Welcome to Social Services Accreditation

What is Social Services Accreditation

Accreditation provides assurance that organisations can safely deliver social services to their community.

It's like a Warrant of Fitness (WoF) check for social service providers. Being accredited shows that your organisation has strong and safe business practices.

There are a range of government agencies that need organisations to be accredited for a variety of reasons, the most common of which is to receive funding or a contract.

How social services accreditation works

Meet the criteria

You have to meet certain criteria to get accreditation.

Before you can apply you will need to complete an eligibility check.

Apply for accreditation

There are different levels of accreditation. When you apply for accreditation, what level you have to meet depends on the services you're funded to provide.

Once you apply, we'll check whether your organisation meets the accreditation standards. To do this, one of our assessors will perform an accreditation assessment on how your organisation operates. 

• If you meet the standards, your organisation will receive accreditation.
• If you don’t meet the standards, we'll let your organisation know how to meet them.

Accreditation assessments

Accreditation assessments are a close look at your organisation. They consider the capability of the organisation and the processes for the services it delivers. This is to ensure your community receive safe, quality services.

Here are some of the aspects of your operations we'll look at:

• Finances — can the organisation financially support itself?
• Vulnerable clients — are they safe and protected from harm and abuse?
• Staff — are they trained and supported?
• Governance — are there good structures in place to support the organisation?
• Programmes /services — is the organisation providing quality services?

Your organisation must provide copies of its policies and procedures. You also need to provide evidence to show your organisation meets the accreditation standards. Evidence could include documents or interviews. You could also show how you operate during a site visit. 

Getting accreditation

Once you're accredited, your organisation will be assessed regularly to make sure you continue to meet the standards.

Accreditation can be removed from an organisation at any time.

Who pays for the accreditation service

Organisations that must be accredited do not need to pay for our accreditation services. This is funded by the government agencies that use us for accreditation.