Infection control guide
What the RACGP Standards, the RACGP infection prevention and control guidelines, the NSQPCH Standards and the Therapeutic Goods Administration ask of a clinic's cleaning, in plain words, with the source for each point. Written for practice managers getting ready for a survey, and for anyone choosing a cleaning contractor.
| The point | What it means for a clinic | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Show it, do not just say it | Indicator GP5.1F reads "Our practice is visibly clean", and the practice must "be able to demonstrate that the practice is regularly cleaned". A clean room on the day is not a record. | RACGP Standards 5th ed, GP5.1 |
| A schedule needs five things | Who cleans, which surfaces, how often, by what method, with which products and equipment. | RACGP IPC guidelines, scheduled cleaning |
| Frequently touched surfaces at least daily | A contractor's weekly or twice-weekly visits are the scheduled clean. The daily touchpoint wipe-down belongs to the practice team, and the schedule should show both. | RACGP IPC guidelines, frequency |
| Hospital grade means the ARTG says so | A hospital grade disinfectant with specific claims must be listed in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. "TGA approved" is not a permitted phrase. | TGA |
| Contract cleaners follow your policy | The practice's cleaning policy goes into the cleaning contract, and the practice audits against it. | RACGP IPC guidelines, contract cleaners |
| Keep the log | A cleaning log or contractor checklist is the evidence the Standards name for both GP4.1 and GP5.1. | RACGP Standards 5th ed |
| Safety data sheets on site | Every hazardous chemical brought into the practice needs a current SDS in the practice's hazardous chemicals register. | WorkSafe Victoria; RACGP IPC guidelines |
An office is cleaned to look clean. A clinic is cleaned to a written policy. The RACGP Standards require the practice's infection control policy to cover cleaning in both clinical and non-clinical areas, and the practice has to be able to show a surveyor that the policy is being followed. That changes what the cleaner does, what they use, and what they leave behind.
Two criteria carry the cleaning requirements. Criterion GP4.1, infection prevention and control, requires a written, practice-specific infection control policy (GP4.1B), and the Standards say that policy must contain environmental cleaning of clinical and non-clinical areas. The evidence the Standards list for GP4.1D and GP4.1E includes maintaining a cleaning policy and maintaining a cleaning log. Criterion GP5.1, practice facilities, carries indicator GP5.1F, "Our practice is visibly clean": the practice must be able to demonstrate that it is regularly cleaned, and the evidence named is a written and signed agreement with commercial cleaners and a cleaning log.
The Standards also say what a contract should contain. If a practice engages commercial cleaners, it should have them sign a written contract that outlines a schedule, suitable products to be used, and the areas to be cleaned, and could have the cleaners record their work in a log. That sentence is the whole shape of a good cleaning contract.
The 6th edition was published in August 2026 and carries the same requirements under new codes. Criterion CG9 keeps environmental cleaning inside the infection control policy, and criterion CG10.A asks for a cleaning policy aligned with the RACGP infection prevention and control guidelines or another relevant Australian standard, identifying responsibilities, work health and safety issues, and procedures for scheduled cleaning, unscheduled cleaning and monitoring. Transition timing is set by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care; surveys run against the 5th edition until then.
This is where the detail lives. Practices must have a current cleaning policy identifying responsibilities, work health and safety issues, and procedures for routine scheduled cleaning, unscheduled cleaning and monitoring. Practices must have a cleaning schedule that sets out who cleans, which surfaces, how often, by what method, and with which products and equipment. Frequently touched surfaces are cleaned at least daily. Where cleaning is outsourced, the practice documents the cleaning delivery procedures, includes its cleaning policy in the contract, and audits adherence. Staff responsible for cleaning, including contract cleaners, must be trained for the task and must adhere to the practice's policy. The guidelines were last revised in June 2026.
Specialist, allied health and other primary care services accredited under the National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards meet the same idea through Action 3.09: processes to maintain a clean, safe and hygienic environment that respond to environmental risks, require cleaning and disinfection using products listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods consistent with the manufacturers' instructions and recommended frequencies, and provide access to training on cleaning processes. The evidence examples are a documented cleaning process, a cleaning schedule, evidence that cleaning has been completed, training records, and evidence that the products used are ARTG listed.
Disinfectants are regulated by the TGA. A hospital grade disinfectant that makes specific claims, such as against a named virus, must be listed in the ARTG, and only a product whose ARTG entry or label says hospital grade may be called hospital grade. The TGA prohibits the phrases "TGA approved", "TGA registered" and "TGA endorsed" in advertising; the permitted form is "listed in the ARTG" together with the ARTG number. A listed disinfectant may only be promoted for the purposes on its ARTG entry, so a claim of residual protection, for example, can only be made for the organism and period the entry states.
WorkSafe Victoria requires an up-to-date safety data sheet for every hazardous chemical used or stored on the premises, kept in a hazardous chemicals register the practice maintains. EPA Victoria's clinical waste duties mean clinical, cytotoxic and sharps waste stays with the practice's licensed clinical waste contractor. And in Victoria, carrying on a business of controlling or repelling pests requires a pest control licence under the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008; a clinic that wants a professional pest treatment should use a licensed pest control operator.
| Zone | What matters | Who and when |
|---|---|---|
| Reception and waiting | The counter, the entry door and handles, every chair, the reception glass, and children's play equipment where it is provided. The busiest touchpoints in the building. | Practice team daily; contractor every visit |
| Consulting rooms | Sink, taps, dispensers, desk, seating, door handles and light switches, the couch between patients, the IT. Under the desk and under the bed, where dust and dropped items collect. | Couch and handles by the practice between patients; contractor every visit, deep clean at the end of the week |
| Treatment room | Hard smooth flooring mopped with disinfectant, every bench, handle and cupboard front wiped, bin lids and foot pedals disinfected, the bed frame and mattress cover decontaminated on a set cycle. Medical devices, the vaccine fridge and medicine storage are excluded. | Contractor every visit; bed decontamination fortnightly |
| Bathrooms | Toilets, basins and taps cleaned then disinfected, floors mopped with disinfectant, paper, soap and hand towel restocked, sanitary units wiped externally. | Contractor every visit |
| Kitchen | Dishes, benches and tabletops, floor mopped, bins emptied and re-lined. | Contractor every visit |
Our room-by-room schedule sets this out surface by surface, with the product and the frequency, in the form the guidelines describe.
From the AGPAL interview criteria and survey-day practice, cleaning is examined through indicator GP4.1D in every interview stream, and through the walk-through for GP5.1F. The surveyor walks the practice looking at visible cleanliness, then asks for the documents.
No. There is no RACGP standard for cleaners and no endorsement pathway for a cleaning service. The Standards describe what the practice must be able to show: a signed agreement with a schedule, products and areas, a cleaning log, and a practice that is visibly and demonstrably clean. Any cleaner who calls themselves "RACGP approved" or "RACGP standardised" is claiming something that does not exist.
No. Hospital grade is a regulated description that applies only to a disinfectant whose ARTG entry or label says so. The TGA does not "approve" disinfectants and prohibits that phrase in advertising. Ask for the ARTG number, which is the only form of listing statement the TGA permits.
The RACGP guidelines set the floor for frequently touched surfaces at least daily, with more during an outbreak, and leave the rest to the practice's risk assessment and schedule. In practice that means the practice team wipes touchpoints daily and between patients, and a contractor does the scheduled maintenance cleaning on set days, with the weekly treatment room pass, the fortnightly deep sanitise, the monthly surface test and the quarterly tasks on the same calendar.
The Standards list it as evidence rather than as a must, but it is the evidence they name for both GP4.1 and GP5.1, and the guidelines describe a cleaning record and a contractor checklist as the way to monitor the schedule. It is the simplest way to show a surveyor that the practice is regularly cleaned.
The codes. CG9 keeps environmental cleaning inside the infection control policy and CG10.A asks for a cleaning policy aligned with the RACGP infection prevention and control guidelines, naming responsibilities, work health and safety, scheduled and unscheduled cleaning, and monitoring. A schedule, a log and a contract written for the 5th edition already meet it.
Sanitise Services is an independent cleaning business, not affiliated with, endorsed by or accredited by the RACGP, AGPAL, QPA, QIP or the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Quotations above are short extracts from the published Standards and guidelines; read the originals before relying on them.