Overview

We work with clinicians and consumers to help health services deliver better, safer healthcare. 

We help health services:

  • prevent and learn from patient harm
  • identify and deliver service improvements
  • engage with consumers.

We support health services to get better and to help keep Victorians safe. 

For more information, see:

How we help health services

We work with health services to:

  • review adverse events
  • respond to safety risks/issues and prevent harm
  • understand data and identify areas to improve.
  • drive improvement through targeted projects and training
  • develop best practice clinical guidance and resources.

To learn more about our work, read our annual reports, annual plans, and strategic plan.

Our structure

We are an administrative office of the Department of Health under Section 11 of the Public Administration Act 2004.

While we stand apart in many respects, we work closely with the department and other government agencies to ensure we collaborate, make good decisions and don’t duplicate efforts.

Our agency is led by:

Meet our leadership team >

Our key functions

Our clinical and professional leadership work provides:

  • expert advice and championing key projects through clinical chiefs and senior advisors.
  • key contacts for senior clinicians on quality and safety matters.
  • leadership and strategic direction in mental health quality and safety improvements, aligning with the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System.
  • initiatives that standardise and improve clinical care in maternal and child health.

Our safety work involves:

  • Continuously monitoring the Victorian healthcare system to identify potential risks of poor outcomes. 
  • Taking proactive measures and collaborating with stakeholders to prevent these outcomes from occurring.
  • Detecting instances of poor outcomes through safety and quality signal monitoring within the Victorian healthcare system. 
  • Initiating actions to reduce the risk of recurrence and enhance patient safety.
  • Building capability and skill in improvement, co-design and clinical governance across the health care system to align safety and improvement.

Our improvement work involves:

  • Specialising in healthcare improvement, co-design and innovation
  • Leading high-impact improvement initiatives, partnering with health services to enhance health outcomes for Victorians.
  • Developing and sustaining a network of clinical and improvement experts to drive continuous system improvement and foster innovation.
  • Overseeing the design and implementation of the Safer Together Program* which focuses on 4 key domains:
    • Reducing hospital-acquired complications and harm.
    • Minimising low-value care.
    • Reducing avoidable admissions.
    • Enhancing medicines management.

*The program includes the 100,000 Lives Initiatives: Aiming to improve care and outcomes for 100,000 Victorians by 30 June 2026.

  • Facilitates the operationalisation of strategy and ensures compliance for SCV as an administrative body.
  • Leads finance and procurement functions.
  • Manages relationships with key stakeholders, including the Coroners Court of Victoria and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
  • Leads the implementation of the Partnering in Healthcare framework, promoting meaningful consumer engagement across SCV, the Department of Health, and the broader Victorian health system.
  • Supports CCOPMM and the Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council.
  • Coordinates the Gender Equality Progress Report.
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