Tuesday, 1 September 2026
Infection prevention guidelines under review: member feedback sought by 20 September
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care is consulting on new and revised clinical practice recommendations for the Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare. The ASA is preparing a submission and is seeking member views.
The Guidelines set the minimum standards for infection prevention and control in Australian health care. They were last reviewed in 2019 and are now being revised in stages. A third edition is due in 2027. This first stage covers transmission-based precautions, hand hygiene and handwashing basin placement.
New and revised clinical practice recommendations
What is proposed
In summary, the key changes are the removal of routine glove and gown use for contact precautions, the addition of protective eyewear to the minimum PPE for droplet and airborne precautions, three new good practice statements and the removal of two duplicated recommendations.
Contact precautions (Recommendation 21, revised)
Routine use of gloves and gowns on entry to the patient care area would be removed. An onsite risk assessment would instead determine the minimum PPE. Gloves and gowns would be used where blood or body fluid exposure is anticipated. Recommendation 32 on contact precautions for multi-resistant organisms would be absorbed into the revised Recommendation 21.
Droplet precautions (Recommendation 24, revised)
Protective eyewear would be added to the minimum PPE alongside a surgical mask. Reusable eyewear would need cleaning after each use. Gloves and gowns would not be routinely required.
Airborne precautions (Recommendation 26, revised)
This would change from a conditional recommendation to a good practice statement. Protective eyewear would be added to the minimum PPE and terminology updated to particulate filter respirator (PFR). This term covers P2 and N95 respirators. The choice between a surgical mask and a PFR would rest on the nature of the care and the setting. Recommendation 27 on P2 respirators would be absorbed into the revised Recommendation 26.
Respiratory precautions (new)
A risk-based approach would guide when to implement respiratory precautions. A surgical mask and eye protection would be the minimum wherever a respiratory pathogen may be transmitted. Unlike droplet and airborne precautions these would not be guided by particle size alone.
Alcohol-based hand scrub (new)
A risk-based approach would guide its use for pre-operative and pre-procedure hand hygiene in simple procedures. It is not intended to replace conventional water-based scrubbing and may not suit complex or high-risk surgery.
Handwashing basin placement (new)
A risk-based approach would guide basin placement in new builds and renovations. Basins would sit far enough from patient beds and clinical equipment to prevent splashes reaching them. They would be for handwashing only and not for disposing of medications, feeds or body fluids.
How to have your say
Please email your feedback to policy@sonographers.org by 20 September 2026 to help inform the ASA submission. Comments on how the proposals would work in practice are especially useful. The Commission will use consultation responses to refine the draft wording.