pathology specimen collection
- Requirements for the development and use of in‑house in vitro diagnostic material devices
Tier 4 Anatomical Pathology
- Performance measures for Australian laboratories reporting cervical cytology
- Requirements for laboratories reporting tests for the National Cervical Screening Program
- Requirements for validation of self-collected vaginal swabs for use in the National Cervical Screening Program
2024
Tier 4 Microbiology
- Requirements for laboratory testing of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) [Stage 2 - comprehensive review]
- Requirements for medical testing of microbial nucleic acids
Tier 4 Haematology
- Requirements for procedures related to the collection, processing, storage and issue of human haemopoietic progenitor cells
Tier 4 Genetic Pathology
- Requirements for human medical genome testing utilising massively parallel sequencing technologies
2023
Tier 2
- Requirements for medical pathology services
Tier 3A
- Requirements for supervision in clinical governance of medical pathology laboratories
- Requirements for the communication of high-risk pathology results
Tier 3B
- Requirements for the estimation of measurement uncertainty
- Requirements for quality control, external quality assurance and method evaluation
- Requirements for medical pathology specimen collection
- Requirements for the development and use of in‑house in vitro diagnostic material devices
Tier 4 Anatomical Pathology
- Performance measures for Australian laboratories reporting cervical cytology
- Requirements for laboratories reporting tests for the National Cervical Screening Program
- Requirements for validation of self-collected vaginal swabs for use in the National Cervical Screening Program
2024
Tier 4 Microbiology
- Requirements for laboratory testing of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) [Stage 2 - comprehensive review]
- Requirements for medical testing of microbial nucleic acids
Tier 4 Haematology
- Requirements for procedures related to the collection, processing, storage and issue of human haemopoietic progenitor cells
Tier 4 Genetic Pathology
- Requirements for human medical genome testing utilising massively parallel sequencing technologies
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