Unit Outline

This unit aims to provide a broad understanding of governance, clinical governance, and risk management within the field of health and human services. Whilst clinical governance initially arose in response to major quality and safety scandals within health services, the concepts are increasingly being applied across a broader range of service areas - driven by the need for assurance from the public, providers, funders, accreditation agencies, and governments, that services are delivered safely and that they meet quality standards. In contrast, risk management has a more established history across various sectors and industries, supported by both national and international standards.

This unit will explore the practical implementation of governance and risk management frameworks and strategies, as the basis for workplace action to improve the safety and quality of patient and client care and support. You will be challenged to reflect on your own professional practice and leadership capacity, and you will gain insights into how effective governance and leadership approaches can shape the quality of care and support delivery, improve outcomes, and manage risks. The unit emphasises practical, real-world application of best practice, empowering you to identify and evaluate threats to safe and high-quality care, and to drive positive change in your workplace by fostering a culture of safety, accountability and continuous improvement. By understanding and applying contemporary risk and governance frameworks and strategies, you will have developed skills to lead and innovate in the context of a rapidly evolving health and human service landscape.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Critically analyse the key components of governance and clinical governance frameworks and their application in health and human service settings.
2	Evaluate risks and risk management scenarios drawing on appropriate strategies and tools in health and human service environments.
3	Apply principles of clinical governance and risk management to develop quality improvement initiatives that enhance care/support, and organisation performance outcomes in health and human service settings.
4	Develop effective high-level leadership communication skills and strategies to foster a culture of safety and quality among health and human service teams, ensuring compliance with best practice standards.
5	Integrate evidence-based approaches into decision-making processes to address complex issues related to safety, quality, and risk management in health and human service settings.

Alterations as a result of student feedback

This unit has been extensively revised in response to student feedback and to align with contemporary learning and teaching best practices. Key changes include:

Strengthened Work Integrated Learning (WIL): Activities and assessments have been restructured to enhance alignment with real-world workplace projects, ensuring students can apply practical knowledge effectively.

Reordered Teaching and Content Delivery: The teaching schedule has been adjusted to better align with the practical knowledge requirements for workplace projects, providing students with the right knowledge and tools at the right time.

Streamlined Assessments: The number of individual assessment tasks has been reduced from four (with a total of eleven sub-components) to three (with a total of 6 sub-components), consolidating tasks for greater focus. The new structure includes:

Four discussion board activities (reduced from five).

Four optional quizzes (no longer formally assessed).

Major Assessment Task 1: Report.

Major Assessment Task 2: Improvement Proposal.

Discussion Board Weighting: Discussion board tasks have been weighted more heavily (from 5% per task, to 10% per task), in recognition of the time and effort required to complete these tasks.

Increased Support through Webinars: Weekly webinars (increased from one per major assessment to one per week) have been introduced to provide step-by-step guidance, mentorship, and ongoing support for students’ workplace projects and associated assessment tasks.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Discussion Board Participation	Week 2	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5
Assessment Task 2:	Report	Refer to Assessment Description	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5
Assessment Task 3:	Service Improvement Proposal	Refer to Assessment Description	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Discussion Board Participation

Task Description:

There are four components to this assessment task that extend over 12 weeks of the semester and cover all of the unit learning outcomes. Students ‘opt-in’ to a particular Discussion Board ‘Community of Practice’ relevant to their area of work or professional interest and will contribute to insightful and practical discussions on the application of governance, clinical governance and risk management best practices to identified workplace issues.

AT1.1 - Week 2
AT1.2 - Refer to Assessment Description in MYLO for due date.
AT1.3 - Refer to Assessment Description in MYLO for due date.
AT1.4 - Refer to Assessment Description in MYLO for due date.

Task Length:

2000 words

Due Date:

Week 2

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Lead a discussion about a workplace issue.	LO1, LO2, LO3
2	Develop an investigation plan for the identified workplace.	LO1, LO2, LO3
3	Propose Workplace investigation findings for the identified workplace issue.	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5
4	Develop a Workplace improvement and change leadership plan for the identified workplace issue.	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5

Assessment Task 2: Report

Task Description:

This Assessment Task requires you to prepare a report addressing a clinical governance, corporate governance or risk management issue or question in your workplace.

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Identify a clinical governance or risk management issue in the workplace.	LO1, LO2, LO3
2	Use relevant data, evidence, and sources to investigate the identified issue.	LO2, LO3, LO5
3	Critically examine relevant policies, procedures, or practices, providing insights into complexities that may impact improvement efforts.	LO4, LO5
4	Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in an appropriate format.	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Service Improvement Proposal

Task Description:

This Assessment Task requires you to prepare a Service Improvement Proposal addressing an identified clinical governance, corporate governance or risk management issue or question.

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Development of a service improvement proposal that addressed the issues identified.	LO3, LO5
2	The proposal integrates clinical governance principles, risk management strategies, and best practice leadership approaches.	LO1, LO2, LO5
3	The proposal includes an implementation plan that assesses feasibility, identifies barriers, and includes methods for evaluating effectiveness.	LO4, LO5
4	Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in an appropriate format.	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.