Annual Professional Standards Improvement Program (PSIP) reporting by regulated associations closed on 31 March 2019.
The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) is pleased that 100% of regulated associations have submitted their PSIP reports on time, with governing bodies playing an increasingly active role in the review and approval of this important regulatory activity.
Professional Standards Authority CEO, Roxane Marcelle-Shaw, commended all regulated associations for their responsive engagement with the PSIP reporting process. “The PSA will now analyse each report for consideration by the Professional Standards Councils, who will present the information and data, together with insights on the operation of the national system of professional standards regulation, in their annual report to Ministers for tabling in each state and territory parliament,” said Ms Marcelle-Shaw.
The PSIP uses a single set of reporting requirements for all regulated associations to enable comparability of information about the operation of professional standards schemes. This enables the Professional Standards Councils to draw out insights that can drive the improvement of the standards of practice of the membership of regulated associations and the protection of consumers of the services provided by their members.
A new feature in this year’s PSIP reporting is a call for root cause analysis of complaints data. Root cause analysis is a systematic process that encourages regulated associations to look beyond the character of complaints (the symptoms) to identify the underlying factors that give rise to complaints (the causes). With root cause analysis, regulated associations will be better equipped to treat the competence and conduct failures that result in complaints and strengthen consumer protection by improving standards of practice in their professional community.
The Professional Standards Councils will provide regulated associations with feedback on their PSIP reports, individually and collectively, to assist efforts to improve professional standards and build self-regulatory capacity. The Professional Standards Councils will also provide feedback at the upcoming Professional Standards Forum to be held in Melbourne in November 2019, with a focus on using complaints data and root cause analysis as a risk management tool.
Please contact us if you have any questions about the PSIP reporting process, if you want more information about the Professional Standards Forum in November 2019 or if we can assist in any other ways.