The Australian Coding Standards Advisory Committee.

The National Centre for Classification in Health (NCCH), then the National Coding Centre, established CSAC in 1994. The main function of CSAC is to introduce new and amended International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems, tenth revision, Australian modification (ICD-10-AM) codes and Australian coding standards. In addition, CSAC: • provides advice regarding activities and products relating to coding and coding quality measures • provides and receives reports from the organisations and jurisdictions represented on the committee • ensures that standards of definition and convention are maintained when ratifying changes to ICD-10-AM and the Australian coding standards • reviews and considers public submissions for modifications to ICD-10-AM • receives feedback from users of coded data regarding the impact of standards and codes on current data collections • ratifies coding advice from the NCCH before publication in Coding Matters • recommends to the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing changes to the Australian Refined Diagnosis Related Groups (AR-DRG) classification system, as they relate to clinical coding • recommends to the National Health Information Management Group the national adoption of ICD-10-AM modifications on a biennial basis • provides input to relevant authorities regarding issues related to morbidity and mortality coding, such as data edits, coding quality measurement, and data collection systems • provides specialist advice to the National Health Data Committee on issues relevant to the National Health Data Dictionary • provides advice to the NCCH and the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the relationship between the Australian coding standards for morbidity coding and rules for cause of death coding • provides advice on other relevant health classification systems In 2002, two subcommittees of CSAC were formed: the Data Quality Subcommittee, and the Education Subcommittee. Their establishment reflects two key priorities requiring consideration in the implementation of new and amended Australian coding standards and ICD-10-AM codes.