Infection control documents for dental practices: the 2026 list
Kylie Robb, 19 September 2026.
Short answer: an Australian dental practice needs ten infection control documents in 2026. Four come from the regulator side: the Ahpra and National Boards shared Code of Conduct, two Dental Board of Australia documents, and the CDNA blood-borne virus guideline the Board relies on. Four are national guidelines and standards, one is the ADA Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control, and one is the practice’s own infection prevention and control manual. These are the ten I point every practice to. Three of them changed in 2026 (the Australian Guidelines, AS/NZS 5369 and the ADA Guidelines), and practices in New South Wales and Queensland have state law on top.
“Nobody reads all these documents cover to cover. What matters is that everyone in the practice knows they exist, where they are kept and what each one is for.”
Kylie Robb, Director of Niche Dental
Which documents should a dental practice have in 2026?
The Dental Board’s fact sheet lists most of these as resources and leaves the choice to your professional judgement. This is the set I recommend, in order: the regulator first, then the national guidelines and standards, then professional association guidance, then your own manual, which draws on all of them.
- Ahpra and National Boards Shared Code of Conduct (2022)
- Dental Board of Australia infection prevention and control fact sheet (updated February 2024), self-reflective tool and frequently asked questions
- Dental Board of Australia Guidelines: Registered health practitioners and students in relation to blood-borne viruses (2020)
- CDNA National Guidelines for healthcare workers on managing bloodborne viruses (current version)
- Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare (live online, Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and NHMRC, version 11.27, April 2026)
- AS/NZS 5369:2023 Reprocessing of reusable medical devices and other devices in health and non-health related facilities, incorporating Amendment 1:2026
- National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare (NSQPCH) Standards (2021)
- Australian Immunisation Handbook (live online)
- ADA Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control, Fifth Edition Amended (2026)
- Your infection prevention and control manual
Two more documents worth having: the National Hand Hygiene Initiative 5 Moments poster for dental settings and the Commission’s Principles of aseptic technique: information for healthcare workers (2021).
What changed in 2026?
- AS/NZS 5369:2023 Amendment 1, published 16 January 2026. The standard became joint Australian and New Zealand and the daily load monitoring test wording for small benchtop sterilisers was revised. A copy bought before January is missing the amendment.
- ADA Guidelines reissued as the Fifth Edition Amended, to reflect Amendment 1. The public version is free from the ADA.
- Australian Guidelines updated 8 April 2026 (version 11.27). The Commission is consulting until 29 September 2026 on a third edition due in 2027. Bookmark the page; it is the current copy.
In-person course
Practical infection prevention and control for dental teams
Fri 20 Nov 2026, 9.00 am to 4.30 pm
Canterbury League Club, Belmore
Time for a reset on first principles so your team can think critically and get on with it. Leave with practical resources you can use in the practice on Monday.
$330 a seat. Teams of three or more pay $300 a seat.
What is each document for?
Shared Code of Conduct (2022). The conduct expected of every registered health practitioner, including practising safely and keeping records. The Board points to it for infection prevention and control.
Dental Board fact sheet, self-reflective tool and frequently asked questions. The Board’s position on infection prevention and control, published 1 July 2022 and updated February 2024 to reference AS/NZS 5369:2023.
Dental Board blood-borne virus guidelines (2020). What a registered practitioner must do about their own blood-borne virus status, including when to notify Ahpra.
CDNA blood-borne virus guidelines. The testing and management framework the Board’s guidelines rely on, including how often practitioners who perform exposure prone procedures confirm their status.
Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare. The national evidence base for standard and transmission based precautions. A live online document; the Commission’s page is the current copy.
AS/NZS 5369:2023 with Amendment 1:2026. The standard for cleaning, packaging, sterilising, testing, releasing and storing reusable instruments. Purchased from Standards Australia; a digital licence is access.
National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare (NSQPCH) Standards (2021). The Commission’s standards for primary and community healthcare services, including dental. Infection prevention and control is a criterion of the Clinical Safety Standard. Accreditation is voluntary; providing safe and quality healthcare is not.
Australian Immunisation Handbook. A live online document; internet access is access to it. The health care worker recommendations are the basis for your immunisation program.
ADA Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control, Fifth Edition Amended (2026). Applies the documents above to dental practice.
Your infection prevention and control manual. How infection risk is managed in your practice day to day: how rooms are cleaned, how instruments are reprocessed and released, and the clean and contaminated zones and how the team works within them. Written for your practice from the documents above.
Does my state or territory add anything?
Two states add their own infection control law. The national documents apply everywhere.
- New South Wales. Health Practitioner Regulation (New South Wales) Regulation 2025, Schedule 2 infection control standards, which adopt AS 5369. The Dental Council of NSW can inspect a practice. Complaints about a practitioner go to the Dental Council of New South Wales and the Health Care Complaints Commission.
- Queensland. Public Health Act 2005, Chapter 4: every dental practice needs an infection control management plan. Complaints about a practitioner go to the Office of the Health Ombudsman.
- Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The national framework applies. Notifications about a registered practitioner are handled by Ahpra and the Dental Board of Australia; each state and territory also has a health complaints commissioner, and the two bodies decide between them who deals with a complaint.
What other infection control records are required?
- Your practice immunisation register
- An allergy record for each team member
- Validation reports for each steriliser, dated within the past 12 months
- Blood-borne virus status for each registered practitioner (not support team members)
- Dental unit waterline test results showing water used for patient care is below 200 CFU/mL
- Hand hygiene eModule certificate for each team member
- Clean and contaminated zone drawings for each treatment room
- Evidence of team training in infection control
- Evidence of infection control CPD for each practitioner within the past two years
What do I do with all this?
Think of the ten key documents as your infection control library. They are what you open when you make a decision, check a process, answer a question or look into an incident. Nobody reads them cover to cover. What matters is that everyone in the practice knows they exist, where they are kept and what each one is for.
Two things you could do today:
- Put this list in your manual as its reference list, with the edition and the link for each document. The manual then says what it was written from.
- Create an infection control library sign-off register. Each team member signs that they have been shown the library, where it is and what each document is for, at induction and again when a document changes.
Where Niche Dental fits
We write infection prevention and control manuals for dental practices from the nine documents above, and review the manual you already have against them: manuals and reviews. We run courses as well, with Practical infection prevention and control for dental teams scheduled in Sydney on Friday 20 November 2026: a full day, six hours of CPD, $330 a seat or $300 each for three or more.
How do I keep this current?
Bookmark the live documents rather than saving copies. You could link to this page from your manual, and check the date at the base of this page each quarter. If you find a change before I do, email me at hello@niche.dental and I will update the list.
Sources
- Ahpra and National Boards, Shared Code of Conduct
- Dental Board of Australia, infection prevention and control resources for practitioners
- Dental Board of Australia, policies, codes and guidelines
- Australian Government Department of Health, CDNA National Guidelines for healthcare workers on managing bloodborne viruses
- Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and NHMRC, Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare
- Standards Australia, AS/NZS 5369:2023
- Standards Australia, AS/NZS 5369:2023 Amendment 1:2026
- Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards
- Australian Government Department of Health, Australian Immunisation Handbook
- Australian Dental Association, Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control, Fifth Edition Amended (2026)
- Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, National Hand Hygiene Initiative
- Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Principles of aseptic technique: information for healthcare workers (2021)
- NSW Government, Health Practitioner Regulation (New South Wales) Regulation 2025
- Queensland Health, infection control management plans
For more information contact Niche Dental: hello@niche.dental
Last updated 21 October 2026.