NOCC - What is it?

The use of outcome measures attempts to measure whether a change has occurred for a consumer as a result of mental health care. By using a range of outcome measures, consumers and clinicians can work together to map the journey of recovery over time.

The NOCC measures contribute to the development of clinical practice, aiming to improve the quality of care for consumers of Australia’s public sector mental health services. Outcome measures can assist consumers in considering options for their care and treatment and support the development of a therapeutic relationship between the clinician and the consumer. The measures can also be used by clinicians to monitor the progress of the consumer, evaluate the effectiveness of treatments and thereby provide information that will assist decisions about clinical practices. The outcome measures can also be used by team leaders and service managers to better understand the needs of consumers, to plan for the allocation of resources and to identify where service improvements are required.

The measures that comprise the NOCC are listed below. More detailed information about each measure can be found in Mental Health National Outcomes and Casemix Collection: Overview of Clinician-Rated and Consumer Self-Report Measures V.2.1. The measures are collected by services according to a set of “protocols” - at specified times and points in service delivery. These protocols are described in Mental Health National Outcomes and Casemix Collection: Technical specification of State and Territory reporting requirements.