Triage Policy and Protocol Template for Australian General Practices

What's in this template?

This is a downloadable Word template for a Triage Policy and Protocol, written to satisfy criterion PP9.A of the RACGP Standards for general practices (6th edition), published 26 August 2026, and indicator GP1.1B of the 5th edition, which practices are still assessed against today. It is built to the higher bar of the two, so the one document serves both editions and nothing has to be rewritten when accreditation moves.

The document has 17 numbered sections:

1. Purpose. States the criterion, the 5th edition equivalent, and why the document is built to the higher bar.
2. Scope. Covers every team member who takes a call, greets a patient or manages the book, every contact channel, and opening hours only.
3. How this relates to other practice documents. Draws the boundary between this policy and its neighbours, using the table below.
4. The triage lead. Names the clinical team member PP9.A asks for, a deputy, and what the role owns.
5. Urgency categories. A four-level practice access scale: Emergency, Urgent, Soon, Routine, with timeframes the practice sets itself.
6. Red flags: escalate immediately, every time. A starting list of symptoms and situations reception treats as an emergency without further questions, marked for review by the triage lead before publishing.
7. Telephone triage. The hold question, three questions reception asks in order, four things reception must never do, and the handover to the clinical team member on duty.
8. Triage at the front desk. Walk-ins, the waiting room sign, and deterioration while waiting.
9. When the practice is fully booked. The options a practice can offer a patient who needs to be seen today.
10. Emergency events and reprioritising appointments. Announce, reprioritise, inform waiting and not-yet-arrived patients, record.
11. Sensitive and privacy-aware communication. The fifth training topic the 6th edition guidance adds.
12. Documentation and records. What is recorded for every escalated contact, and reception access to records limited to the task.
13. Training and competency. Induction before working unsupervised, a refresher at an interval the practice sets, the topics covered, and the record at Appendix C.
14. Review and audit. A periodic audit of triaged contacts by the triage lead, reported to leadership, plus review after any triage-related incident or complaint.
15. Roles and responsibilities. Principal, practice manager, triage lead, clinical team member on duty, reception, all clinical team members.
16. Related documents. Where the neighbouring policies live.
17. Approval and review. The signature block.

Appendix A is a triage flowchart for reception: a one-page situation, action, who, timeframe table you print for the desk. Appendix B is a telephone triage prompt sheet, a fillable sheet kept beside every phone and transferred to the patient record. Appendix C is the triage training record, a landscape log of name, role, date, content covered, delivered by, format, signature and next refresher due, plus the date the red-flag list was last reviewed. Appendix D is the waiting room sign, with editable wording asking patients whose symptoms are getting worse to tell reception.

Editable placeholder fields

Every field the practice must complete is a yellow-highlighted {{ }}Placeholder{{placeholder}}: {{ }}Practice name{{practice_name}}, {{ }}ABN{{abn}}, {{ }}Practice address{{practice_address}}, {{ }}Triage lead{{triage_lead}}, {{ }}Triage deputy{{triage_deputy}}, {{ }}Urgent handover contact{{urgent_handover_contact}}, {{ }}Practice principal name{{practice_principal_name}}, {{ }}Practice manager{{practice_manager}}, {{ }}Urgent timeframe{{urgent_timeframe}}, {{ }}Soon timeframe{{soon_timeframe}}, {{ }}Routine timeframe{{routine_timeframe}}, {{ }}On the day slots{{on_the_day_slots}}, {{ }}Slot release time{{slot_release_time}}, {{ }}Nearest ed{{nearest_ed}}, {{ }}Record location{{record_location}}, {{ }}Refresher interval{{refresher_interval}}, {{ }}Audit interval{{audit_interval}}, {{ }}Red flag review date{{red_flag_review_date}}, {{ }}Approved by{{approved_by}}, {{ }}Effective date{{effective_date}}, {{ }}Next review date{{next_review_date}}, and the sign-off dates.

Access triage is not results triage

The word "triage" appears in two different RACGP criteria, and practices routinely answer one while assuming they have answered both. This template covers access triage only. The boundary:

The test is the question being asked. A patient on the phone describing chest pain is the triage policy. A troponin result arriving in the inbox is the results policy. A patient collapsing in the waiting room is the triage policy for the first thirty seconds and the Emergency Response Plan after that. A patient who calls at 9 pm reaches the After-Hours Care Policy.

This matters because a practice that holds only a results follow-up policy has answered CG6 and nothing under PP9.A. Clinical decisions about an individual patient remain the treating clinician's; the policy does not replace clinical judgement or the practice's clinical software prompts.

What RACGP criterion PP9.A actually requires

PP9.A sits in criteria set PP9, "Responsive system for patient care", in the Patient participation standard of the 6th edition. The consumer expectation statement for PP9 reads: "I expect that this practice provides a variety of appointment types based on my current healthcare need." The criterion itself reads:

PP9.A The practice has a triage system for prioritising patient care. The practice:

• prioritises patients according to their urgency of need
• has a member of the clinical team who has primary responsibility for training the practice team in triage, including how to:
  • identify patients with an urgent medical need
  • identify emergency events and reprioritise appointments accordingly
  • seek urgent medical assistance from an appropriate member of the clinical team
  • manage patients with urgent medical needs when the practice is fully booked.

The sibling criterion, PP9.B, covers consultation types: "Patients can access different consultation types to accommodate their needs." That one is about the appointment book, not triage, and this template does not try to answer it.

The 6th edition guidance for PP9.A also suggests, using "could", that the practice could have triage guidelines at the reception area, could have a triage flowchart available for reception staff members and the clinical team, could display a sign in the waiting area advising patients who have a high-risk condition or deteriorating symptoms to tell reception staff members, and could show evidence that administrative staff members update the patient waiting list if there has been an emergency and explain to patients that this may increase their waiting time.

What changed from the 5th edition

The RACGP's official mapping document, the RACGP's mapping of the 6th edition to the 5th, maps PP9.A ("Triage systems") to 5th edition indicator GP1.1B and classifies the change as "Expanded".

Under the Standards for general practices (5th edition), criterion GP1.1, "Responsive system for patient care", carries three indicators: "GP1.1 A Our practice provides different consultation types to accommodate patients' needs"; "GP1.1 B Our practice has a triage system"; "GP1.1 C Our recorded phone message advises patients to call 000 in case of an emergency". For GP1.1B, the practice must "prioritise patients according to urgency of need, and retain evidence of this".

The delta is in training. Under the 5th edition, all members of the practice team must know how the practice identifies patients with an urgent medical need, identifies medical emergencies and reprioritises appointments accordingly, seeks urgent medical assistance from a clinical team member, and deals with patients who have urgent medical needs when the practice is fully booked. But training itself "could be provided", delivered in-house by a practice member or by an external training provider. Under the 6th edition, training is required, a named member of the clinical team holds primary responsibility for it, and the guidance adds a fifth topic: use sensitive and privacy-aware communication methods when patients indicate they have safety or confidentiality concerns. That fifth topic appears in the guidance, not in the criterion text itself.

The four "could" evidence items, guidelines at reception, a triage flowchart, the waiting-room sign, and evidence the waiting list is updated after an emergency, are identical in both editions. GP1.1C's recorded message requirement, a phone message telling patients to call 000 if they have an emergency, still applies and is not replaced by anything in PP9.A.

Where accreditation actually stands

Practices are still accredited against the 5th edition. Transition arrangements under the National General Practice Accreditation Scheme are a matter for the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and have not been published. The Commission's own 6th edition page, updated 26 August 2026, says accreditation "currently uses the 5th edition" and that arrangements will come "in due course". No date has been announced, and this page will not guess at one.

Because the template is built to the higher bar, it satisfies GP1.1B today and PP9.A when the switch happens. For the wider picture, see the 6th edition contents map and the migration guide.

How to customise this template

1. Download the document and work through the yellow-highlighted {{ }}Placeholder{{placeholder}} fields, replacing each one with your practice's details.
2. Name the triage lead: a member of the clinical team, usually the practice nurse or a GP, and a deputy who can act when the lead is away.
3. Set the three timeframes in Section 5, {{ }}Urgent timeframe{{urgent_timeframe}}, {{ }}Soon timeframe{{soon_timeframe}} and {{ }}Routine timeframe{{routine_timeframe}}, against what your appointment book can actually deliver.
4. Have the triage lead review the red-flag list in Section 6 line by line before the policy is published. The starting list is a draft until a clinician has signed it off.
5. Decide which of the fully booked options in Section 9 your practice actually offers, and delete the rest. A policy that lists options you do not provide is worse than a shorter list you honour.
6. Put the daily roster arrangement for urgent handovers in writing, so reception always knows who {{ }}Urgent handover contact{{urgent_handover_contact}} is on any given day.
7. Print Appendix A for the desk, Appendix B beside every phone, and Appendix D for the waiting room. The policy is the reference; the appendices are what staff actually use.
8. Start Appendix C now, even before the policy is approved, and set the review cycle. Add a trigger to revisit the policy when the Commission publishes transition arrangements for the 6th edition.

Related templates and tools

• Follow-up of Tests, Results and Referrals Policy: the results triage side of the boundary, covering what happens once a result returns to the practice.
• After-Hours Care Policy: care when the practice is not open, including the recorded message and the deputising service.
• Emergency Response Plan: what the team does once an emergency is declared, from equipment to drills.
• Staff Training and Orientation Policy: the broader induction and training framework that the triage training record at Appendix C sits inside.
• Abuse and Violence Response Policy: what follows when a patient discloses family, domestic or sexual violence. Section 11 of the triage policy covers only the first contact; that policy takes over from there.
• Clinical triage (glossary): a plain definition of the term, useful when briefing new staff.
• 6th edition contents map: where every criterion sits in the new Standards.
• RACGP Accreditation Readiness Quiz: a quick check of where your practice stands before an assessment.

Frequently asked questions

Is a triage policy mandatory for RACGP accreditation?

Yes. Practices are currently assessed against the 5th edition, and indicator GP1.1B requires the practice to have a triage system, prioritise patients according to urgency of need, and retain evidence of this. The 6th edition carries the same obligation forward as criterion PP9.A, expanded. This template satisfies both.

Does the 6th edition change what a triage policy has to contain?

Yes. The RACGP classifies the change as "Expanded". Training moves from something that "could be provided" under the 5th edition to a requirement with a named member of the clinical team holding primary responsibility for it, and the guidance adds a fifth training topic: sensitive and privacy-aware communication when patients indicate safety or confidentiality concerns.

Can reception staff triage patients?

Yes, within the limits the policy sets. The 5th edition requires all members of the practice team to know how the practice identifies urgent need, identifies emergencies and reprioritises, seeks urgent clinical assistance, and manages urgent patients when fully booked, and says training could be provided so administrative staff can identify patients in need of urgent care. Clinical decisions about an individual patient remain the treating clinician's.

Does the template use the Australasian Triage Scale?

No. Section 5 states that the Australasian Triage Scale is a hospital emergency department instrument and is not applied. The template uses a four-level practice access scale: Emergency, Urgent, Soon, Routine. The timeframes are placeholders your practice sets, because what counts as urgent in a general practice depends on your appointment book, not a hospital category.

What do we do when the practice is fully booked and a patient needs to be seen today?

Section 9 lists the options: on-the-day slots with a release time, nurse assessment, a clinician phone or video consult, a brief GP interruption, redirection to the nearest emergency department, urgent care, a home visit where safe and reasonable, or healthdirect on 1800 022 222. Keep only the options your practice actually offers, and delete the rest.

Who should be the triage lead?

A member of the clinical team, usually the practice nurse or a GP. PP9.A requires a named clinical team member with primary responsibility for training the practice team in triage, so the role cannot sit with reception or the practice manager alone. Name a deputy as well, so the role does not lapse when the lead is on leave.

Is this the same as our results follow-up policy?

No. The word triage appears in both, but they answer different questions. This policy decides who is seen first when a patient asks for care. A results follow-up policy decides what happens to a result once it returns to the practice. A patient on the phone describing chest pain is this policy; a troponin result arriving in the inbox is the results policy.

Can I use this for AGPAL or QPA accreditation?

Yes. Both agencies assess against the RACGP Standards, and the evidence they look for is the four "could" items: a flowchart at reception, triage guidelines, the waiting room sign, and evidence the waiting list is updated after an emergency, plus the training record. The template supplies all five: Appendix A for the flowchart and reception guidelines, Appendix D for the sign, the Section 12 record for the waiting list, and Appendix C for training.