Ageing Australia Quality Management System Support Portal

Edit, review and approve policy

UpdatedNovember 12, 2025

QMS users with the appropriate level of access can make changes to policies. The table below explains the powers of the different access levels in editing policies.

User access level

Powers related to process editing

Administrator

Model Administrator

Can edit all aspects of policies as well as approve and publish changes

Policy Editor

Can edit all aspects of policies

Edit existing policy

Step 1

Open the policy you want to edit. If the policy already has a draft version (or a version that is awaiting approval/publication) open this version to edit NOT the older published version. You will not be able to create a second draft by opening the published version.

If the policy is already marked ‘Awaiting Approval’ or ‘Ready to Publish’, open the policy and revert to a draft so you can edit.

Step 2

You can edit either the policy overview or policy tab sections. Click through the tabs to explore your editing options.

When editing Overview you can:

edit the policy name, description (the introduction to your policy) and short summary (the text that will appear when browsing policy)
attach related documents
assign the policy to relevant roles
select a policy category (the group to which the policy belongs).

When editing Policy you can:

add a new policy section
edit section title, number and content
reorder policy sections
delete sections.

Step 3

If the item is not already in a draft state, click Start Editing.

Step 4

A workflow of the policy editing and approval process appears. This gives you guidance to actions that must be completed before your edited policy is published. Write a summary of what changes you intend to make and click Send for review. Your policy is now in a draft state. It is only visible to you and other administrators.

Please note: when the policy is in a draft or approved state (and before it is published), it will be a duplicate of the latest published version of the same policy.

Until you publish the draft, you will see two different items with the same name when you view all your policies in list view.

When you publish the draft, only the latest version will be available (that is, there will no longer be a duplicate).

Edit overview section of the policy

Step 1

Click on the Overview tab to open the overview section of the policy.

Step 2

Click Edit and make all relevant changes. The table below summarises each field.

Field	Description
Policy name	This is shown as the title of the policy. This is the only compulsory section of the Overview.
Description	Overview of the policy such as background and/or purpose. It may be helpful to include key definitions and/or applicability information in this section.
External reference identifier	An identification code/number for the item. This can be used if the item is being migrated from a different system or if a system of identifiers is required. This field is optional.
External source link	Link to relevant external documentation.
Related documents	Documents that are related to the policy (note the Documents must already be loaded into the QMS. Refer to Manage Documents page for more information)
Managing Business Unit	The Business Unit that manages this piece of content (applies only if you have Business Units implemented and wish to have visibility of the Policy restricted to users affiliated with the Business Unit)
Governing regulations	Regulations related to the policy (note the Regulations must already be loaded into the QMS. Refer to Manage Regulations page for more information)
Applicable processes	Processes governed by the policy.
Summary	A short description of the policy that appears in the Browse subtab.
Roles this is relevant to	The work roles and people to which the policy is related (e.g. Support Worker) (note this only needs to be updated if you intend to set the Policy as required reading for those roles. Refer to Assign Required Reading page for more information)
Category	The relevant policy group. (note the QMS content is loaded to be categorised according the Aged Care Quality Standards, ARVAS standards and/or NDIS Standards. Refer to Manage Categories page for more information)
Required reading	Tick this box to make this item required reading for all roles to which the item is relevant.
Keywords for 'Search'	Keywords that, when searched in the QMS, will make the item come up in search results (note all text within the body of the Policy will be searched through as part of the search function so this section can be used to include abbreviations or other terms which are not found in the Policy itself)
Remove from view	Tick the box to hide the item. This will make the item only visible to users with Administrator permissions. Hidden items will: not shown in lists not shown as a related item on any other items. not accessible by URL (will show item not found message) not shown in most downloadable reports. Refer to Hide Items for more information.

Tip

You can format the text, add images, special characters, external links, and link items from QMS. See section “Editing Tools” at the end of article.

Step 3

Click save to save all changes.

Edit policy section of the policy

Step 1

Click on Policy to open the policy section and then press

Step 2

Each policy subsection needs to be edited separately. Click on the subsection you wish to edit under the Table of sections.

Step 3

Enter text and changes under the Section text. You can also rename the section under Section header if required.

Tip

You can format the text, add images, special characters, external links, and link items from QMS. See section “Editing Tools” at the end of article.

Step 4

When ready, press save and proceed to the next section under Table of sections.

Step 5

Use the buttons on the left hand side to delete, reorder or add new sections as needed.

Step 6

You can preview your policy by clicking View. This shows you how your policy will appear in the web app once it is published. Click Edit to return to policy editing mode.

Step 7

When you have made all the required changes, click Send for review.

Step 8

The release management workflow appears. Write a summary of what was changed and click Send for review. The new policy version is now ready for approval.

Approve and publish updated policy

Step 1

To approve a new policy version click Approval. QMS Administrators and Model Administrators are able to approve and publish policies. You will have the option to either approve the policy or revert it to draft.

Step 2

Click Approve. The release management workflow appears. You can edit the summary of what was changed and also have the option to select who approved the item, the date on which it was approved as well as the next review date. Click Approveto confirm changes.

Step 3

To publish the new policy version, click Publishing. At this stage, you can still revert the policy to a draft to make further changes. When you have finished all editing, click Publish Immediately.

Step 4

When you confirm publication, a release management workflow appears. You have the option to edit the summary of what was changed. Click Continueto publish the new policy version.

Step 5

The release label and notes window appears. Write official release notes about the new policy version. You can edit the release notes later if required. The table below provides a summary of each field.

Field	Description
Label this release	The official name of this release.
Release notes	Details about what updates were made.
Post a news item about this when the items are published	You can post a news item on the Home tab to notify users about the new role.
News item title	Title of the news item that will appear in the Home tab.
News message	The message that appears under the news item title.
Include link in release summary	If selected, this option will allow you to include a link to the release notes for the item.
Email all users when this News Item is published	If selected, all QMS users in your organisation (provided they have activated their account) will receive an email notification about the release at 5:30am AEDT/AEST the following day.

Step 6

Click Publish to officially release the new policy version. It is now visible to all users and the previous published version will no longer be visible or searchable. Previous versions can be found under the version tab of the policy. Refer to Previous Item Version Information for more details.

Editing Tools

You can format the text and add different items.

When you click on Insert. It gives you different options to add.

Insert Image

You can add an image from your device

Insert Special characters

You can add any special character.

Link to Item

You can add any item (document, policy, process) from the QMS

External Link

You can add any other external reference link.

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