Why is it necessary for allied health assistants to understand what abbreviations and acronyms mean?

Introduction

This list of acronyms and glossary terms was compiled by the Departmental Library from Departmental websites, annual reports and lists prepared by various Divisions within the Department.

Where a term has a broader general meaning, the definition given refers to its use in the DoH context. For an authoritative source of health-related definitions used in Australia, see the Health Thesaurus and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's National Health Data Dictionary (NHDD). Also see Medspeak Terms on the Medical Library Association website.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | XYZ

A3GP - Australian Association of Academic General Practice

AA - Alzheimer's Australia

AAG - Australian Association of Gerontology

A/g - Acting

A&E - Accident and Emergency

AAAGP - Australian Association of Academic General Practice

AAQHC - Australasian Association for Quality in Health Care

AAC - Ageing and Aged Care

AACAP - ATSIC Army Community Assistance Program

AACD - Ageing and Aged Care Division

AACP - Aged and Aged Care Program

AACR - Australian Association of Cancer Registries

Top of pageAACS - Applied Aged Care Solutions

AAGP - Australian Association of General Practitioners

AAHL - Australian Animal Health Laboratory

AAP - Australian Association of Pathology Practices

AAPM - Australian Association of Practice Managers

AAPM - American Association of Physicists in Medicine

AAPROP - Australian Association of Professional Radiation Oncology Providers

AARN - Association for Australian Rural Nurses

AASB - Australian Accounting Standards Board

AAT - Administrative Appeals Tribunal

AAWCH - Australian Association for the Welfare of Children in Hospital

ABA - Aboriginals Benefit Account - funding source in NT Govt.

ABF - Australian Brain Foundation Inc.

ABF - Activity Based Funding

ABI - Acquired Brain Injury

ABL - Australian bat lyssavirus

Top of pageAboriginal - A person of Aboriginal descent who identifies as an Aboriginal and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives.

ABS - Australian Bureau of Statistics

ABMDR - Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry

ACA - Australian Consumer’s Association

ACAA - Aged Care Association Australia

ACAC - Aged Care Advisory Committee

ACAM - Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring

ACAP - Aged Care Assessment Program

ACAR - Aged Care Approvals Round

ACAS - Aged Care Assessment Service

ACAT - Aged Care Assessment Teams

ACBA - Australian Coding Benchmark Audit

ACBHSC - Australian Community Based Health Services Codeset

Top of pageACC- Aged and Community Care

ACC - Australasian Cochrane Centre

ACCC - Australian Casemix Clinical Committee

ACCC - Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

ACCCN - Australian College of Critical Care Nurses

ACCHO - Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

ACCHS - Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services

ACCHS - Adelaide Central Community Health Service

ACCMIS - Aged and Community Care Management Information System

ACCN - Australian Council of Community Nursing

ACCNS - Australian Council of Community Nursing Services

Accountable - Being held responsible

Accreditation - Being granted recognition for meeting designated standards for structure, process and outcome

ACCR - Aged Care Client Record

ACCS - Aged Care Complaints Scheme

ACCSIS - Pre ACCMIS product

Top of pageAccreditation (aged care) - A process through which residential aged care homes must go in order to be recognised as approved providers under the Aged Care Act 1997.

ACD - Australasian College of Dermatologists

ACDON - Australian Council of Deans of Nursing

ACEi - Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor

ACEM - Australasian College for Emergency Medicine

ACF - Aged Care Facility

ACFI - Aged Care Funding Instruments

Top of pageACGR - Australian Competitive Grants Register

ACHA - Assistance with Care and Housing for the Aged Program

ACHA - Australian Community Health Association

ACHP-RU - Australian Centre for Health Promotion Research Unit

ACHI - Australian Classifications of Health Interventions

ACHS - Australian Council on HealthCare Standards

Top of pageACHSE - Australian College of Health Service Executives

ACIR - Australian Childhood Immunisation Register

ACL - Access Control Lists

ACM - Australian College of Midwives

ACN - Australian Cancer Network

ACNVRGP - Australian College of Non-VRGPs

ACO - Asset Control Officer

ACOM - Australian Catalogue of Medicines

ACON - AIDS Council of NSW

ACORN - Australian College of Operating Room Nurses

Top of pageACOSS - Australian Council of Social Services

ACPAC - Aged Care Planning Advisory Committees

ACPM - Australian College of Psychological Medicine

ACPR - Aged Care Payments Redevelopment

ACPS - Aged Care Program Support

ACR - Albumin-creatinine ratio

ACROD - National Industry Associatio for Disability Services

ACRRM - Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine

ACPA - Australian Community Pharmacy Authority

ACPSEM - Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine

ACS - Aged Care Systems

ACSA - Aged and Community Services Australia

Top of pageACSAA - Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency

ACSHP - Australasian College of Sexual Health Physicians

ACSI - Australian Communications-Electronic Security Instructions

ACSQHC - Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care

ACSRG - Aged Care Systems Reference Group

ACT - Australian Clinical Thesaurus

ACTDGP - ACT Divisions of General Practice

ACTO - ACT Office (State Office)

ACT - Australian Capital Territory

ACTU - Australian Council of Trade Unions

Acute - Coming on sharply and often brief, intense and severe

Top of pageAcute Hospitals - Public, Department of Veterans Affairs (repatriation) and private hospitals which provide services primarily to admitted patients with acute or temporary ailments. The average length of stay is relatively short

ACWG - Aged Care Working Group

ACYS - Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies

ADA - Australian Dental Association

ADAC - Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council (SA Inc).

ADACAS - ACT Disability, Aged & Carer Advocacy Service (ACT)

ADC - Aboriginal Development Commission (disbanded when ATSIC created)

ADCA - Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia

Addiction/addictive use - A condition marked by repeated and compulsive activity in a manner or at a level that is harmful or dangerous. Term is most often applied to addictive drug use, such as with alcohol, tobacco or other drugs, but could be applied to gambling or many other practices

Additional Estimates - Where amounts appropriated at Budget time are insufficient, Parliament may appropriate more funds to portfolios through the Additional Estimates Acts. (i.e. Appropriation Acts 3 and 4)

ADEC - Australian Drug Evaluation Committee

ADF - Australian Drug Foundation

ADGP - former Australian Divisions of General Practice (now AGPN)

Top of pageADHD - Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

ADI - Acceptable Daily Intake

ADIA - Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association

ADIN - Australian Drug Information Network

ADL - Activities of Daily Living (ACATs Assessment tool)

ADM - Admission

ADMG - Australian Disaster Management Group

ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subsciber Line

Adverse Event - An incident in which harm resulted to a person receiving health care

Adverse Reaction - An adverse event where the correct process was followed for the context in which the event occurred but unexpected and unpreventable harm resulted.

AE - Additional Estimates

AEIFRS - Australian Equivalents of International Financial Reporting Standards

AERF - Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation

AFAO - Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations

Top of pageAdministered items - Expenses, revenues, assets or liabilities that agencies administer on behalf of the Commonwealth. Administered expenses include grants, subsidies and benefits. Funds which are spent on behalf of the Government according to Government direction (for example, funding for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme)

Administrative data - Data that are routinely collected in the course of general administration. Includes data from the Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages and hospital morbidity data

Administrative Funds - Are funds allocated to cover the overhead or running costs structure of the Department (eg salaries, use of consultants, property operating expenses, printing etc)

AFC - Audit and Fraud Control

AFFA - Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry-Australia

Affective Disorders - Mood disorders such as depression, mania and bipolar affective disorder

AFGC - Australian Food and Grocery Council

AFMW - Australian Federation of Medical Women

AFP - Australian Federal Police

AFRM - Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine

AFS - Additional Funding Support

AFS - Audited Financial Statement

Top of pageAGA - Architectural General Advice (carried out by BAA)

AGAR - Australian Group on Antimicrobial Register

AGCA - Australian Guidance and Counselling Association

AGCC - Australian Government Credit Card

Agent - One who, or that which, acts to produce a change

AGEST - Australian Government Employees Superannuation Trust

AGHS - Australian Government Health Services (now Health Services Australia)

AGIMIS - Australian Government Indigenous Management Information System

AGPAL - Australian General Practice Accreditation Ltd

AGPN - Australian General Practice Network

AGPS - Australian Government Publishing Service (defunct)

AGPT - Australian General Practice Training

AGS - Australian Government Solicitor

AGS No. - Australian Government Service Number (your personal identifier)

Top of pageAge Standardisation - A method of removing the influence of age when comparing populations with different age structures. This is usually necessary because the rates of many diseases vary strongly (usually increasing) with age. The age structures of the different populations are converted to the same standard structure, then the disease rates that would have occurred with that structure are calculated and compared

Agency - Means a Department of State or a Prescribed Agency

AH - Australian Hearing

AHA - Australian Healthcare Association

AHAC - Aboriginal Health Advisory Committee

AHAG - Allied Health Advisory Group

AHC - Australian Hepatitis Council

AHC - Aboriginal Health Council

AHCA - Australian Health Care Agreements

AHCPR - Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (U.S.)

AHD-MPC - Australian Health Disaster Management and Policy Committee

AHEC - Australian Health Ethics Committee

AHHA - Australian Healthcare and Hospital Association

AHIA - Australian Health Insurance Association

AHIC - Australian Health Information Council

AHMAC - Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council

AHMC - Australian Health Ministers' Conference

Top of pageAHMC - Australian Health Ministers’ Council

AHPA - Australian Health Promotion Association

AHPMC - After Hours Primary Medical Care

AHPMCT - After Hours Primary Medical Care Trials

AHPRA - Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

AHPSA - Australian Health Promoting Schools Association

AHSAC - Australian Hospital Statistics Advisory Committee

AHRC - Aboriginal Health Resource Cooperative

AHS - Australian Hearing Services

AHS - Australian Housing Survey

AHS - Aboriginal Health Services

AHSPIA - Australian Hearing Specialist Program for Indigenous Australians

AHURI - Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute

AHW - Aboriginal Health Worker

AHW - Allied Health Worker

AHWAC - Australian Health Workforce Advisory Council

AHWAC - Australian Health Workforce Advisory Council

AHWMC - Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council

Top of pageAIA - Australian Immunisation Agreements

AIATSIS - Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

AICAFMA - Australian Infant, Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health Association

AICR - American Institute of Cancer Research

AIDA - Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association

AIDAB - Australian International Development Assistance Bureau

AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

AIEA - Agence Internationale Energie Atomique

AIFS - Australian Institute of Family Studies

AIGC - Australian Indigenous Geographical Classification

AIHW - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

AIMS - Australian Independent Medical Services

AIPC - Australian Institute for Primary Care

AIR - Australian Institute of Radiography

AIRC - Australian Industrial Relations Commission

Top of pageAIRWG - Attendance Item Restructure Working Group (re: the 7-tier MBS structure)

AIS - Abbreviated Injury Scale

AISC - Accreditation Interim Steering Committee

AIWG - Aboriginal and Islander Working Group

ALGA - Australian Local Government Association

ALO – Aboriginal Liaison Officer

ALOS - Average Length of Stay

ALRC- Australian Law Reform Commission

ALS – Aboriginal Legal Service

Alzheimer’s disease - A disease (named after a German physician) in which there is progressive loss of brainpower shown by worsening short-term memory, confusion and disorientation. A form of dementia

AMA - Australian Medical Association

AMAC - Australian Medical Association, Queensland

AMACom - AMA Commercial Ltd

AMARRG - AMA Rural Reference Group

Ambulatory Care - Care provided to hospital patients who are not admitted to the hospital, such as patients of emergency departments and outpatient clinics. The term is also used to refer to care provided to patients of community-based (non-hospital) health care services

AMC - Australian Medical Council

AMC - Agreement Management Committee

AMCGP - Alternative Models to Corporatisation in General Practice

AMDS - Approved Medical Deputising Service

Top of pageAMEX - American Express credit card

AMHCN - Australian Mental Health Consumer Network

AMHS - Adult Mental Health Services

AMHW - Aboriginal Mental Health Worker

AMPCO - Australian Medical Publishing Company

AMS - Applications Management Services

AMSA - Australian Medical Students’ Association

AMSANT - Aboriginal Medical Service Alliance of NT

AMSN - Area of Medical Service Need

AMTS - Australian Morbidity and Treatment Survey

AMWAC - Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee

ANAMH - Australian National Association for Mental Health

ANAO - Australian National Audit Office

ANAPHI - Australian Network of Academic Public Health Institutions

ANC - Australian Nursing Council

Top of pageANCARD - Australian National Council on AIDS and Related Diseases (now ANCAHRD)

ANCAHRD - Australian National Council on AIDS, Hepatitis C and RelatedDiseases

ANCD - Australian National Council on Drugs

AN-DRG - Australian National Diagnosis Related Group

ANET - AFAO/NAPWA Education Team

ANCAHRD - Australian National Council for AIDS, Hepatitis C and Related Diseases

ANF - Australian Nursing Federation

ANGOSA - Association of Non Government Organisations of South Australia

ANHECA - Australian Nursing Home and Extended Care Association

AN-SNAP - Australian National Sub-Acute and Non-Acute Patient

ANTaR - Australians for Native Title and Recognition

ANZCA - Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists

ANZCMHN - Australian and New Zealand College of Mental Health Nurses

Top of pageAnxiety disorders - A group of mental disorders marked by excessive feelings of apprehension, worry, nervousness and stress. Includes panic disorder, various phobias, generalised anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder

ANZDATA - Australian and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry

ANZFA - Australia New Zealand Food Authority now called Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)

ANZSPM - Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine

ANZTC - Australian New Zealand Telehealth Committee

AOD - Alcohol and Other Drugs

AODAW - Australian Organ Donar Awareness Week

AODP - Alcohol and Other Drugs Program (NT DHCS)

AODR - Australian Organ Donar Register

AODTS - Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services

AOI - Approved Outcome Indicator

AOM - Acute Otitis media

AP - Anangu Pitjantjatjara

AP - Approved Provider

Top of pageAPA - Approved Pathology Authorities

APAC - Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Council

APCCP - Australian Primary Care Collaboratives Program

APCCP - Australian Primary Care Consumer Partnerships

APC NMDS - Admitted Patient Care National Minimum Data Set

APDC - Australian Psychiatric Disability Coalition

APHA - Australian Private Hospitals Association

APHCRI - Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute

APL - Approved Pathology Laboratory

APMAIF - Advisory Panel for Marketing in Australia of Infant Formula

APNA - Australian Practice Nurses Association

APP - Approved Pathology Practitioner

APS - Australian Public Service

APSC - Australian Public Service Commission

APSF - The Australian Patient Safety Foundation

APY - Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara

AQF - Australian Quality Framework

Top of pageAQIS - Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service

AQM - Air Quality Monitor

ARACY - Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth

ARAFMI - Association of Relatives and Friends of the Mentally Ill

ARAS - Aged Rights Advocacy Service Inc (SA)

ARC - Architecture Committee

ARC - Australian Research Council

ARCBS - Australian Red Cross Blood Service

ARCHI - Australian Resource Centre for Healthcare Innovations

ARCSHS - Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society

AR-DRG - Australian Refined Diagnosis Related Groups

ARD - Australian Rural Divisions

ARDS - Australian Radiation Dosimetry Service

ARF - Additional Recurrent Funding

ARGCM - Australian Regulatory Guidelines for Complementary Medicines

ARHEN - Australian Rural Health Education Network

ARIA - Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia

ARM - Athletes as Role Models tour

Top of pageARMIS - Approval Rounds Management Information System

AROC - Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre

ARPANSA- Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

ARRAC - Alligator Rivers Region Advisory Committee

ARRWAG - Australian Rural and Remote Workforce Agencies Group (now RHWA)

ART - Assisted Reproductive Technology

ARTG - Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods

AS - Assistant Secretary (also known as Branch Head)

AS/NZS - Australian Standard/New Zealand Standard

ASA - Australian Sonographers Association

ASCEPT - Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists

ASCII - Australian Standard Coding for Information Interchange

ASD - Annual Survey of Divisions

Top of pageArthritis - A group of disorders in which there is inflammation of the joints, which can become stiff, painful, swollen or deformed. The two main types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

ASCO - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations

ASGC - Australian Standard Geographical Classification

ASGC - RA - Australian Standard Geographical Classification – Remoteness Area

ASH - Action on Smoking and Health

ASH - Alice Springs Hospital

ASHM - Australasian Society for HIV Medicine

ASHNA - Australian Sexual Health Nurses Association

ASIC - Australian Securities and Investments Commission

ASIST - Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training

ASM - Assistant State Manager

ASMOF - Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation

ASMPWG - Alcohol and Substance Misuse Priority Working Group

ASNUG - Australian State National Users Group

ASO - Administrative Service Officer 1-6 (now APS 1-6)

ASP - Application Service Provider

ASPREN - Australia Sentinel Practice and Research Network

ASPS - Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons

ASRDO - Aboriginal Sport and Recreation Development Officer

ASRP - Advanced Rural Skills Posts

ASSERT - Australian Society for Sex Educators, Researchers and Therapists

ASSID - Australian Society for the Study of Intellectual Disability SA

Top of pageAsthma - An inflammatory disease of the air passages that makes them prone to narrow too easily and too much, causing episodes of shortness of breath and wheezing or coughing. The narrowing is due to many triggers which include the house dust mite, exercise, pollens, cold weather, throat and chest infections, tobacco smoke and other factors

ASUM - Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine

ASYASS - Alice Springs Youth Assistance Support Service

ATAGI - Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation

ATC - Anatomical therapeutical chemical

ATDM - Automated telephone disease management

ATO - Australian Tax Office

ATODS - Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Services

ATOT - Australian Thesaurus of Ophthalmic Terminology

ATSI - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

ATSIC - former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission

ATSICCHO - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Organisation

ATSICCHS - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Services

ATSICDC - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commercial Development Corporation

ATSICHET - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation for Health Education Training

ATSIHRTON - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Registered Training Organisation Network

ATSIHWIU - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Welfare Information Unit

ATSIHWSF - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce National Strategic Framework

ATSILIP - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages Initiatives Program

Top of pageATSIWG - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Working Group

ATSIHWWG - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workforce Working Group

AUD - Australian Urban Divisions [of General Practice]

AusAID - Australian Agency for International Aid

AusDiab - Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study

Auseinet- Australian Network for Promotion, Prevention and Early Intervention for Mental Health

AusInfo - Commonwealth Government's Information Service

AUSLIG - Australian Land Information Group - Geoscience Australia

Aust - Australia

AUSFTA - Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement

Authenticating electronic access - Proof that system users are in fact who they identify themselves to be.

Available beds - Beds immediately available for use by admitted patients

Average length of stay (ALOS) - The average of the length of stay for admitted patient episodes

AWA - Australian Workplace Agreement

AWE - Average weekly earnings

AWP - Accelerated Work Program

AYE - Average yearly earnings

Top of pageBAs - Business Analysts

BAA - Business Alignment and Architecture

Balanda - Non-Aboriginals (Yolngu)

BAOP - Business Analysis Orientation Pack

BARC - Building Ageing Research Capacity

BARO - Better Access to Radiation Oncology (Budget Measure)

BAS - Behaviour Advisory Service (Aged Care)

BASIC - Building A Streamlined Information Capability

BBV - Bloode Borne Viruses

BCA - Biostatistics Collaboration of Australia

BCC - basal cell carcinoma

BCGP - British College of General Practitioners

BDDGP - Ballarat and District Division of General Practice

Top of pageBDGP - Barwon Division of General Practice

BDW - Business Data Warehouse

BEACH - Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health

BEFR - Budget Estimates and Framework Review

BEI - Benefits Evaluation Indicators

Benchmark - A standard or point of reference for measuring quality or performance. See also benchmarking

Benchmarking - A continuous process of measuring quality or performance against the highest standards. See also benchmark

Benefits realisation - A program or activity that shows how to convert benefits into practice.

BFV - Barmah Forest virus

BG - Business Group

BHC - Business Management Committee

BHGPC - Balmain Hospital General Practice Casualty

BI - Business Intelligence

BIITE - Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education

BINSA - Brain Injury Network of South Australia

BIP - Business Implementation Plan

Blame - To hold at fault (implies culpability)

BMA - British Medical Association

Top of pageBipolar affective disorder - A mental disorder where the person may be depressed at one time and manic at another. Formerly known as manic depression

Blood cholesterol - Fatty substance produced by the liver and carried by the blood to supply the rest of the body. Its natural function is to supply material for cell walls and for steroid hormones, but if levels in the blood become too high this can lead to atherosclerosis and heart disease

Blood Group - Complex chemical substances found on or in the surface of red cells that distinguish each blood group

BMI - Body mass index

BMJ - British Medical Journal

BMMS - Better Medication Management System

BMP - Bonded Medical Place

BMUs - Business Management Units

BN - Briefing notes

BOD - Burden of Disease

BOiMHC - Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care

BOMH - Better Outcomes in Mental Health

BOMHCI - Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care Initiative

BoQ - General Practice: Building on Quality project (www.bldoq.com)

BPA - Business Practice Agreement (Medicare Australia)

BPA (C) - Business Partnership Agreement (Centrelink)

BPP - Better Practice Program

BPPMC - Better Practice Program Monitoring Committee

BRACS - Broadcasting for Remote Aboriginal Communities Scheme

BRC - Basic Resident Contribution (also known as Basic Daily Care Fee, Resident's Contribution)

BRCA - breast cancer associated gene

Top of pageBody mass index (BMI) - The most commonly used method of assessing whether a person is normal weight, underweight, overweight or obese. Calculated by dividing the persons weight (in kilograms) by their height (in metres) squared. Also known as Quetelet’s Index. For both men and women, underweight is a BMI below 18.5, acceptable weight is from 18.5 to less than 25, overweight is 25 and above but less than 30, and obese is 30 and over

BRS - Bureau of Rural Sciences

BSE - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

BSE - breast self-examination

BSQWG - Blood Safety and Quality Working Group

BSS - Biosecurity Surveillance System

BTCP - Better Treatment for Cancer Patients (Budget Measure)

BTH - Bringing Them Home

BUSKAs - Business Unit Statements of Knowledge and Abilities

Top of pageC&FI - Cultural and Flexible Initiatives

CA - Cancer Australia

CA - Carer Allowance

CA - Carers Australia

CA - Certified Agreement

CAA - Carers Association of Australia

CAAC - Central Australian Aboriginal Congress

CAAMA - Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association

CAAPU - Central Australian Aboriginal Alcohol Programs Unit

CAAS - Continence Aids Assistance Scheme

Cab Memo - Cabinet Memorandum

Cab Sub - Cabinet Submission

Top of pageCAC - Coding Advisory Committee

CAC Act - Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997

CACH - Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Homelessness

CACP - Community Aged Care Packages

CACP/CAPS - System for the payment of the Community Aged Care Packages

CADE - Confused and Disturbed Elderly (units)

CADPHC - Central Australian Divisions of Primary Health Care

CADTH - Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, (formerly CCOHTA)

CAEPR - Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research - ANU

CAF - Commercial Activities Fund

CAG - Clinical Advisory Groups

CAIS - Compilation of Authoritative Information System

CAISHAG - Central Australian Indigenous Sexual Health Action Group

CAN - Cancer Advocacy Network

CALD - Culturally and Linguistically Diverse

CAMHS - Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

CAMHSAC - West Australian Child and Adolescent Mental health Services Advisory Committee

Top of pageCANARIE - Canadian Advanced Network and Research for Industry and Education

Cancer - A range of diseases where some of the body’s cells begin to multiply out of control, can invade and damage the area around them, and can also spread to other parts of the body to cause further damage

CAP - Crisis Accommodation Program

CAP - Conditional Adjustment Payment

CAPAM - Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management

CAPIG - Central Australian PHCAP Implementation Group - DHCS,CAAC,OATSIH,AMSANT

Capital expenditure - Expenditure on large-scale fixed assets (for example, new buildings and equipment with a useful life extending over a number of years)

CAR - Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation

CARDHS - Central Australian Remote Health Development Service

Cardiovascular disease - Any disease of the heart (cardio) or blood vessels (vascular). Includes heart attack, angina, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. Also known as circulatory disease

CARG - Commonwealth AIDS Research Grants

Top of pageCARIHPC - Central Australian Regional Indigenous Health Planning Committee (defunct)

CARO - Canadian Association of Radiation Oncologists

CARPA - Central Australian Rural Practitioners Association

CASA - Consumer’s Association of South Australia

Casemix - The range and types of patients (the mix of cases) treated by a hospital or other health service. This provides a way of describing and comparing hospitals and other services for planning and managing health care. Casemix classifications put patients into manageable numbers of groups with similar conditions that use similar healthcare resources, so that the activity and cost-efficiency of different hospitals can be compared

CASG&FAC - Central Australian Stolen Generations and Families Aboriginal Corporation

CASPE - Clinical Accountability, Service Planning and Evaluation

CATI - Computer Assisted Telephone Interview

CATI TRG - Computer Assisted Telephone Interview System Technical Group

CATSIN - Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses

Top of pageCause of death - From information reported on the medical certificate of cause of death, each death assigned an underlying cause of death according to rules and conventions of the 9th or 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases. The underlying cause is defined as the disease which initiated the train of events leading directly to death. Deaths from injury or poisoning are classified according to the circumstances of the violence which produced the fatal injury, rather than to the nature of the injury

CAYLUS - Central Australian Youth Link-up Ser

CAYPIN - Central Australian Young People’s Information Network

CBA - Cost-benefit Analysis

CBD - Central Business District

CBE - clinical breast examination

CBI - Care-giver Burden Inventory

CBT/A - Competency Based Training/Assessment

CC - Care Coordination (ACAP)

CCA - Cost-consequence analysis

CCCA - Clinical Casemix Committee Australia

CCCG - Clinical Coding and Classification

Top of pageCCCN - Cochrane Collaboration Consumer Network

CCEB - Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics

CCISC - Comprehensive Continuous Integrated System of Care

CCOHTA - Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (became CADTH in April 2006)

CCORE - Collaboration for Cancer Outcomes Research and Evaluation

CCP - Community Care Packages

CCR - Community Care Review

CCRC - Commonwealth Care Respite Centre

CCSA - Clinical Coders’ Society of Australia

CCSM - Chronic Care Self Management

CCTs - Coordinated Care Trials

CD - Collection District

CDAP - Centre for Drug and Alcohol Programs

Top of pageCDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CDC - Centers for Disease Control (now CDCP)

CDC - Commercial Development Corporation - joint ventures with Indigenous people and industry

CDCB - Communicable Diseases Control Branch (S.A.)

CDCP - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (formerly CDC)

CDEP - Community Development Employment Project – DEWR

CDI - Communicable Diseases Intelligence (journal)

CDI - Chronic Disease Initiative

CDIH - Centre for Development and Innovation in Health

CDM - Chronic Disease Management

CDNA - Communicable Diseases Network Australia

CDNANZ - Communicable Diseases Network of Australian and New Zealand

CDO - CentreLink Disability Officer

CDS - Commonwealth Disability Strategy

CDSCA - Northern Territory Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs (including NT Housing)

CDSM - Chronic Disease Self Management

CDSMC - Community and Disability Services Ministers' Conference

CE - Chief Executive

CEA - Cost-effectiveness Analysis

CEDA - Committee for Economic Development Australia

CEIs - Chief Executive Instructions

CEIDA - Centre for Education and Information on Drug Abuse

CEN - Coding Educators Network

Top of pageCensus - A census is a count of a whole population. The Census of Population and Housing measures the number of people in Australia and their key characteristics, at a given point in time. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) conducts the Census every five years, the last was inAugust 2001

CEO - Chief Executive Officer

CER - Charge Exempt Resident

CES - Charge Exempt Supplement/Subsidy

CEWT - Carer Education and Workforce Training

CF - Complement fixation

CFA - Continence Foundation of Australia

CFO - Chief Financial Officer

CFROG - Commonwealth Food Regulation Officials Group

CGC - Commonwealth Grants Commission

CGHFBC - Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer

CGI-I - Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement

CGI-S - Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness

CGPIS - Centre for General Practice Integration Studies (UNSW)

CHA - Catholic Health Australia

CHAP - Comprehensive Health Assessment Program

CHASP - Community Health Accreditation and Standards Program

CHASP - Community Health Accreditation and Standards Program

CHC - COAG Health Council (formerly SCoH)

CHETRE - Centre for Health Equity, Training Research and Evaluation

CHF - Consumers’ Health Forum of Australia

Change management - The process of developing a planned approach to change in an organisation. The objective is to make the best of the shared efforts of all people involved in the change.

CHID - Community Health Information Development Project

Top of pageChief Executive Instructions (CEIs) - Instructions issued by the Chief Executive Officer. They outline the mandatory requirements within which all Departmental officials must work. The CEIs carry the force of the law and officials must comply with them

CHIM - Community Health Information Model

CHIME - Community Health Information Management Enterprise

CHINS - Community Housing and Infrastructure Needs Survey

CHIP - Community Housing and Infrastructure Program - transferred to FACS on 1 July 2004

CHIP - Child and Youth Health Intergovernmental Partnership

CHIPS - Commonwealth Hostel Information and Payments System

CHIS - Community Health Information System

CHP - Community Health Program

CHPE - Centre for Health Program Evaluation

CHRIS - Cheque Reconciliation and Information Service

CHROMES - Chromosome Handicapped Research Organisation for Medicine Education and Support

Top of pageChronic - Persistent and long-lasting.

Chronic diseases - Term applied to a diverse group of diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and arthritis (to name a few), that tend to be long-lasting and persistent in their symptoms or development. Although these features also apply to some communicable diseases (infections), the general term chronic diseases is usually confined to noncommunicable diseases

CHS - Community Health Service

CHSRF - Canadian Health Services Research Foundation

CHW - Community Health Worker

CI - Confidence Intervals

CIARR - Client Information Assessment and Referral Record

CIB - Current Issue Brief

CIHR - Canadian Institutes of Health Research

CIJIG - Commonwealth Interdepartmental JETACAR Implementation Group

CIMC - Cardiac Imaging Management Committee

CIPs- Community Initiatives Projects

CIPs - Continuous Improvement Projects

Circumstance - All the factors connected with or influencing an event, agent or person/s

CISP - Carer Information & Support Program

CITEC - Company taken over DOFA payment processing and reporting from 1/7/99

CJD - Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

C/L - Centrelink

Top of pageCLAP - Cleft Lip and Palate

CLC - Central Land Council

CLIPP - Consultation and liaison in primary care psychiatry

Clinical information system - A system that collects, stores, retrieves, and communicates health related data, information and knowledge

Clinical terminology - Consistent terms used to exchange or message medical information

CLSI - Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (formerly NCCLS)

CMA - Comprehensive medical assessment

CMA - Cost minimisation analysis

CMAU - Contract Management Advisory Unit

CME - Continuing Medical Education (known as CPD from January 2002)

CMEC - Complementary Medicines Evaluation Committee

CMF - Corporate Management Forum

CMH - Child & Maternal Health

CMI - Consumer medicine information

CML - Common Mini Ledger

CMO - Chief Medical Officer

Top of pageCMOA - Career Medical Officers Association

CN - Competitive Neutrality

CO - Central Office

COAG - Council of Australian Governments

COI - Candidate outcome indicator

COI - Communities of Interest

COI - Conflict of Interest

COMCAS - Community Health Client Administration System

Complaint - An expression of dissatisfaction with something

CONA - Community-oriented Needs Assessment Model

COO - Chief Operations Officer

COPD - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

COPO - Commonwealth Own Purpose Outlays

COPs - Community Options Projects

COPMI - Children of Parents with a Mental Illness

COS - Chief of Staff (in Minister's Office)

COSA - Clinical Oncological Society of Australia

Top of pageCOTA - Council on the Ageing

CPA - Community Pharmacy Agreement

CPA - Commonwealth Public Account

CPD - Continuing Professional Development (formerly CME)

CPRs - Commonwealth Procurement Rules

CPHCE - Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity (UNSW)

CPHI - Canadian Population Health Initiative

CPI - Consumer Price Index

CPM - Collector of Public Monies

CPMC - Committee of Presidents of Medical Colleges

CPMEC - Confederation of Postgraduate Medical Education Committee

CPP - Community Partners Program

CPSU - Community and Public Sector Union

CQI - Continuous Quality Improvement

Top of pageCRANA - Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia

CRCAH - Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health (formerly CRCATH)

CRCATH - Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health (now CRCAH)

CREAM - Clinical, Research, Education, Administration, and Mixed

Credentialling - The process of assessing and conferring approval on a person’s suitability to provide a defined type of healthcare.

CRF - Consolidated Revenue Fund

CRG - Consumer Reference Group

CRGWG - Clinical Registry Governance Working Group

CRM - Client Relations Manager

CRNHC - Centre for Research into Nursing and Health Care

CRG - Consumer Reference Group

CROS - Canadian Radiation Oncology Services

CRS - Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service

CRU - Community Resource Unit Incorporated

CSA - Control Self Assessment - DoHA staff performance

CSAC - Coding Standards Advisory Committee

CSANZ - Cardiac Society of Australia & New Zealand

Top of pageCSDA - Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement

CSF - Cerebrospinal fluid

CSG - Cancer Strategies Group

CSHA - Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement

CSIRO - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

CSL - Commonwealth Serum Laboratories

CSMAC - Community Services Ministers' Advisory Council

CSMC - Community Services Ministerial Council

CSO - Community Service Obligation

CSOD - Community Service Obligation Distributor

CSOM - Chronic suppurative otitis media

CSQ-8 - Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (eight-item version)

CSR - Certificate Signing Request

CSSP - Clinical Support Systems Program of the RACP

CSSS - Community Sector Support Scheme

CSTDA - Commonwealth, State/Territory Disability Agreement

CSU - Charles Sturt University

CT - Computerised tomography

Top of pageCTEC - Collaborative Training and Education Centre (also known as the Centre for Medical and Surgical Skills) at the University of Western Australia

CTO - Community Treatment Order

CTP - Capital Transition Payment

CUA - Cost-utility analysis

CULC - Consumer Union Liaison Committee

CVD - Cardiovascular disease

CVS - Community Visitors Scheme

CWA - Cardiolipin wasserman reaction

CWAATSICH - Charleville and Western Areas Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation for Health

CWCA - Comprehensive Work Capacity Assessment

CYH - Child and Youth Health

CYWHS - Children, Youth & Women’s Health Service

Top of pageDAA - Dieticians Association of Australia

DAA - Department for Aboriginal Affairs NSW

DAAR - South Australia Department for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation

DACAS - Drug and Alcohol Clinical Advisory Service – for health professionals

DADHC - NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care

DAFF - Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

DALE - Disability Adjusted Life Expectancy

DALYs - Disability-adjusted life years

DAM - Dam Assessment Methodology

DARE - Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness

DAS - former Department of Administrative Services

DASA - Drug and Alcohol Services Association (run residential rehabilitation in Alice Springs)

DASC - Drug and Alcohol Services Council

DATIS - Drug and therapeutic Information Service

Top of pageDBA - Database Administration

DBCDE - Dept. of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (December 2007-)

DBERD - Northern Territory Dept. of Business, Economic and Regional Development

DC&V - Data Collection & Verification

DCLS - Darwin Community Legal Service (NT)

DCM - Document Content Management

DCS - Domiciliary Care & Rehabilitation Services

DCSH - Department of Community Services and Health (former name of this Department)

DDAC - Divisions Development Advisory Committee

DDB - Department Data Base

DEAG - Divisions Evaluation Advisory Group

Decision support system - Process where a computer stores a set of best practice rules or knowledge and checks information entered into the system against that information.

DEET - Northern Territory Dept. of Employment, Education and Training

Top of pageDeinstitutionalisation - A term referring to a shift in service delivery away from institutional care, towards care in the home and community.

DEEWR - Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (December 2007-)

Dementia - A general and worsening loss of brain power such as memory, understanding and reasoning.

DEN - Drug Education Network

DEN - dengue fever

Departmental - Assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses directly controlled by agencies.

Departmental outputs - Four common 'departmental' outputs are reported for each of the ten output groups. Broadly, these outputs are the direct product of the policy, management and administrative functions of DoHA.

Depression - A mood disorder with prolonged feelings of being sad, hopeless, low and inadequate, with a loss of interest or pleasure in activities and often with suicidal thoughts or self-blame.

Dep Sec - Deputy Secretary

DEST - former Department of Education, Science and Training

DETYA - former Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (later name DEST)

DEWHA - Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (December 2007-)

DEWR - former Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

DFA - Direct fluorescence assay

Top of pageDFAT - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

DG&V - Data Gathering & Verification

DGP - Divisions of General Practice

DH - Department of Health (former name of this Department)

DHA - Department of Health and Ageing (use DoHA)

DHAC - Department of Health and Aged Care (former name of this Department)

DHCS - Dept. of Health and Community Services (Northern Territory Govt.)

DHCSS - Disability Health Care Support Service

DHFS - Department of Health and Family Services (former name of this Department)

DHHCS - Department of Health, Housing and Community Services (former name of this Department)

Top of pageDHHLGCS - Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services (former name of this Department)

DHHS - Department of Health and Human Services (Tasmanian Govt.)

DHS - Department of Human Services (Australian and Victorian Governments)

DHSH - Department of Human Services and Health (former name of this Department)

DI - Diagnostic Imaging

DIA - Drug Information Association

Diagnosis - A decision based on the recognition of clinically relevant symptomatology, the consideration of causes that may exclude a diagnosis of another condition, and the application of clinical judgment.

DIBP - Department of Immigration and Border Protection

DIMA - former Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs

DIMIA - former Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs

DIR - Dealings involving Intentional Release of genetically modified organisms into the environment

Direct bill - The process by which a medical practitioner or optometrist sends the bill for services direct to Medicare, often referred to as bulk billing.

DIRKS - Designing and Implementing a RecordKeeping System

Disability - A concept of several dimensions relating to an impairment in body structure or function, a limitation in activities (such as mobility and communication), a restriction in participation (involvement in life situations such as work, social interaction and education), and the affected person’s physical and social environment.

Discrete Indigenous community - A geographical location with a physical or legal boundary that is inhabited or intended to be inhabited predominantly (more than 50%) by Indigenous people, with housing and infrastructure that is either owned or managed on a community basis.

Top of pageDisease - A physiological or psychological dysfunction

Disposable Income - Gross income less direct tax and Medicare levy.

DIT - Doctors-in-Training

DLO - Divisional Liaison Officer (Within the Department)

DLO - Departmental Liaison Officer (in Ministers' Offices)

DLP - Defect Liability Period - of building contracts, usually 6 or 12 months from practical completion

DLRS - Detailed Level Requirements Specification

DLU - Divisional Liaison Unit

DMC - Departmental Management Committee

Dmft - A count of the sum of deciduous (baby) teeth (t) that are decayed (d), missing due to caries (m), an filled due to caries (F

Top of pageDMO - District Medical Officer

DMMR - Domiciliary Medication Management Review

DMS - Document Management System

DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid

DNCB - Domiciliary Nursing Care Benefit

DNIR - Dealings not involving Intentional Release of genetically modified organisms into the environment

DO - Day Only

DOC - Duties other than Consulting

DoFA - former Department of Finance and Administration

DOG - Departmental Offices Guide

DOGIT - Deeds of Grant in Trust

DoH - Department of Health

DoHA - Department of Health and Ageing

Donor - A person who gives blood, tissue or an organ to be used in another person.



DOPIE - former Department of Primary Industries and Energy

DOTRS - former Department of Transport and Regional Services

DPGP - Demonstration Practice Grants Program



DPH - Darwin Private Hospital

DPP - Director of Public Prosecutions

DR - Disaster Recovery

DRE - digital rectal examination

DRGs (diagnosis related groups) - A widely used type of casemix classification system. In the case of Australian acute hospitals, AN-DRGs (Australian National Diagnosis Related Groups) classify admissions into groups with similar clinical conditions (related diagnoses) and similar resource usage. This allows the activity and performance of hospitals to be compared on a common basis. See also casemix.

Top of pageDRM - Drawing Rights Manager

DRS - Doctors Reform Society

DRWG - Data Reform Working Group

DSA - Dementia Support for Assessment Program

DSC - Divisions Standing Committee

DSG - Divisions Steering Group

DSM-IV - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition

DSP - Disability Support Pension

DSS - Department of Social Services

DSS - Data Set Specification

DTC - Day Therapy Centres

DTP - Diptheria Tetanus Petussis

DURC - Descriptor Utilisation Review Committee

DUSC - Drug Utilisation Sub-Committee

DVA - Department of Veterans' Affairs

DVDC - Diabetes Vaccine Development Centre

DVT - Deep Vein Thrombosis

DWG - Data Working Group (ACAP)

DWG - Design Working Group (Medicare Australia)

DWS - District of Workforce Shortage

Top of pageE&E - Enhancement and Expansion

EA - Executive Assistant

EACH - Extended Aged Care at Home

EACH Dementia - Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia

EACH D - Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia

EAGA - Expert Advisory Group on Antibiotics

EAGAR - Expert Advisory Group on Antimicrobial Resistance

EAN - European Article Numbering (system)

EAP - Employee Assistance Program

Eating disorder - Clinically severe disturbances in eating behaviour, such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa.

EB - Extra billing

EBHC - Evidence-based health care

EBM - Evidence-based medicine

EC - Electronic Commerce

Top of pageECG - Electrocardiogram

ECLIPSE - Electronic Claim Lodgement and Information Processing Service Environment

ECS - Exceptional Claims Scheme

ED - Emergency Department

EDIS - Emergency Department Information Service

EDRMS - Electronic Document Record Management System

EDS - Electronic Data Systems

EDS - Electronic Decision Support

EDSSC - Electronic Decision Support Steering Committee

EEBAP - Executive Editorial Board of Australian Prescriber

EEO - Equal Employment Opportunities

Effectiveness - The extent to which actual outcomes are achieved, in terms of the planned outcomes, via relevant outputs or administered expenses. An intervention's effectiveness should be distinguished from its efficiency, which concerns the adequacy of its administration.

EFTPOS - Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale

EHC - Eye Health Coordinator

EHR - Electronic health record

EIA - Enzyme immunoassay

EIS - Ethical Issue Scale

EL - Executive Level

Electronic messaging - The use of computers to send, receive and process emails and other information.

EM - E-mail

EMA - Emergency Management Australia

Employed Person - A person aged 15 years or more who, during the reference week of the labour force survey, worked for one hour or more for pay, profit or commission.

Top of pageEMR - Electronic Medical Record

EMS - Environmental Management System

EMSN - extended Medicare safety net, introduced on 12 March 2004 to cover 80 per cent of out-of-pocket costs for Medicare-claimable services provided outside hospital once annual thresholds are reached.

EMT - Executive Management Team

EN - Enrolled Nurse

ENT - Ear Nose and Throat

EOI - Expression of Interest

EoM - End of Message

EORTC - European Organisation for Research and Treatment on Cancer

EPA - Environment Protection Authority

EPAC - Economic Planning Advisory Council

EPC - Enhanced Primary Care

Epidemic - An outbreak of a disease or its occurrence at a level that is clearly higher than previously existed.

Epidemiology - The study of the patterns and causes of health and disease in populations, and the application of this study to improve health.

Top of pageEPG - Electronic Patient Group

EPP - Exposure Prone Procedure

EPS - Electoral Profile System (department's)

EPU - Executive Policy Unit

EQ-5D - European Quality-5 Dimensions

ERC - Expenditure Review Committee

ERP - Estimated resident population

ERP - Enterprise Resources Planning

Error - Unintentionally being wrong in conduct or judgement. Errors may occur by doing the wrong thing (commission) or by failing to do the right thing (omission)

ESC - Economics Sub-Committee

ESD - Ecologically Sustainable Development

ERF - Emergency Relief Funding

ESA - Endorsed Supplier Agreement

ESG - Evaluation Steering Group

ESR - Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited (New Zealand)

ESRD - End-stage renal disease

Top of pageESS - Employee Self Service

ESS - Extra Service Status

Estimated Resident Population - Australia’s population statistics are compiled by the ABS according to the place of usual residence of the population. Usual residence is defined as the place where a person has lived or intends to live for a period of 6 months or more.

ESTRO - European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology

ETA - Electronic Transaction Act 1999

ETL - Extract, Transfer & Load

ETS - Environmental Tobacco Smoke

EU - European Union

Event - Something that happens to or with a person

EWA - Eat Well Australia

EXEC - Executive

External Cause - Environmental event, circumstance and/or condition as the cause of injury, poisoning and/or other adverse effect. Used in disease classification.

Top of pageFAA - Funds Allocation Authority

FAAD - Frail Aged and Disabled Program

FACS - Family and Children’s Services, NT Health

FaCSIA - Department of Family, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

FaCS - Department of Family and Community Services

FAD - Family Assessment Device

FAG - Federal Assistance Grants

FaHCSIA - former Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs)

FAIRA - Foundation of Aboriginal and Islander Research Action

FAP - familial adenomatous polyposis

FAS - First Assistant Secretary (also known as Division Head)

FASA - Funding and Service Agreement

FASSTT - Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma

FA&T or FAT - Function Activity & Transactions

FAYS - Family and Youth Services

FBT - Fringe Benefits Tax

FCEO - Finance Chief Executive Officer

FCTC - Framework Convention for Tobacco Control

FDR - Fund Debit Requester

FECCA - Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia

FINEST - Financial Efficiency and Strategic Planning System

Financial Management and Accountability Act - This is the principal legislation governing the proper use of public money, public property and other Commonwealth resources. It is one of three pieces of legislation, which replaced the Audit Act 1901. The other two pieces of legislation are the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act and the Auditor-General Act.

Top of pageFIRM - Financial Information Resource Management System

FMA - Financial Management and Accountability

FMA Act - Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997

FMA Orders - Financial Management and Accountability Orders

FMA Regulations - Financial Management and Accountability Regulations

FMO - Financial Minister’s Orders

FMP - Family Medicine Programme

FMRC - Family Medicine Research Centre

FMS - Financial Management System

FNA - For necessary action

FNQ - Far North Queensland

FOBT - faecal occult blood test

FOCIS - Federation of Canteens in Schools

Top of pageFOI - Freedom of Information

FPA - Family Planning Association

FPO - Family Planning Organisations

FPP - Family Planning Program

FRACGP - Fellowship of RACGP

FRAME - Federation of Australian Medical Educators

Freestanding Day Hospital Facility - A private hospital where only minor operations and other procedures not requiring overnight stay are performed, not forming part of any private hospital providing overnight care.

FRLI - Federal Register of Legislative Instruments

FRO - Faculty of Radiation Oncology

FRSC - Food Regulation Standing Committee

FSANZ -Food Standards Australia New Zealand

FTA - Free Trade Agreement

FTA-ABS - Fluorescent treponemal antibody absorbed

FTE - Full Time Equivalent

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) - A standardised measure used in converting number of persons in part-time employment to number of persons in full-time employment.

Full-time/Part-time workers - Full-time workers are those who work 35 or more hours per week; part-time workers work between one and 35 hours per week.

FWE - Full-time workload equivalent

FYI - For your information

Top of pageGAA - Graduate Administrative Assistant

GAAP - Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

GAMSAT - Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test

GAPP - Graduate Assistance and Partnerships Program

GAPS - Graduate Australian Public Servant

GAPS - Grant and Allocation Processing System

GAS - Group A streptococcus

GBE - Government Business Enterprise

GBS - Global Business Services

GC - General Counsel

GCBS - Global Collaboration for Blood Safety

GCT - Glucose Challenge Test

GDP - Gross Domestic Product

GEHR - Good Electronic Health Record

Top of pageGeo-coding - Giving a geographic identifier or code to locations, such as an address, allowing data to be linked.

GES - Gay Education Strategies Project, AFAO

GHTF - Global Harmonisation Task Force

GIS - Geographic Information System

GISCA - Geographical Information System Cooperative of Adelaide

GLBT - Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender

GM - Genetically Modified

GMAC - Gene Manipulation Advisory Committee

GMC - General Medical Council

GMO - Genetically Modified Organisms

GMP - Good Manufacturing Practice

GMS - General Medical Services

Top of pageGovernance - Method or system of government or management.

GPMoU - General Practice Memorandum of Understanding

gp - Glycoprotein

GP - General Practitioner or General Practice

GPA - General Practice Australia

GPA - General Practice Accreditation Plus

GPAC - General Practice Advisory Committee

GPARIA - GP Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia

GPASC - General Practice Accreditation Steering Group

GPCC - General Practice Consultative Committee

GPCG - General Practice Computing Group

Top of pageGPCG - General Practice Consultative Group

GPDV - General Practice Divisions - Victoria Ltd.

GPEA - General Practice Education Australia

GPEP - General Practice Evaluation Program

GPET - General Practice Education and Training

GPETC - General Practice Education and Training Council

GPFG - General Practice Financing Group

GPIHSP - General Practice Indigenous Health Improvement Support Program

GPII - General Practice Immunisation Incentive

GPLO - General Practice Liaison Officer

GPPHCNT - General Practice and Primary Health Care Northern Territory

GPOG - General Practice Ordering Guidelines (QUPC Subcommittee)

GPPAC - General Practice Partnership Advisory Council

Top of pageGP PACE - General Practitioners as Health Planners, Advocates & Community Educators

GPQ - General Practice Queensland

GPR - General Practice Registrar

GPRA - General Practice Registrars Australia Ltd.

GPRED - General Practice Research, Evaluation and Development

GPRG - General Practice Reference Group

GPRIP - General Practice Rural Incentives Program

GPRLO - GP Registrar Liaison Officer

GPRN - General Practice Research Network

GPRRP - General Practice Rural and Remote Program

GPRTF - General Practice Remuneration Task Force

GPS - General Practice Strategy

GPS - Global Positioning System

GPSA - General Practice Society of Australia

Top of pageGPSCU - General Practice Statistics and Classification Unit (University of Sydney)

GPSLO - GP Supervisor Liaison Officer

GPSR - General Practice Strategy Review

GPSRG - General Practice Strategy Review Group

GPTR - General Practice Training Review

GPWG - General Practice Working Group

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - A statistic commonly used to indicate national wealth. It is the total market value of goods and services produced within a given period after deducting the cost of goods and services used up in the process of production but

before deducting allowances for the consumption of fixed capital.

GSLP - Government Sector Linkages Program

GST - Goods and Services Tax

GTCCC - Gene Technology Community Consultative Committee

GTN - Global Training Network

GTS - Global Technology Services

GUI - Graphic User Interface

GVAMHS - Goulburn Valley Area Mental Health Service

Top of pageHAC - Health Advisory Committee

HAC - Health and Aged Care (Department of )

HACC - Home and Community Care

HACSU - Health and Community Services Union

HAHU - Heads of Aboriginal Health Units

HAI - Healthcare Associated Infections

HALE - Healthy Life Expectancy

Handicap - A disadvantage resulting from impairment or disability that limits or prevents the fulfilment of a role that is normal.

HAPS - Health and Ageing Postgraduate Studies

HAPS - Hunter Area Pathology Service

Harm - Harm includes disease, injury, suffering, disability and death

HARP - Hospital Admission Risk Program in Victoria

HAV - Hepatitis A virus

Hazard - A circumstance or agent that can lead to harm, damage or loss

Hb - Haemoglobin

HbA1c - Haemoglobin A1c (glycosylated haemoglobin)

HBGs - Health Benefits Groups

HBsAG - Hepatitis B surface antigen

HBV - Hepatitis B virus

HCC - Hepatocellular carcinoma

HCC - Health Call Centre/Contact Centre

HCCS - High Cost Claims Scheme

HCN - Health Communication Network

HCRRA - Health Consumers of Rural and Remote Australia

HCR - Healthy Communities Report

HCS - Home Care Services

Top of pageHCV - Hepatitis C virus

HDA - Higher Duties Allowance

HDSC - Health Data Standards Committee

HDV - Hepatitis D virus

HEADWEST - Head Injured Society of Western Australia Inc.

Health - Department of Health

Health - Australian Government Department of Health

Health - A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

Health Care - Services provided to individuals or communities to promote, maintain, monitor, or restore health. Health care is not limited to medical care and includes self-care.

Health Care Card - These cards provide for medical and/or related services free of charge or at reduced rates to recipients of Commonwealth government pensions or benefits.

Health care outcome - The health status of an individual, a group of people or a population which is wholly or partially attributable to an action, agent or circumstance

Top of pageHealthcare provider - Health professional or health organisation involved in supplying health services.

HealthConnect - This is a network of electronic health records that aims to improve the flow of information across the Australian health sector.

Health informatics - The application of information technology to healthcare.

Health Promotion - Activities to improve health and prevent disease.

Health Status - An individual’s or population’s overall level of health, taking account of various aspects such as life expectancy, amount of disability, levels of disease risk factors and so forth.

HEALY - Health Adjusted Life Year

Heart attack - Life threatening emergency that occurs when a vessel supplying blood to the heart muscle is suddenly blocked completely by a blood clot. The medical term commonly used for a heart attack is myocardial infarction.

HECS - Higher Education Contribution Scheme

HELP - Higher Education Loan Programme

Hepatitis - Inflammation of the liver, which can be due to certain viral infections, alcohol excess or a range of other causes.

Hepatitis B - Viral disease of the liver caused by the Hepatitis B virus.

Hepatitis C - Viral disease of the liver caused by the Hepatitis C virus. Now the most commonly reported notifiable disease in Australia.

Top of pageHeSA - Health e-Signature Authority Pty Ltd

HESTA - Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia

HEV - Hepatitis E virus

HFH - Housing for Health

HFL - Healthy for Life

HFS - Department of Health and Family Services (former name this Department)

HHF - Health and Hospitals fund

HHLGCS - Department of Health, Housing, Local Government and Community Services (former name this Department

HHSC - Hospitals and Health Services Commission

Hib - Haemophilus Influenzae type B

HIC - Health Insurance Commission (now Medicare Australia)

HICOA - Health Injury Council of Australia

HIDC - Health Industry Development Centre

High level residential aged care - Residential aged care services delivered to residents with high levels of dependency. These are approximately equivalent to the services delivered by nursing homes in the past.

Highly specialised drugs - Under Section 100 of the National Health Act, certain drugs (for example, Cyclosporin) can only be supplied to community patients through hospitals because the hospitals can provide the facilities or staff necessary for the appropriate use of the drugs. These drugs are funded by the Commonwealth separately from the PBS.

HIM - Health Information Management/Manager

HIMAA - Health Information Management Association of Australia

Top of pageHIPP - Health Infrastructure Priority Projects Plan under CHIP in ATSIC

HIRC - Health Inequalities Research Collaboration

HIRMAA - Health Insurance Restricted Membership Association of Australia

HISA - Health Informatics Society of Australia

HIV - Human Immunodeficiency Virus

HIV/AIDS - Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

HL7 - Health Level 7 (messaging standard)

HLAA - High Level Architectural Assessment (carried out by BAA)

HLN - Health Leaders Network

HLRS - High Level Requirements Specification

HMAC - Housing Ministers Advisory Council

HMA - Healthcare Management Advisors

HMCU - Health Ministers Coordination Unit

HMO - Health maintenance organisation

HMR - Home Medicines Review

HNPCC - hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer

HOD - Head of Discipline

Hodgkin’s disease (Hodgkin’s lymphoma) - A cancer marked by progressive painless enlargement of lymph nodes throughout the body. A form of lymphoma.

Hospitalisation - The term used to refer to the episode of care, which can be a total hospital stay (from admission to discharge, transfer or death), or a portion of a hospital stay beginning and ending in a change of type of care (for example, from acute to rehabilitation).

HOOP - Health Outcome-Oriented Problem

HOOPS - Health Outcome-Oriented Problem Segmentation

Top of pageHOP - Home Ownership Program - now run by Indigenous Business Australia

HORSCATSIA - House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs

Hostel - Establishment for people who cannot live independently but who do not need nursing care in a hospital or nursing home. Hostels provide board, lodging or accommodation and cater mostly for the aged, distressed or disabled. Residents are generally responsible for their own provisions but may be given domestic assistance such as help with meals, laundry and personal care.

HPA - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984

HPC - Hospitals Principal Committee

HPCA - Health Professionals Council of Australia

HPGs - Health Program Grants

HPI - Healthcare Provider Identifier

HPPA - Hospital Purchaser-Provider Agreement

HPC - Hospital Purchaser-Provider Agreement

HPR - Hospital Performance Report

HPU - Hospital Planning Unit

HPV - Human papilloma virus

HREOC - Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

HR - Human Resources

HR&CA - Health Rights & Community Action

HREC - Human Research Ethics Committees

HRGs - Health Resource Groups

HRMC - Human Resource Management Committee

HRQL - Health-related quality of life

HRT - hormone replacement therapy

Top of pageHS - Health Service

HSA - Health Sciences Authority

HSA - Health Services Australia (now Medibank Health Solutions)

HSAK - Healthy School Age Kids Program - NT Health

HSD - Health Services Division

HSDB - Health Service Delivery Building

HSDO - Health Services Development Officer - non-ongoing position to implement PHCAP

HSDWP - Highly Specialised Drugs Working Party

HSMAs - Health and Safety Management Arrangements

HSRG - Health Service Research Group

HSUA - Health Services Union of Australia

HSWCS - Health & Social Welfare Councils

HTA - Health Technology Assessment

HTIC - Health Targets and Implementation Committee

HTML - Hypertext Markup Language

HUS - Haemolytic uraemic syndrome

HWIM&ICTCBWG - Health Workforce IM&ICT Capacity Building Working Group

Top of pageIAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency

IASHC - Indigenous Australians Sexual Health Committee

IARC - International Agency for Research on Cancer

Iatrogenic - Arising from or associated with healthcare rather than an underlying disease or injury

IATSIS - Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

IBA - Indigenous Business Australia - runs commercial activities to benefit Indigenous Australians

IBC - Institutional Biosafety Committee

IBDP - Indigenous Business Development Programme - run by IBA

IBM GSA - IBM Global Services Australia (Company providing IT to the Department)

IBNR - Incurred But Not Reported

ICAAP - International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific

ICC - Indigenous Coordination Centre

Top of pageICD - International Classification of Diseases

ICD-9-CM - International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification

ICD-10-AM - International classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Australian modification

ICDH - International Classification of Disability and Handicaps

ICF - International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

ICG - Infection Control Guidelines

ICHO - Indigenous Community Housing Organisations

ICP - Integrated Care Program

ICPC - International Classification of Primary Care

ICPC-2 - International Classification of Primary Care – 2nd ed.

ICPC-2PLUS - International Classification of Primary Care, 2nd ed. Plus

ICPMR - Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research

ICRP - International Commission on Radiological Protection

Top of pageICRS - Innovative Care Rehabilitation Service

ICRU - International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements

ICT - Information and Communication Technology

ICTSC - Information Communications Technology Standards Committee

ICU - Intensive Care Unit

ID - Industrial Democracy

IDC - Interdepartmental Committee

IDDM - Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

IDP - Individual Development Plan

IDU - Injecting drug user

IEC - Institutional Ethics Committee

Top of pageIEC - International Electrotechnical Commission

IFA - Indirect fluorescent antibody

IFHRO - International Federation of Health Records Organisations

IFPCRN - International Federation of Primary Care Research Networks

IFRS - International Financial Reporting Standards

Ig - Immunoglobulin

IGCARD - Intergovernmental Committee on AIDS Related Disease (now IGCAHRD)

IGCAHRD - Intergovernmental Committee on AIDS, Hepatitis C and Related Diseases

IGCD - Intergovernmental Committee on Drugs

IGFER - Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations

IHA - Indirect haemagglutination

IHANT - Indigenous Housing Authority Northern Territory

IHD - Indigenous Health Division

IHD - Ischaemic heart disease

IHES - Indigenous Housing & Essential Services Unit - NT

Top of pageIHI - Institute of Healthcare Improvement

IHIP - Indigenous Health Infrastructure Program

IHMS - Indenous Housing Management System

IHO - Indigenous Housing Organisation

IHPA - Independent Hospital Pricing Authority

IHR - International Health Regulations

IHR - Institute of Health Research

IHS - Indigenous Health Survey

IHSHY - Innovative Services for Homeless Youth

IIC - Infrastructure Issues Committee

ILAP - Integrated Local Area Planning

ILC - Industry Liaison Committee

Illicit drugs - Refers to a variety of substances that are either illegal to possess, or legally available, but used inappropriately. In the 2001 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, the term ‘illicit drugs’ included marijuana/cannabis, pain-killers/analgesics, tranquillisers/sleeping pills, steroids, barbiturates, inhalents, heroin, methadone, other opiates, amphetamines, cocaine, hallucinogens, ecstasy/designer drugs, and injected drugs.

ILO - Indigenous Liaison Officer

ILRS - Intermediate Level Requirements Specification

IM - Information Management

IM/IT - Information Management/Information Technology

IM&ICT - Information management and information communications technology

IM&T - Information Management and Technology

IME - Improved Monitoring of Entitlements

Top of pageIMG - International Medical Graduate (formerly known as Overseas Trained Doctor)

Immunisation - Inducing immunity against infection by the use of antigen to stimulate the body to produce its own antibodies. See vaccination.

IMPACT - Interdisciplinary Maternal Perinatal Australasian Clinical Trials Network

Impairment - Any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function.

IMS - Information Management Services

IMSG - Information Management Strategy Group

IMVS - Institute of Medical & Veterinary Science (Adelaide)

IMWP - Information Management Working Party

Incidence - The number of new cases (of an illness or event etc.) occurring during a given period. Compare with prevalence.

Incident - An event or circumstance which could have resulted, or did result, in unintended or unnecessary harm to a person and/or a complaint, loss or damage

Indemnity - A legally binding promise whereby one party undertakes to accept the risk of loss or damage another may suffer.

Indicator (Health indicator) - A key statistic that indicates an aspect of population health status, health determinants, interventions, services or outcomes. Indicators are designed to help assess progress and performance, as a guide to decision making. They may have an indirect meaning as well as a direct one; for example, Australia’s overall death rate is a direct measure of mortality but is often used as a major indicator of population health.

Indigenous - A person who identifies himself or herself as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives. (The ‘Commonwealth Definition’ given in High Court Judgement 1983).

Infants - Children aged less than 1 year.

Inflammation - Local response to injury or infection, marked by local redness, heat, swelling and pain. Can also occur when there is no clear external cause and the body reacts against itself, as in the auto-immune disorders.

Information management - The process of defining, evaluating, protecting and distributing data within an organisation, and the technology used to send data to other organisations.

Informed consent - Permission granted by an individual to use their health information for a specific purpose, with an understanding of what they are agreeing to.

Top of pageING - Inter-Divisional Network Group

Injury - Damage to tissues caused by an agent or circumstance

Intellectual Property - Intellectual Property is a right which may, for example, enable the use of material which is subject to copyright, or patented invention, or computer software developed by Commonwealth employees in the course of their duty, consultants or contractors engaged to provide a specific service or product. Often such rights have considerable value. It is important, the Department ensures that the Commonwealth's rights are properly protected and that any financial benefit arising from these developments is optimised for the benefit of the Commonwealth.

International Classification of Diseases - The World Health Organization’s internationally accepted classification of death and disease. The 10th Revision (ICD-10) is currently in use. In this report, causes of death classified before 1979 under previous revisions have been reclassified to ICD-10 by the AIHW.

Interoperability - The ability of information technology systems to reliably exchange information.

Intervention (for health) - Any action taken by society or an individual which steps in (intervenes) to improve health, such as medical treatment and preventive campaigns.

Insulin - Hormone that is produced by the pancreas and regulates the body’s energy sources, most notably the sugar glucose.

IOGTR - Interim Office of Gene Technology Regulator

IOM - Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (U.S.)

IPAC - Independent Practitioners Association Council of New Zealand

IPCS - International Program for Chemical Safety

IPD - Invasive pneumococcal disease

IPPD - Influenza Pandemic Planning Committee

IPTAS - Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme

IQP - Incentives for Quality Prescribing

IR - Industrial Relations

IRSD - Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage

ISBF - Indigenous Small Business Fund

Top of pageISC - Inpatient Statistics Collection

ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network

ISDR - Indirect standardised death rate

ISERU - Integration Support and Evaluation Resource Unit

ISIS - Inpatients Separations Information System

ISIT - Indigenous Suicide Intervention Training

ISO - International Standards Organisation

ISP - Internet Service Provider

ISQua - International Society for Quality in Healthcare

IT - Information Technology

ITA - Invitation to Apply

ITC - Information Technology Committee

ITD - Integrated Technology Delivery

ITSR - Income Tested Subsidy Reduction (also known as Income Fee, Income Tested Amount)

IT&T - Information Technology and Telecommunications

IV - Intravenous

IVD - In Vitro Diagnostics

IVF - In-Vitro Fertilisation

IWG - Indigenous Working Group

Top of pageJAC - Joint Advisory Council

JAC - Jurisdictional Advisory Committee

JAG - Joint Advisory Group

JAG - Joint Advisory Group on General Practice and Population Health

JAGPH - Joint Advisory Group on Population Health

JAS-ANZ - Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand

JCL - Job Control Language

JCPAA - Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit

JCU - James Cook University

JDRF - Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International

JE - Japanese encephalitis

JETACAR - Joint Expert Technical Advisory Committee on Antibiotic Resistance

JEV - Japanese encephalitis virus

JFSS - John Flynn Scholarship Scheme

JHO - Junior hospital officer

JHPC - Joint Health Planning Committee

JOG - Joint Officers Group

JSC - Joint Steering Committee

JUCET - Joint University Centre for Education and Training (Melbourne’s GP education provider)

JVA - Joint Venture Agreement

JVB - Joint Venture Board

Top of pageKardiya - Non-Aboriginal person (Warlpiri)

kDa - kilo Dalton

KM - Knowledge Management

KRA - Key Result Area

KUN - Kunjin

KU-UC - Knowledge Utilisation - Utilisation des Connaissance (Canada)

Top of pageLA - latex agglutination

Labour Force - The labour force includes people who are employed and people who are unemployed (not employed and actively looking for work).

LabVISE - Laboratory Virology and Serology Reporting Scheme

LAG - Local Area Group

LAN - Local Area Network

Land Rights Act - Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976

LBW - Low birthweight

LDL - Liability Discharge Limit

LEAP - Learning, Education and Professionalism

Length of stay - Duration of hospital stay, calculated by subtracting the date the patient is admitted from the day of separation. All leave days, including the day the patient went on leave, are excluded. A same-day patient is allocated a length of stay of 1 day.

LCC - Licensed Collection Centre

LF - Loan Fund

LFHC - Leave for Higher Care

LGA - Local Government Area

LHNs - Local Hospital Networks

Top of pageLiability - Responsibility for an action according to the law or in a legal sense

LIFE - Living is for Everyone

Life expectancy - An indication of how long a person can expect to live. Technically it is the number of years of life remaining to a person at a particular age if death rates do not change.

LMO - Local Medical Officer

LMOS - Local Medical Officer Scheme

LMT - Labour Market Testing

LOS - Length of Stay

Loss - Any negative consequence, including financial

LPOS - Legal Policy Officers

LPS - Lipopolysaccharide

LRWG - Legislation Reform Working Group

LSA - Local Security Advisor

LSB - Legal Services Branch of DoH

Top of pageMA - Medicare Australia

MAC - Multicultural Aged Care

MACASHH - Ministerial Advisory Committee on AIDS, Sexual Health and Hepatitis

MACS - Multifunctional Aboriginal Children’s Services

MAE - Master of Applied Epidemiology

MAHS - More Allied Health Services

MALSSA - Multicultural Practice and National Disability Service Standards

Mammogram - X-ray of the breast. May be used to assess a breast lump or as a screening test in women with no evidence of cancer.

Mania - A mental disorder where the person is overexcited, overactive and excessively and unrealistically happy and expansive. It is the opposite of depression and can alternate with it in the same person in what is known as bipolar affective disorder (formerly known as manic depression).

MASS - Medicare Automated Schedule System

MAT - microscopic agglutination test

MBCC - Medicare Benefits Consultative Committee

MBD - Medical Benefits Division

MBS - Medicare Benefits Schedule

MBS - Medicare Benefits Scheme

MBS-E - Medicare Benefits Schedule Extended

MCATSIA - Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs

MCC - Multi-agency Community Centres

MCDS - Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy

MCHR - Mother & Child Health Research (La Trobe University)

Top of pageMCRP - Medicare Claims Review Panel

MCS - Mental Component Summary

MDC - Meningococcal Disease Committee

MDO - Medical Defence Organisation

MDP - Mail Drop Point

MDS - Medical Deputising Service

MDS - Minimum Data Set

MDU - Microbiological Diagnostic Unit

Measles - A highly contagious infection, usually of children, that causes flu-like symptoms, fever, a typical rash and sometimes serious secondary problems such as brain damage. Preventable by vaccine.

Medicare - A national, government-funded scheme that subsidises the cost of personal medical services, and that covers all Australians to help them afford medical care.

Medicare online claiming (formerly HIC online) - an optional online claiming service using the Internet, where a Medicare claim for either a bulk billed or a patient billed service is lodged at the doctor's practice, and the Medicare benefit is paid to the doctor (for bulk billing) or, for patient billing, is paid directly into the patient's bank account or paid via cheque in the doctor's name, sent to the patient by mail, to then be forwarded to the doctor by the patient, in person or by mail.

Medications - Pharmaceutical drugs available only on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner and available only from pharmacies.

MEDIC-GP - Medical Enquiry Drug Information Centre-General Practice

Medsafe - New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority

Melanoma - A cancer of the body’s cells that contain pigment (melanin), mainly affecting the skin.

Meningitis - Inflammation of the brain’s covering (the meninges), as can occur with some viral or bacterial infections.

Mental Disorders - Disturbances of mood or thought that can affect behaviour and distress the person or those around them, so the person cannot function normally. Includes anxiety disorders, depression and schizophrenia.

MERLIN - Management of Expenditure and Resident Link Information Network.

Top of pageMES - Medicine Education and Support

MHCA - Mental Health Council of Australia

MH-CASC - Mental Health Classification and Service Cost Classification

MH-CCP - Mental health-Clinical Care and Prevention

MHPU - Male Health Policy Unit

MHRC - Mental Health Resource Centre (SA) Inc.

MHS - Mental Health Service

MIDCAB - Minimally Invasive Direct Cor4onary Artery Bypass

MIF - Microimmunofluorescence

MIIAA - Medical Indemnity Insurance Association of Australia

Ministerial - Reply to a letter to a Minister

Minlist - Ministerial listing of details of Federal Members and Senators

Top of pageMIPS - Million Instructions per Second

MIST - Management Information System Tool

MJA - Medical Journal of Australia

MLHFQ - Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire

MLO - Media Liaison Officer (in State Offices)

Mmol/L - Millimoles per litre

MMR - Maternal mortality ratio

MMR - Measles/mumps/rubella (vaccine)

MMR - Medication Management Review

MND - Means not disclosed

Top of pageMO - Medical Officer

MO - Minister's Office

Monitor - To check, supervise, observe critically, or record the progress of an activity, action or system on a regular basis in order to identify and/or track change.

Mooditj - WA sexual health and positive lifestyle program for Indigenous youth aged 11-14 Years

MOG - Medical Oncology Group of Australia

Morbidity - Refers to ill health in an individual and to levels of ill health in a population or group.

Mortality - Death.

Motor Neurone Disease - A disease of the nervous system with progressive wasting of muscles, weakness and paralysis.

MoU - Memorandum of Understanding

MOW - Meals on Wheels

MP - Member of Parliament

MPA - Multi-Program Funding Agreements

MPC - Multi Purpose Centre

MPPA - Medical Purchase Provider Agreement

MPRC - Medicare Participation Review Committee

MPS - Multipurpose Services

MPS - Medical and Pharmaceutical Services

MRA - Medical Record Administrator

MRA - Mutual Recognition Agreement

Top of pageMRBS - Medical Rural Bonded Scholarships

MRCP - MR Cholangeopancreatography

MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging

MRN - Medical Records Number

MRSA - Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

MSA - Microsoft Systems Architecture

MSAC - Medical Services Advisory Committee

MSD - Melbourne Statistical Division

MSD - Management Support and Development

MSIA - Medical Software Industry Association

MSOAP - Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program

MSP - Multipurpose Services Program

MSRB - Medicare Schedule Review

MSRTF - Medicare Schedule Review Taskforce

MSTSC - Medical Specialist Training Steering Committee

MTAG - Ministerial Tobacco Advisory Group

MTRP - Medical Training Review Panel

Multiple Sclerosis - One of the most common nervous system disorders, with varied symptoms such as loss of control of limbs, sudden vision problems and disturbed sensations.

Mumps - A contagious viral disease marked by acute and painful swelling of the saliva producing glands, often similarly affecting the testicles and sometimes other parts.

Musculoskeletal - Relating to the muscles, joints and bones.

MVEV - Murray Valley encephalitis virus

Top of pageNAA - Nucleic Acid Amplification Program

NAC - National Asthma Council

NAC - National Acoustic Laboratories

NACA - National Aged Care Alliance

NACAP - National Aged Care Advocacy Program

NACCHO - National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

NACSP - National Advisory Council on Suicide Prevention

NAGATSIH - National Advisory Group on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

NAGATSIHID - National Advisory Group - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Information and Data

NAGPA - National Association of General Practitioners of Australia

NAHCC - National Allied Health Casemix Committee

NAHOU - Needs Assessment and Health Outcomes Unit

NAHS - National Aboriginal Health Strategy

NAIDOC - National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee

NAIHO - National Aboriginal and Islander Health Organisations

NAL - National Acoustic Laboratories

NAMAC - National Arbovirus and Malaria Advisory Committee

NAMDS - National Association of Medical Deputising Services

NAMSCAG - National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Conditions Advisory Group

NAPC NMDS - Non-Admitted Patient Care National Minimum Data Set

Top of pageNAPD - National Action Plan for Dementia Care

NAPS - National Approved Provider System

NAPWA - National Association of People with HIV/AIDS

NARG - National Asthma Reference Group

NARSP - National Antimicrobial Resistance Program

NASC - National Alcohol Strategy Committee

NAT - Nucleic acid test

NATA - National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia

National Health Priority Areas (NHPA) - The NHPA initiative is a collaborative effort involving the Commonwealth Government and State and Territory Governments that seeks to focus public attention and health policy on those areas that are considered to contribute significantly to the burden of illness in the community, and for which there is potential for health gain.

NATSEM - National Centre for Social and Economic Modeling

NATSI Working Party - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Working Party

NATSIHC - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Council

NATSINSAP - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition Strategy Action Plan

NATSIRDSWG - National Indigenous Renal Scientific Working Group

NATSIS - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey

NATSISS - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (2002)

NAWMEs - National Average Weekly Male Earnings National Average Weekly Male Earning

NBA - National Blood Authority

NBCC - National Breast Cancer Centre

NCADA - National Campaign Against Drug Abuse

NCBI - National Center for Biotechnology Information (U.S.)

NCC - National Competition Council

Top of pageNCCH - National Centre for Classification in Health

NCCI - National Cancer Control Initiative

NCCLS - National Committee on Clinical Laboratory Standards (became CLSI in 2007)

NCCP - National Carer Counselling Program

NCDC - National Centre for Disease Control

NCDS - National Chronic Disease Strategy

NCDSSS - National Communicable Diseases Surveillance Strategy

NCEPH - National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health

NCEPMC - National Consortium for Education in Primary Medical Care

NCETA - National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction

NCHECR - National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research

NCHSR - National Centre in HIV Social Research

NCHVR - National Centre in HIV Virology Research

Top of pageNCIRS - National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance

NCMS - National Continence Management Strategy

NCNP - National Child Nutrition Program

NCOSS - Council of Social Service of New South Wales

NCPR - National Cardiac Procedures Register

NCRP - National Council on Radiological Protection (American)

NCRPDA - National Centre for Research into the Prevention of Drug Abuse

NCSG - National Cancer Strategies Group

NCSP - National Cervical Screening Program

NDARC - National Drug and Research Centre

NDHP - National Demonstration Hospitals Program

NDIP - National Diabetes Improvement Projects

NDOQRIN - National Diabetes Outcome Quality Review Iniative

Top of pageNDR - National Data Repository

NDS - National Drug Strategy

NDSF - National Drug Strategy Framework

NDSG - National Diabetes Strategies Group

NDSP - National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee

NDSS - National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System

NDSU - National Drug Strategy Unit

NEAC - National Evidence Assessment Centre Model

NEACA - National Expert Advisory Committee on Alcohol

NEACT - National Expert Advisory Committee on Tobacco

Near miss - An incident that did not cause harm

NEAT - National Emergency Access Target

NEC - Not elsewhere classified

Negligence (civil or criminal) - An incident causing harm, damage or loss as the result of doing something wrong or failing to provide a reasonable level of care in a circumstance in which one has a duty of care

NEHTA - National E-health Transition Authority

NENA - National Enrolled Nurses Association

Neonatal death - Death of an infant within 28 days of birth.

NEP - National Efficient Price

NEPM - National Environmental Protection Measures

NEPOD - National Evaluation of Pharmacotherapies of Opioid Dependence

NEPSS - National Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Scheme

NERT - National Electronic Records Taskforce

NESB - Non-English-speaking background

NEST - National Elective Surgery Target

Top of pageNETA - National E-Health Transition Authority

Neurosis / Neurotic disorders - A broad category of mental disorders with anxiety as their main feature and whose symptoms are mostly exaggerations of normal emotions or behaviour. Includes anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, stress reactions and other problems.

NFA - No Further Action

NFS - Non-fee for Service

NGCSOs - Non-Government Community Service Organisations

NGOs - Non-government organisations

NH4 - SPARC Client Assessment (RCS)

NH5 - SPARC Client Application for approval (ACAT)

NHA - National Health Act

NHCDC - National Hospital Cost Data Collection

NHDC - National Health Data Committee

NHDD - National Health Data Dictionary

NHF - National Heart Foundation

NHFB - National Health Funding Body

NHIA - National Health Information Agreement

NHIDP - National Health Information Development Plan

NHIG - National Health Information Group

NHIM - National Health Information Model

NHIMAC - National Health Information Management Advisory Committee

NHIMG - National Health Information Management Group

Top of pageNHIP - National Indigenous Health Information Plan

NHIPPC - National Health and Performance Principal Committee

NHISAC - National Health Information Standards Advisory Committee

NHISSC - National Health Standards and Statistics Committee

NHMBWG - National Health Ministers’ Benchmarking Working Group

NHMD - National Hospital Morbidity Database

NHMRC - National Health and Medical Research Council

NHPA - National Health Priority Areas

NHPA - National Health Performance Authority

NHPAC - National Health Priority Action Council

NHPC - National Health Performance Committee

NHPF - National Health Performance Framework

NHPF - National Health Performance Framework

NHR EDW - National Health Reform Enterprise Data Warehouse

NHRA - National Health Reform Agreement

NHR Act - National Health Reform Act 2011

NHS - National Health Scheme

NHS - National Health Service (UK Healthcare system)

NHS - National Health Survey

NHS - Nursing Home System

NHS EED - National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database (U.K.)

NHSAC - National Health Standards Advisory Committee

NHSMC - Normanton Health Services Management Committee

NHTAP - National Health Technology Advisory Panel

NIASHS - National Indigenous Australians' Sexual Health Strategy

NIBAM - National Institute Based Ambulatory Modelling Project

NIC - National Indigenous Council - advisory body to Commonwealth Govt.

NICC - National Illicit Drugs Campaign

Top of pageNICNAS - National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme

NICS - National Institute of Clinical Studies

NIDC - National Illicit Drugs Campaign

NIDDM - Non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

NIDF - National Indigenous Documentary Fund - ABC

NIDP - National Integrated Diabetes Program

NIDS - National Illicit Drug Strategy

NIFP - National Innovations Funding Pool

NIH - National Institutes of Health, part of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services

NIHIP - National Indigenous Health Infrastructure Plan

NIMAA - National Indigenous Medial Association of Australia

NIMHRC - National Indigenous Male health Reference Committee (also referred to as the National Indigenous Male Health & Well-Being Committee)

NINDS - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

NIP - National Immunisation Program

NIPAC - National Influenza Pandemic Action Committee

NIPH - Newcastle Institute of Public Health

NIPP - National Injury Prevention Program

NIPII Program - National Indigenous Pneumococcal & Influenza Immunisation Program

NIS - National Information Service (Now PHC RIS)

NISHS - National Indigenous Sexual Health Strategy

NISMC - National Indigenous Substance Misuse Council

NIWG - National Indigenous Working Group on Native Title

Top of pageNLC - Northern Land Council

NLV - Norwalk-like virus

NMDS - National Minimum Data Set

NMHP - National Mental Health Plan

NMHR - National Mental Health Report

NMHS - National Mental Health Strategy

NMSC - Non-melanocytic (or non-melanoma) skin cancer

NNAPEDCD - National Non-Admitted Patient Emergency Department Care Database

NNC - National Negotiating Committee

NNDSS - National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System

NNL - National Negotiation Committee

Top of pageNNN - National Neisseria Network

NNTT - National Native Title Tribunal

NOCD - National Outpatient Care Database

Non-admitted patient - A patient who receives care from a recognised non-admitted patient service/clinic of a hospital.

Non-government Community Service Organisations (NGCSOs) - Organisations, operated on either a for-profit or not-for-profit basis, privately managed to provide community services for family with children, youth, adults, older people, people with disabilities, and people from different ethnic backgrounds.

Non-government Organisations (NGOs) - Private not-for-profit community managed organisations that receive state and territory government funding specifically for the purpose of providing community support services for people affected by a mental illness or psychiatric disability.

Non-repudiation - Sender cannot deny sending a record to the electronic health register or to another person.

Nonsocomial - Pertaining to or originating in a hospital (synonymous with ‘hospital-acquired’)

Nosocomial - Pertaining to or originating in a hospital (synonymous with “hospital-acquired”)

Non-VR - Non-Vocationally Registered

Nomad - Current human resources system

NOOSR - National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition

NOTF - National Obesity Task Force

NPA - National Partnership Agreement

NPAAC - National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Committee

Top of pageNPCC - National Primary Care Collaboratives

NPCRDC - National Primary Care Research and Development Centre

NPDR - Non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy

NPDS - National Provider Database System

NPHIWG - National Public Health Information Working Group

NPHNS - National Public Health Nutrition Strategy (Eatwell Australia)

NPHP - National Public Health Partnership

NPHP/PATFNPHP/PATF - Joint Working Group on Healthy Ageing

NPHPG - National Public Health Partnership Group

NPI - National Performance Indicators

NPI - National Provider Index

NPP - National Privacy Principles

NPP - New Policy Proposal

NPS - National Prescribing Service

NPT - Near Patient Testing

NPVP - National Pneumococcal Vaccination Program

NPY - Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara aYankunytjatjara - cross border region NT,WA, SA

NPYWC - Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yunkuntjara Women’s Council

NQPS - National Quality Performance System

NRA - National Registrars Association

Top of pageNRC - Neuroscience Research Centre

NRCCPH - National Resource Centre for Consumer Participation in Health

NRCP - National Respite for Carers Program

NRHA - National Rural Health Alliance

NRHN - National Rural Health Network

NRL - National Reference Laboratory

NRP - National Research Priorities

NSAA - National Strategy for an Ageing Australia

NSAIDS - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

NSC - National Surveillance Committee

NSF - National Strategic Framework

NSFP - National Safe Food Program

NSHS - National Sexual Health Strategy

NSIF - National Service Improvements Framework

NSP - Needle and Syringe Programs

NSPF - National Staff Participation Forum

NSPS - National Suicide Prevention Strategy

NSQAC - National Specialist Qualification Advisory Committee

NSSS - National Salmonella Surveillance Scheme

NSW - New South Wales

NSWTAG - New South Wales Therapeutic Advisory Group

NT - Northern Territory

Top of pageNTA - Native Title Act 1993

NTAEHC - Northern Territory Aboriginal Eye Health Committee

NTAHF - Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum

NTCOSS - Northern Territory Council of Social Services

NTFF - National Transaction File Format

NTGPE - Northern Territory General Practice Education Ltd.

NTIMHC - Northern Territory Indigenous Male Health Committee

NTOIP - National Telehealth Outcome Indicators Project (Canada)

NTRB - Native Title Representative Body under the Native Title Act 1993

NTRHWA - Northern Territory Remote Health Workforce Agency

NURHC - National Undergraduate Rural Health Conference

Nursing Homes - Establishments which provide long-term care involving regular basic nursing care to chronically ill, frail, disabled or convalescent people or senile inpatients.

NWHP - National Women’s Health Program

NYSPS - National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy

NZ - New Zealand

Top of pageOAA - Optometrists Assocation of Australia

OACIS - Open Architecture Clinical Information System

OAIA - Overarching Agreement on Indigenous Affairs - NT/Commonwealth 2005-2010

OBCC - Optometrical Benefits Consultative Committee

Obesity - Marked degree of overweight, defined as body mass index 30 and over. See also overweight.

OBF - Outcomes Based Funding

Obsessive-compulsive Disorder - A form of anxiety disorder where repeated and unwanted thoughts and impulses disturb and dominate a person. Often involves rituals such as excessive-hand washing, checking and counting, which in turn cause anxiety if they are prevented or out of control.

Occasion of service - Occurs when a patient receives some form of service from a functional unit of the hospital, but is not admitted.

OCIO - Office of the Chief Information Officer

OCP - Office of Crime Prevention

OCS - Office of Chemical Safety

OEA (IP) - Office of Evaluation & Audit (Indigenous Programs)

OECD - Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

Top of pageOGTR - Office of the Gene Technology Regulator

OH&S - Occupational Health and Safety

OHP - Office of Health Protection

OHS - Office of Hearing Services

OID - Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage (report)

OIE - World Organization for Animal Health

OIPC - Office for Indigenous Policy Coordination

OLD - Office of Legislative Drafting

OLG - Office of Local Government, Northern Territory

OM - Otitis media

OME- Otitis media with effusion

ONHMRC - Office of the National Health and Medical Research Council

OMF - Oral & Maxillo-Facial

OMO - Outposted Ministerial Officer

OMP - Other Medical Practitioner

ONHMRC - Office of the National Health and Medical Research Council

OPA - Output Pricing Agreement

OPAL - Low-volatile ‘unsniffable’ unleaded petrol (91 octane, <5%aromatics)

OPCAB - Off-pump Coronary Artery bypass

Top of pageOpthalmology - A medical specialty dealing with eye diseases.

OPV - Oral polio vaccine

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - An organisation of 24 developed countries, including Australia.

ORIC - Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations

Original Medicare safety net - covers the difference between the Medicare benefit paid and the schedule fee for out-of-hospital services

OSHC - Overseas Student Health Cover

OSI - Open Software Initiative

OSS - Out of session

OSS - Open Source Software

Osteoporosis - A chronic and common form of arthritis, affecting mostly the spine, hips, knees and hands. It first appears from the age of about 30 and is more common and severe with increasing age.

OT - Occupational Therapy

OTC - Over-the-counter

OTD - Overseas Trained Doctor (now known as IMG - International Medical Graduate)

OTEN - Open Training and Education Network

OTM - Other Trust Moneys

OTO - OverseasTravel Officer

Top of pageOutcome - The status of an individual, a group of people or a population which is wholly or partially attributable to an action, agent or circumstance

Outcomes - Outcomes are the results, impacts or consequences of actions by the Australian Government on the Australian community. Outcomes are the results or impacts that the Government wishes to achieve. Actual outcomes are the results or impacts actually achieved.

Outcomes (Health) - A health-related change due to a preventive or clinical intervention or service. (The intervention may be single or multiple and the outcome may relate to a person, group or population or be partly or wholly due to the intervention.)

Outputs - The goods or services produced by individual Australian Government agencies on behalf of the Government of the day for external organisations or individuals.

Output groups - The aggregation based on homogeneity of product and/or resource usage of outputs.

Outreach services - where a medical specialist provides specialist medical health services in a location that is not the location of their regular practice

Overweight - Defined as a body mass index 25 and over but less than 30. See also obesity.

OVHC - Overseas Visitors Health Cover

OWN - Older Women’s Network

OzFoodNet - Foodborne Illness Surveillance

Top of pagePA - Principal Advisor

PAAC - People’s Alcohol Action Coalition

PAC - Production Assurance Certification (As a result of our contractual obligations with IBM GSA, this process was put in place to ensure that an application will not impact the infrastructure. It is basic quality control and risk management.)

PACFA - Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia

PACHSNIM - Primary and Community Services National Information Model

PACT - Primary Care Alliance for Clinical Trials

PADWS - Preliminary Assessment of District of Workforce Shortage

PAF - Performance and Accountability Framework

PAGAN - RMI, ARMIS, GAPS, ACCMIS, NAPS

Palliative Care - Palliative care is the specialised care of people with a terminal illness and aims to achieve the best quality of life, both for the person who is dying and their family

PALS - Palliative Access Links

PANDA - Post and Antenatal Depression Association

Panic disorder - Marked by panic attacks (episodes of intense fear or discomfort) that occur suddenly and unpredictably.

Top of pagePap smear - Papanicolaou smear, a procedure to detect cancer and pre-cancerous conditions of the female genital tract.

PAO - Public Affairs Officer

PAPS - Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000

PARC - Primary Mental Health Care Australian Resource Centre

PARC - Prevention and Recovery Care

Top of pagePASIF - Program Administration Systems Interface to FINEST

PASTT - Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma

PATCH - Planned Approach to Community Health

Pathology - General term for the study of disease, but often used more specifically diagnostic services which examine specimens, such as samples of blood or tissue.

Pathogen - Disease-causing agent.

Patient-days - The number of full or partial days of stay for patients who were admitted for an episode of care and who underwent separation during the reporting period. A patient who is admitted and separated on the same day is allocated 1 patient-day.

PATS - Patient Assisted Travel Scheme (NT funded)

PBAC - Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee

pPBAC - Post Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee

PBD - Pharmaceutical Benefits Division

PBL - Problem based learning

PBMA - Program Budgeting and Marginal Analysis

PBPA - Pharmaceutical Benefits Pricing Authority

PBRT - Pharmaceutical Benefits Remuneration Tribunal

PBS - Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

PBS - Portfolio Budget Statements

Top of pagePC - Personal Computer

PC - Primary Care

PC - Practical completion - where a building project is ready for handover to occupant.

PCA - Patient Concerns Assessment

PCC - Pathology Consultative Committee

PCD - Preventable Chronic Disease

PCO - Primary care organisation (NZ)

PCP - Primary Care Partnerships

PCR - Polymerase chain reaction

PCS - Physical Component Summary (SF-36)

PCT - Primary Care Trust (UK)

PDA - Private Doctor’s Association

PDC - Prostheses and Devices Committee

PDCSA - Physical Disability Council of South Australia

PDR - Proliferative diabetic retinopathy

PDS - Performance Development Scheme

PDSA - Plan Do Study Act

PDY - Professional Development Year

PEI - Patient episode initiation

Top of pagePELS - Postgraduate Education Loan Scheme

PEP - Post exposure prophylaxis

PEPA - Programs of Experience in the Palliative Approach

Performance - The proficiency of an agency or authority in acquiring resources economically and using those resources efficiently and effectively in achieving planned outcomes.

Performance indicators - A concise list of indicators, which are used to measure agency effectiveness in achieving the Government’s outcomes.

Performance information - Evidence about performance that is collected and used systemically. Evidence may relate to effectiveness or efficiency. It may be about outcomes, factors that affect outcomes, and what can be done to improve them.

Performance measures - A more precise measure than indicators. Performance measures are used to provide information on administered items and outputs in terms of quality, quantity and efficiency.

PFA - Plasma Fraction Agreement

PFAS Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances

PFS - Periodical Financial Statement

PGPPP - Prevocational General Practice Placement Program

PGU - Psychogeriatric Unit, or Psychogeriatric Care Unit

PH - Parliament House

PHN - Primary Health Network

PHAA - Public Health Association of Australia Inc.

PHARM - Pharmaceutical Health and Rational use of Medicines

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) - A national, government-funded scheme that subsidises the cost of a wide range of pharmaceutical drugs, and that covers all Australians to help them afford standard medications.

Top of pagePHAT - Private Hospital Access Taskforce

PHC - Primary health care

PHC - Prohibition of Human Cloning

PHCAG - Primary Health Care Advisory Group

PHCAP - Primary Health Care Access Program

PHCRED - Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development

PHC RIS - Primary Health Care Research and Information Service

PHCTF - Primary Health Care Task Force

PHSD - Population Health and Sport Division

PHEBAM - Population Health Evidence Base Advisory Mechanism

PHEC - Public Health Education and Research Program

PHERP - Public Health and Research Program

PHI - Personal Health Identifier

PHI - Primary Health Institute

PHIAC - Private Health Insurance Administration Council

PHIB - Private Health Insurance Branch

PHICC - Private Health Insurance Complaints Commissioner

PHIIS - Private Health Insurance Incentives Scheme

PHIO - Private Health Insurance Ombudsman

PHIQS - Private Health Industry Quality and Safety Committee

Phising - Attempts to fraudulently acquire sensitive information such as passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an apparently official electronic communication such as email.

PHLN - Public Health Laboratory Network

Top of pagePHN - Public Health Nurse

Phobia - A form of anxiety disorder in which there is persistent, unrealistic fear of an object or situation and which interferes with the person’s life as they seek to avoid the object of their fear. Different phobias include fear of heights, flying, open spaces, social gatherings, animals such as spiders and snakes, etc.

PHOFA - Public Health Outcome Funding Agreements

PHO - Primary Healthcare Organisation (NZ)

PHP - Primary Health Partnership

PHRDC - Public Health Research and Development Committee

PICAC - Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care Project

PICQ - Performance Indicators for Coding Quality

PICS - Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme

PID - Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

PIE - Positive Information and Education Project, AFAO

PINCLET - Batch program to generate letters

PIP - Practice Incentive Payment

PIP - Practice Incentive Program

PIRS - Patient Information and Recall System

PKI - Public Key Infrastructure

PL/SQL - Procedural Language/Structured Query Language (A Script for importing or exporting data or creating packages)

Plasma - Liquid portion of blood that contains proteins.

Plasma Fractionation - The process by which plasma is separated into some of its different component parts.

Top of pagePLO - Parliamentary Liaison Officer

PLU - Payment Liaison Unit

PLWHA - People Living with HIV/AIDS

PM&C - Prime Minister and Cabinet

PMA - Principal Medical Advisor

PMDGP - Port Macquarie Division of General Practice

PMF - Performance Measurement Framework

PMG - Program Management Guidelines

PMHCI - Primary Mental Health Care Initiative

PMI - Program Management Information

PMIS - Program Management Information System

PMO - Prime Minister's Office

Top of pagePMR - Perinatal Mortality Rate

PMS - Pensioner Medical Service

PMU - Program Management Update

PND - Postnatal Depression

PO - Project Officer

POC - Policy Outcomes Committee of DoH

POE - Post-occupancy Evaluation

POEMS - Patient Oriented-Evidence that Matters

POI - Proposed Outcome Indicator

Point to point messaging - Sending data directly from one computer to another.

POMS - Profile of Mood States

Top of pagePop ToP - Population Health Taskforce on Performance

Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements - Statements prepared by portfolios to explain the Additional Budget appropriations in terms of outcomes and outputs.

Portfolio Budget Statements - Statements prepared by portfolios to explain the Budget appropriations in terms of planned Government outcomes and outputs.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PSD) - A form of anxiety disorder in which a person has a delayed and prolonged reaction after being in an extremely threatening or catastrophic situation such as a war, natural disaster, terrorist attack, serious accident or witnessing violent deaths.

Potential years of life lost (PYLL) - Number of potential years of life lost in a population as a result of premature death.

PPHC - Private Patients’ Hospital Charter

PPV - positive predictive value

PQON - Parliamentary Question on Notice

PRs - Procedural Rules

PRCC - Parallel Rural Community Curriculum

Prescription drugs - Pharmaceutical drugs available only on the prescription of a registered medical practitioner and available only from pharmacies.

Prevalence - The number or proportion (of cases, instances, etc.) present in a population at a given time. Compare with incidence.

Preventable - Accepted by the community as potentially avoidable in the particular set of circumstances

Prevention (of disease) - Action to reduce or eliminate the onset, causes, complications or recurrence of disease.

Top of pagePrice - The amount the Government or the community pays for the delivery of agreed outputs. The total of all prices aggregates to equal total expenses.

Primary Carer - Defined by the ABS as a person of any age who provides the most informal assistance, in terms of help or supervision with one or more disabilities. The assistance has to be ongoing, or likely to be ongoing, for at least 6 months and be provided for one or more of the core activities (communication, mobility or self-care).

Principal Diagnosis - The diagnosis describing the problem that was chiefly responsible for the patient’s episode of care in hospital.

PRISM III - Pediatric Risk of Mortality, version III

Privacy impact assessment - A formal process to identify and assess the impact of processes on personal privacy, including potential risks and compliance.

Private health insurance - Health insurance funds offer benefits to members for approved services provided in both public and private hospitals. They also operate ancillary tables which provide benefits for a wide range of non-hospital health and health-related services. There are a number of categories of health insurance membership which provide a wide range of benefits cover. These include ‘exclusionary tables’ under which funds are able to tailor the range of benefits provided to meet particular needs of different groups of contributors.

Private Hospital - A privately owned and operated institution, catering for patients who are treated by a doctor of their own choice. Patients are charged fees for accommodation and other services provided by the hospital and relevant medical and paramedical practitioners. Includes private freestanding day hospital facilities.

Private Patients - Persons admitted to a private hospital; or persons admitted to a public hospital who decide to choose the doctor(s) who will treat them and to have private ward accommodation. This means they will be charged for medical services, food and accommodation.

Procedural Rules (PRs) - PRs expand on the CEIs and provide more detailed operational requirements. Officials must have regard to the PRs to ensure full accountability and adequate controls are in place.

Program - Program is a specific strategy, initiative or grouping of activities directed towards the achievement of government policy or a common strategic objective.

Program Allowances - Program Allowances are payments made in the nature of a benefit, direct to an individual for the purposes of assisting the individual.

Top of pageProgram Funds - Program Funds are funds appropriated by Parliament to implement the Government's Health and Aged Care programs.

Program Grants - Program Grants are payments under specific legislation and/or an agreement by Health and Aged Care to an individual or organisation for the purposes of assisting in the achievement of the individual's or organisation objectives. Program Grants include General Purpose Grants, Specific Purpose Grants, and Grant-in-aid.

Program Guidelines - Program Guidelines set down the administrative arrangements and specify the control requirements for the management of specific programs.

Program Payments - Program Payments are payments made from program funds and consist of program allowances, program grants and program service payments.

Program Service Payments - Program Service Payments are payments made to a contractor or provider for the provision of health related services.

PROQOLID - Patient-Reported Outcomes and Quality of Life Instruments Database

PRS - Professional Relativities Study

PRVTS - Pilot Remote Vocational Training Scheme

PSA - Pharmaceutical Society of Australia

PSA - Prostate Specific Antigen

Top of pagePSD - Post-traumatic stress disorder

PSM - Practice Support Model

PSM - Public Service Medal

PSMPC - Public Service and Merit Protection Commission (now Australian Public Service Commission)

PSP - Practice Support Program

PSR - Professional Services Review

PSRS - Professional Services Review Scheme

PSS - Premium Support Scheme

PST - Pathology Services Table

PST - Production Support Team

PSTC - Pathology Services Table Committee

PSTN - Public Switch Telephone Network

Top of pagePST - Production Support Team

Psychiatric hospitals - Establishments devoted primarily to the treatment and care of inpatients with psychiatric disorders.

Psychosis - A broad grouping for a more severe degree of mental disturbance, often involving fixed, false beliefs known as delusions.

PTF - Presidential Task Force

Public Health - Term variously referring to the level of health in the population, to actions that improve that level or to related study. Activities that aim to benefit a population tend to emphasis prevention, protection and health promotion as distinct from treatment tailored to individuals with symptoms. Examples include provision of a clean water supply and good sewerage, conduct of anti-smoking education campaigns and screening for diseases such as cancer of the breast and cervix.

Public Hospital - A hospital controlled by a state or territory health authority. In Australia public hospitals offer free diagnostic services, treatment, care and accommodation to all who need it.

Public Moneys - Public Moneys are moneys in the Commonwealth's possession or control, including money that is held in trust and money in a bank account. Categories of public moneys are:

  • received Money
  • money in the Consolidated Revenue Fund
  • money in the Loan Fund
  • money in the Reserve Money Fund
  • money in the Commercial Activities Fund
  • Drawn Money
  • Special Public Money that is subject to a special instruction
Public Patient - A patient admitted to a public hospital who has agreed to be treated by doctors of the hospital’s choice and to accept shared ward accommodation. This means the patient is not charged.

PWP - Pneumococcal Working Party

PYLL - Potential years of lost life

Top of pageQA - Quality Assurance

QA&CDP - Quality Assurance and Continuing Professional Development (Program)

QA&CE - Quality Assurance and Continuing Education Program (RACGP)

QADA - QLD Aged & Disability Advocacy Inc. (QLD)

QAG - Quality Advisory Group

QAIHA - Queensland Aboriginal Islander Health Alliance

QAIHF - Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Forum

QAMON - Quality Assurance Monitor used by CAAC

QALY - Quality Adjusted Life Year

QARMS - Quality Assurance and Risk Management Systems

QATSIHWEPAC - Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Education Program, Aboriginal Corporation

QCOSS - Queensland Council of Social Services

QDGP - former Queensland Divisions of General Practice (now GPQ)

QI - Quality Improvement

QIAS - Quality Improvement and Accreditation System

QIC - Quality Improvement Council

Top of pageQIF - Quality Improvement Funding

QII - Quality Improvement Initiative

QIMR - Queensland Institute of Medical Research

QIP - Quality in Practice Pty Ltd

QIP - Quality Incentives Program

QLD - Queensland

QMG - Queensland Management Group

QoL - Quality of Life

QP - Quality Program

QR - Quality Reporting

QRMSA - Queensland Rural Medical Support Agency

Top of pageQSP - Qualified Service Provider

QTB - Question Time Brief

QuAC - Queensland AIDS Council

Quality - Relates to the characteristics by which clients or stakeholders judge an organisation, product or service. Assessment of quality involves use of information gathered from interested parties to identify difference between users' expectations and experiences.

Quantity - Size of an output. Count or volume measures. How many or how much.

QuIVA - Queensland Intravenous AIDS Association

QUM - Quality Use of Medicines (Program)

QUP - Quality Use of Pathology

QUPC - Quality Use of Pathology Committee

QUT - Queensland University of Technology

QWG - Quality Working Group

Top of pageRA - Remoteness Area

RAATSICC - Remote Area Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Care Program

RABQSA - Registrar Accreditation Board Quality Society of Australasia

RACF - Residential aged care facility

RACGP - Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

RACGPTP - RACGP Training Program

RACMA - Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators

RACOG - Royal Australian College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

RACP - Royal Australasian College of Physicians

RACS - Residential Aged Care Service

RACS - Royal Australian College of Surgeons

R&D - Research and Development

RADAR - Register of Australian Drug and Alcohol Research

Radiology - The use or study of X-rays and other rays to help view internal parts of the body as a guide to diagnosis as well as to treatment and its progress.

RAESP - Remote Area Essential Services Program WA

RAF - Resource Allocation Formula

RAMIS - Research and Management Information Services

RAMUS - Rural Australian Medical Undergraduate Scholarship

RANZCO - Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists

Top of pageRANZCOG - Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

RANZCP - Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists

RANZCR - Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists

RAP - Risk Assessment Procedures

RAPS - Rules Application Processing System

RARA - Rural and Remote Area Classification System

RARSWG - Remote Area Renal Services Working Group

RAWG - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Agenda Working Group

RAWP - Resource Allocation Working Party

RBA - Reserve Bank of Australia

RC - Regional Centre

RCADIC - Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

RCAHI - Research Centre for Adaptation in Health and Illness

RCBI - Research Capacity Building Initiative

RCF - Residential Care Facility

RCGP - Royal College of General Practitioners

RCNA - Royal College of Nursing of Australia

RCDI - Rural Chronic Disease Initiative

RCPA - Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia

Top of pageRCR - Residential Care Rights (VIC)

RCS - Residential Classification Scale

RCS - Rural Clinical School

RCT - Randomised Controlled Trail

RCTI - Recipient Created Tax Invoice

RDA - Rural Doctors Association

RDA - Racial Discrimination Act

RDAA - Rural Doctors Association of Australia

RDCU - Rural Divisions Coordinating Units

RDF - Resource Distribution Formula

RDGAC - Research and Development Grants Advisory Committee

RDGP - Rural Divisions of General Practice

RDNS - Royal District Nursing Service

RDP - Researcher Development Program (for PHCRED)

Top of pageRDWA - Rural Doctors Workforce AGency

Real expenditure - Expenditure expressed in terms which have been adjusted for inflation. This enables comparisons to be made between expenditures in different years.

Reconnect - Commonwealth Dept. of Family and Community Services early intervention services for homeless young people 12-18.

Recurrent expenditure -Expenditure on goods and services which are used up during the year, for example, salaries. It may be contrasted with capital expenditure, such as expenditure on hospital buildings and large-scale diagnostic equipment, the useful life of which extends over a number of years.

RED - Research, Evaluation and Development

Remote - The term ‘Remote’ is used to indicate those Australians living in areas that lie within either the ‘Very Remote Australia’ or ‘Remote Australia’ categories of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification Remoteness structure

RER - Residential Entry Record

Reviewed T/A - Reviewed Travelling Allowance

RFA - Request for Application

RFASS - Request for Application System Support

RFC - Request For Change

RFDS - Royal Flying Doctor Service

RFE - Reason for encounter

RFFIT - Reverse focus fluorescent inhibition test

RFP - Request for Proposal

RFQ - Request For Quotation

RFS - Request for Service

RFT - Request for Tender

Rh D - Rhesus D

RHD - Rheumatic heart disease

RHEF - Rural Health Education Foundation

Top of pageRHS - Regional Health Services

RHSC - Regional Health Service Centres

RHSET - Rural Health Support, Education and Training

RHTU - Rural Health Training Unit

RHWA - Rural Health Workforce Australia

RIAS - Roter Interaction Analysis System

RIG - Rabies immunoglobulin

RIHE - Research Involving Human Embryos

RIM - Retirement Income Modelling Taskforce

RIP - Rural Incentives Program

RIPIC - Rural Incentives Program Implementation Committee

Top of pageRIS - Regulation Impact Statement

Risk - The chance of something happening that will have a negative impact. It is measured in terms of consequences and likelihood

Risk Factor - Any factor which represents a greater risk of a health disorder or other unwanted condition or event. Some risk factors are regarded as causes of disease, others are not necessarily so.

Risk Management (in health care) - Designing and implementing a program of activities to identify and avoid or minimise risks to patients, employees, visitors and the institution; to minimise financial losses (including legal liability) that might arise consequentially; and to transfer risk to others through payment of premiums (insurance)

RLO - Registrar liaison officer

RLRP - Rural Locum Relief Program

RM - Received Money

RMC - Radiology Management Committee

RMDS - Report Management and Distribution System

RMF - Reserved Money Fund

RMFN - Rural Medical Family Network

RMIS - Research Management Information System

RMMR - Residential Medication Management Reviews

Top of pageRN - Registered Nurse

RNA - Riibonucleic acid

ROAR - Roadmap of Australian primary health care research

ROAR (Award) - Recognition of OATSIH Achievements and Results

ROCS - Run-Off Cover Scheme

ROCSP - Run-Off Cover Support Payments Scheme

ROGS - Reporting on Government Services

ROMP - Radiation Oncology Medical Physicist

ROMPs - Rural Other Medical Practitioners

Root Cause Analysis - A systematic process whereby the factors which contributed to an incident are identified.

RORIC - Radiation Oncology Reform Implementation Committee

RoSS - Review of Subsidies and Services in Australian Government Funded Community Aged Care Programs

Top of pageRPA - Regional Partnership Agreement

RPBS - Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

RPIs - Regulatory Performance Indicators

RPL - Recognition of Prior Learning

RPMG - Residential Program Management Group

RPPS - Repatriation Private Patient Scheme

RPR - Rapid plasma Reagin

RR - Rate ration- eg. The Indigenous rate divided by the non-indigenous rate

RRAPP - Rural and Remote Area Placement Program

RRGPP - Rural and Remote General Practice Program

RRL - WHO Western Pacific Regional Poliovirus Reference Laboratory

RRMA - Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas

RRMBS - Rural Remote Medical Benefit Scheme

RRMEO - Rural and Remote Medical Education Online

Top of pageRRV - Ross River virus

RRPWDP - Rural and Remote Pharmacy Workforce Development Program

RS - Requirements Specification

RSA - Regional Service Areas

RSL - Returned & Services League of Australia

RSSC - Risk and Security Steering Committee

RSV - Respiratory syncytial virus

RT Act - Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973

RTIs - Reproductive Tract Infections

RTO - Registered Training Organisation

RTOG - Radiation Therapy Oncology Group

RTP - Regional training provider

RTR - Request-Test-Report Cycle (QUPC Subcommittee)

Top of pageRTS - Rural Training stream

Rural - Rural localities and towns with a total population of under 1,000 people. ‘Rural’ also forms part of the Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas Classification (RRMA). RRMA has been used to classify the geographic location of medical practitioners. In the classification, ‘rural’ zone includes small rural centres (urban centre population between 10,000 and 24,999), large rural centres (urban centre population between 25,000 and 99,000), and other rural centres (urban centre population less than 10,000), with each having an index of remoteness less than 10.5.

RUSC - Rural Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme

RUSC - Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination, formerly Rural Undergraduate Steering Committee

RVG - Relative Value Guide for Anaesthetics

RVS - Relative Value Study

RWA - Rural Workforce Agency

RWAAWP - Rural Workforce Agency Advisory Working Party

RWAV - Rural Workforce Agency, Victoria

RWSA/RWA - Rural Workforce Support Agencies

Top of pageSA316 - Centrelink form - 'helping you with your income tested fee'

SA - South Australia

SA - Statistical area

SAA - Standards Association of Australia

SAAHP - South Australian Aboriginal Health Partnership

SAAP - Supported Accommodation Assistance Program

SACHRU - South Australian Community Health Research Unit

SACOSS - South Australian Council of Social Service Inc.

SACRRH - South Australian Centre for Rural and Remote Health

SADI - SA Divisions of General Practice Inc.

Safety - Freedom from hazard

SAH - Safe at Home

SAHC - South Australian Health Commission

SAMHS - South Australian Mental Health Service

SAN - Single Area Network

SAP - Department's Financial Management and Human Resource System

SAPP - Special Approved Placement Program

SAR - Service Activity Report

SARRAH - Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health

SARRMSA - South Australian Rural and Remote Medical Support Agency

SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

SAS - Statistical Analysis Software

SBO - State Based Organisation

Top of pageSC - Sub Committee

SCA-B - Sudden Cardiac Arrest-Behaviour

SCA-K - Sudden Cardiac Arrest-Knowledge

SCA-SE - Sudden Cardiac Arrest-Self-Efficacy

SCATSIH - Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

SCC - Strengthening Cancer Care (Budget Measure)

SCHS - Sisters of Charity Health Service

SCOHM - Standing Committee of Health Ministers

SCoH - Standing Council on Health (Now COAG Health Council)

SCRCSSP - Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision

SCRIF - States/Commonwealth Research Issues Forum

SDAC - Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers

SDG - Service Development Group

Top of pageSDI - Standard Data Item

SDRF - Service Development Reporting Framework

SDS - Service Delivery Strategy

SEALS - South Eastern Area Laboratory Service (NSW)

SEB - Senior Executive Band

SECTSE - Special Expert Committee on Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

Secure health provider identification (ID) - A number that identifies a health care professional to show that they are who they say they are.

SEG - Strategic Evaluation Group

SEHR - Shared Electronic Health Record

SEIFA - Socioeconomic indexes of area

Semantic interoperability - Requires that information exchanged can be clearly and consistently understood between information technology systems.

SERU - Support Evaluation and Research Unit

Top of pageSES - Socioeconomic Scale

SES - Socioeconomic status

SES - Senior Executive Service

SESAHS - former South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service (now SESIAHS)

SESIAHS - South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Service

SEWB - Social & Emotional Well Being

SEWB RC - Social & Emotional Well Being in Regional Centres

SF - Schedule fee

SF-8 - Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 8

SF-12 - Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 12

SF-36 - Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36

SFA - Standard Funding Agreement

Top of pageSFO - Senior Food Officers

SFR - Self Funded Retiree

SGE - Secure Gateway Environment

SHC - Sharing Health Care

SHCI - Sharing Health Care Initiative

Side Effect - An effect other than that intended, produced by an agent

SIP - Sickness Impact Profile

SHINE SA - Sexual Health Information Networking and Education, South Australia

SHPA - Society of Hospital Pharmacists Australia

SID - Services in Difficulty

Side effect - An effect, other than that intended, produced by an agent (see also “adverse reaction”)

Top of pageSIDS - Sudden infant death syndrome

Sign (clinical) - An indication of a disorder that is detected by a clinician or other observer who examines the person affected. Unlike with symptoms, a patient does not necessarily notice or complain of a sign and many signs are detected only with special techniques used by the person doing the examination.

SIGNAL - Strategic Inter-Governmental Nutrition Alliance

SIIP - Safety Innovations In Practice Program

SIMC - Statistical Information Management Committee

SIME - Strategic Information Management Environment

SIN - Sindbis

SIP - Service incentive payment

SIS - Seniors Information Service

SLA - Service Level Agreement

SLA - Statistical Local Area

SLK - Statistical Linkage Key

SLO - Supervisor liaison officer

SLTEC - Shiga-like toxigenic Escherichia coli

SMAG - Substance Misuse Action Group - Alice Springs, sub-committee of the Quality of Life Project

SMECQ - SPARC, MERLIN, EC, CACP, QARMS

SMR - Standardised mortality ratio

SMT - Self Managing Team

SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

SMU - Single Machine Unit

SNAICC - Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Childcare Centres

Top of pageSNAP - Service Needs Assessment Profile

SNAP Framework - SNAP (smoking, nutrition, alcohol and physical activity) Framework - a framework for developing integrated approaches to behavioural risk factor management within general practice

SNG - Special Needs Group

SNOMED - Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine

SNOMED CT - Systematised Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terminology

Social Phobia - A persistent, irrational fear of being the focus of attention, or fear of behaving in a way that will be embarrassing or humiliating.

SO - State Office

SO - Strategic Outsource

SOP - Service outcome payment

SOR - Statement Of Requirements

Sorry Business - The time after the death of someone from a community

SOW - Statement of Work

SPA - Suicide Prevention Australia

Top of pageSPARC - System for the payment of Aged Residential Care

SPM - Special Public Money

SPP - Special Purpose Grants (to the States)

SPP - Specific Purpose Payment

SPRC - Social Policy Research Centre

SPSS - Statistical Package for Social Science

SPTP - Suicide Prevention Training Programs

SRDC - Strategic Research Development Committee

SRA - Shared Responsibility Agreement

SRG - Service-related Group

SRRP - Specialist Residential Rehabilitation Program

SRS - Complaints Resolution Service

Top of pageSSPF - State Staff Participation Forum of Rural Health

SSPM - Separated Special Public Money

Stakeholder - Those people and organisations who may affect, be affected by, or perceive themselves to be affected by an decision or activity

Standard - Agreed attributes and processes designed to ensure that a product, service or method will perform consistently at a designated level

STATA - Combination of the worlds statistics and data (statistical software package)

STD - State or Territory Director

STD - Sexually Transmitted Disease

STEP - Structured Training and Employment Projects of DEWR

STG - State and/or Territory Government

STI - Sexually Transmitted Infection

STM - State or Territory Manager

STMF - State and Territory Management Forum

Top of pageSTO - State or Territory Office

Strategies - Groups of activities to produce outputs required to achieve planned outcomes. Strategies usually comprise several activities and outputs.

SU - Substance Use

Substance use disorders - Result from harmful use and/or dependence on illicit or licit drugs, including alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs.

Suffering - Experiencing anything subjectively unpleasant. This may include pain, malaise, nausea, vomiting, loss, depression, agitation, alarm, fear or grief

Suicide - Deliberately ending one’s own life.

SWLS - Satisfaction With Life Scale

SWPE - Standardized Whole Patient Equivalent

Symptom - Any indication of a disorder that is apparent to the person affected. Compare with sign (clinical).

System Failure - A fault, breakdown or dysfunction within an organisation’s operational methods, processes or infrastructure

System improvement - The result or outcome of the culture, processes and structures that are directed towards the prevention of system failure and the improvement in safety and quality

Top of pageT/A - Travel Allowance

TAC - Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation

TAFE - Technical and Further Education

TAG - Technical Advisory Group

TAIHS - Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Service

TAOS - Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Substances

TAPA - Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act

TARS - The Aged-Care Rights Service (NSW)

TAS - Tasmania

TB - Tuberculosis

TC - Transition Care

TCA - Targeted Capital Assistance

TCCA - The Cancer Council of Australia

TCP - Transition Care Packages

TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the basic software protocol for Internet communications

TEAP - Training, Education Accreditation Program

TEC - Tender Evaluation Committee

TECC - Technical Change Control Committee

TEGP - Top End Division of General Practice

Terminal Care - Treatment of patients in the final stages of incurable disease

TFR - Total fertility rate

Top of pageTGA - Therapeutic Goods Administration

TGACC - Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code Council

TGAGOR - Therapeutic Goods Administration Group of Regulators

TGAL - Therapeutic Goods Administration Laboratories

TGPD - Tasmanian General Practice Divisions Ltd.

THEM - Training Health & Educational Media

THS - Territory Health Services

TICH - Telethon Institute for Child Health Research

TIMRA - Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement

TIP - Technical Implementation Plan

TNQITAFE - Tropical North Queensland Institute of TAFE

TOD - Telehealth Outcomes Development (framework)

TOI - Tentative Outcome Indicator

ToR - Terms of Reference

Torres Strait Islander - A person of Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as a Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives.

TPHA - Treponema pallidum haemagglutination assay

TPPA - Treponema pallidum particle agglutination

TQ - Test Query

TQI - Total Quality Improvement

TQM - Total Quality Management

TRD's - Temporary Resident Doctors

Top of pageTRG - Technical Reference Group

TROG - Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group

TROMPs - Temporary Residents Other Medical Practitioners

TSEs - Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

TSHF - Torres Strait Health Framework

TSIAB - Torres Strait Islander Advisory Board

TSO - Time Sharing Option

TSQ - Telemedicine Satisfaction Questionnaire

TSRA - Torres Strait Regional Authority

TSUQ - Telemedicine Satisfaction and Usefulness Questionnaire

TTMRA - Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangement

TTRG - Transaction & Technology Reference Group

TTY - Teletype

TUNA - Trans urethral needle ablation

Top of pageUAI - Unprotected anal intercourse

UDRH - University Departments of Rural Health

UFP - Universal Family Practice

UICC - International Union Against Cancer

UK - United Kingdom

UMAT - Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test

UMLS - Unified Medical Language System

UMP - United Medical Protection

UN - United Nations

UNAIDS - United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

Underlying cause of death - The disease or injury which initiated the morbid train of events leading directly to death. Accidental and violent deaths are classified to the external cause, that is, to the circumstance of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury rather than to the nature of the injury.

Underweight - Defined as a body mass index less than 18.5.

Unemployed Person - Person aged 15 years or more who was not employed during the reference week but who had actively looked for work or was currently available for work.

UNFPA - United Nations Fund for Population Activities

UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund

USA - United States of America

UNSW - University of New South Wales

UPG - Upgrading Grants

UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply

URTI - Upper respiratory Tract Infection

UV - Ultraviolet

Top of pageVA - Virtual Amalgamation

Vaccination - The process of administering a vaccine to a person to produce immunity against infection. See immunisation.

VACS - Victorian Ambulatory Classification System

VAM - Value Assessment Methodology

VB - Visual Basic

vCJD - variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease - Mad Cow Disease

VDRL - Venereal Diseases Research Laboratory

VET - Veteran, including the spouse, widow or widower of a veteran

VET - Vocational Education & Training

VHC - Veterans’ Home Care

VHF - Viral haemorrhagic fever

VHPF - Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (also known as VicHealth)

Top of pageVIC - Victoria

VIDRL - Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory

VII - Voluntary Indigenous Identifier

VIPS - Viability Interim Payment System

VMA - Victorian Metropolitan Alliance (Melbourne’s GP training provider)

VMO - Visiting Medical Officer

VMPF - Victorian Medical Postgraduate Foundation

VPN - Virtual Private Network

VQC - Victorian Quality Council

VR - Vocational Registration

VRE - Vancomycin resistant enterococcus

VRGP - vocationally recognised general practitioner

VS - Viability Supplement

VSA - Volatile Substance Abuse legislation

VSAP Act - Volatile Substance Abuse Prevention Legislation in NT

VSP - Volatile Substance Program

VTEC - Verotoxigenic Escherichia coli

VV&T - Verification, Validation & Testing

Top of pageW3C-WAI - World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative

WAAC - Western Australian AIDS Council

WAACCHO - Western Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

WA - Western Australia

WAC - Women's Advisory Council - NT and various states

WACHS - Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey

WACRRM - Western Australian Centre for Remote and Rural Medicine

WAN - Wide Area Network

WARDCU - Western Australian Rural Division Coordinating Unit Inc.

WC - Workers compensation

WCH - Women’s and Children’s Hospital

WCHM - Women’s Centre for Health Matters

WCMS - Web Content Management System

WCRF - World Cancer Research Fund

Top of pageWEL - Workplace English Language and Literacy

WHA - Women’s Hospitals Australia

WHCOs - Workplace Harassment Contact Officers

WHO - World Health Organization

WHO/WPR - World Health Organization Western Pacific Region

WHO/SEARO - World Health Organization South East Asia Regional Office

WHS - WYN Health Service - Willowra, Yeundumu, Nyirripi (Warlpiri zone)

WHS - Women's Health Statewide - SA Children, Youth and Women's Health Service

WIRP - Women in Rural Practice

WMA - World Medical Association

WOG - Whole of Government

WONCA - World Organisation of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners / Family Physicians

WPHC - Well Persons Health Check

WSRGP - Workplace Support for Rural General Practitioners

WTO - World Trade Organization

WPRO - Western Pacific Regional Office

WWG - Workforce Working Group

WYN - Willowra, Yeundumu, Nyirripi

Top of pageYANQ - Youth Affairs Network of Queensland

YAPA - Aboriginal person (Warlpiri)

YARN - Youth Affairs Research Network

YF - Yellow Fever

YLD - Years of healthy life lost to disability

YLL - Years of life lost to premature mortality

Yolngu - Aboriginal person (Arnhem Land)

YOT - Youth Outreach Team/Youth Offending Team

YPWD - Younger People with a Disability

YTD - Year to Date

YWCHEP - Young Women’s Community Health Education Program of CAAC

ZHRG - Zone Health Reference Group