Freedom of Information Disclosure Log

About

Ahpra is required by section 11C of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (FOI Act) to publish a disclosure log on its website of all documents released under the FOI Act within 10 working days of the applicant being given access to the documents.

Documents containing the following are exempt from inclusion in the disclosure log:

Personal information about any person, if it would be unreasonable to publish the information
Information about the business, commercial, financial or professional affairs of any person, if it would be unreasonable to publish the information
Other information of a kind determined by the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman and Privacy Commissioner, if it would be unreasonable to publish the information
Any information if it is not reasonably practicable to publish the information under this section because of modifications necessary to delete information as described above.

Please note:

Most FOI requests to Ahpra are made by individuals in relation to their notifications. These releases do not meet the criteria for public release in this disclosure log.

The FOI Act also requires Ahpra to proactively publish a range of information under the Information Publication Scheme (IPS). If the document you are looking for is not in the disclosure log, it may be available on the IPS page, which will go live on 1 June 2019.

Accessing the information

The information described in the disclosure log table below has been released by Ahpra under the FOI Act and is available for public access.
If you wish to access any information noted in the disclosure log please submit a written request to Ahpra.

Via email: foi@ahpra.gov.au

Via post:
FOI Officer
Ahpra National Office
GPO Box 9958
Melbourne VIC 3001

Charges

Section 3(4) of the FOI Act requires agencies to provide public access to information promptly and at the lowest reasonable cost.

Ahpra will charge printing costs at $0.15 per page for the provision of hardcopy documents. This cost applies even if the documents are available to download from the Ahpra website or a linked website.

Members of the public are to be notified of any printing charge payable and the documents will be provided once payment is received.

Disclosure Log

FOI ref number	Date published	Summary of FOI request	Description of information	Access decision
46093	3 July 2024	The number of notifications being considered by the Cosmetic Surgery Enforcement Unit (CSEU). The number of CSEU notifications open for more than 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years or greater. The number and level of staff in CSEU.	1 document	Access granted in full
45991	3 July 2024	Documents to assist Ahpra staff and other delegated decision makers of the Psychology Board of Australia on the application of section 98 of the National Law.	1 document	Access granted in full
45409	30 April 2024	A copy of the NMBA and ANMAC 2022 Nurse Practitioner Rapid Review.	2 documents	Access granted in full
45641	29 April 2024	Policy framework for the assessment of qualifications for AOPE approved by the Psychology Board of Australia on 24 November 2023.	1 document	Access granted in full
45266	15 April 2024	Various documents relating to the Psychology Board of Australia's Area of Practice Endorsement Guidelines, approved 1 December 2019.	4 documents - 2 records of meeting and 2 agenda papers.	Access granted in part. Sections 47C, 47E(d) and 47F. Irrelevant information removed, s 22.
44842	6 February 2024	Correspondence between Novo Nordisk and the Pharmacy Board of Australia that includes the words "Ozempic" or "semaglutide" in 2023, and responses or attachments to such correspondence	1 document – a letter received from Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd	Access granted in part. Sections 47E(d) & 47G. Irrelevant information removed, s22
44031	18 December 2023	Agenda papers and Minutes from meetings of the Agency Management Committee regarding the development and approval of Ahpra's Covid 19 Vaccination Policy for staff.	4 Documents - 2 records of meeting and 2 agenda packs	Access granted in part 47C, 47E(c), 47E(d). Irrelevant information removed, s22
42351	27 June 2023	Copies of internal Ahpra procedural guides in relation to registration applications and renewals. Note: The FOI application also included information which is exempt from publication to the disclosure log.	ROPD - About Renewal applications ROPD - About the application for registration process ROPD - About the application for renewal process	Access granted in full
42521	6 June 2023	The review of the interim policy: spinal manipulation for infants and young children on the Chiropractic Board of Australia (Board) website on 1 September 2022.	1 document - Internal email chain and draft regarding editorial review of interim policy.	Access granted in full Direct contact details of staff removed with Applicant’s consent.
42089	2 May 2023	A copy of the report of the Ahpra Expert Advisory Group to National Boards regarding identifying and minimising practitioner distress in the regulatory process.	1 report	Access granted in part. 1 document released in part. Exemptions under sections 47F.
41320	2 May 2023	Submissions made to Ahpra between 10 November 2022 and 31 January 2023 in response to the public consultation on Ahpra's draft data strategy.	27 Submissions made to Ahpra which had not already been published to the Ahpra website.	Access granted in part. 12 documents released in full. 5 documents part exempt. 10 documents exempt in full. Exemptions under sections 47C, 47E(d) and 47F
41323	2 May 2023	Aggregated results of the 2021 Ahpra Employee Opinion Survey (EOS), including various emails and the amount paid to contractor.	5 documents identified, being EOS results and a remittance advice.	Access granted in part. 4 documents part exempt under section 47F. 1 document released with irrelevant material removed, s22.
40358	8 February 2023	Submissions by Ahpra to Attorneys-General and/or Justice ministers regarding tribunal proceedings and delays between 1 January 2020 and 3 November 2022	A letter to Attorney-General of Victoria	Access granted in full
40713	8 February 2023	Surveys taken by Ahpra in the last five years measuring public perception of the regulator and staff satisfaction.	6 staff survey documents	Access granted in full
40352	12 January 2023	1. A document showing how many doctors did not renew their registration for each year 2020, 2021and 2022 (due 30/9/22) 2. A document showing how many total doctors were registered for each year 2020,2021 and 2022(due 30/09/22) 3. A document showing how many doctors have taken their own lives (suicide) for each year 2020,2021 and 2022 4. A document showing how many nurses did not renew their registration for each year 2020, 2021and 2022 (due 30/9/22) 5. A document showing how many nurses were registered for each year 2020, 2021 and 2022 (due30/09/22) 6. A document showing how many paramedics did not renew their registration for each year 2020,2021 and 2022 (due 30/9/22) 7. A document showing how many paramedics were registered for each year 2020, 2021 and 2022(due 30/09/22)	Items 2, 5, 7 – Medical Board Statistics webpage; Nursing and Midwifery Board Statistics webpage; Paramedicine Board Statistics webpage	Items 1, 3, 4, 6 - access refused as no documents found Items 2, 5, 7 - publicly available documents
38794	26 September 2022	1. Preliminary consultation responses from third parties for the Dental Board Consultation: “Helping practitioners with infection prevention and control: public consultation on Guidelines on infection control” that closed 15 November 2021. 2. Correspondence from the Dental Board of Australia to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in relation to the Dental Board’s preliminary consultations and public consultation: “Helping practitioners with infection prevention and control: public consultation on Guidelines on infection control” that closed 15 November 2021.	Preliminary and public feedback documents Preliminary and public consultation papers	Access granted in part
39344	7 September 2022	Requesting information around the number of nurses qualified for renal dialysis (nephrology) care, renal medicine specialists and renal technicians by state and over the past 5 years (FY17 till FY21/22)	In relation to the FOI request, statistics exist at Ahpra for physicians with specialist registration in nephrology only – Medical Board of Australia Registrant Data reports from 2017 to 2022 released to applicant	Access granted in part
38795	18 August 2022	1. Dental Board of Australia policies and/or guidelines that relate to the involvement of the Australian Dental Association Inc (ADA) and/or Australian Dental Association state branches (e.g. ADA NSW, ADA SA, ADA VIC, ADA TAS, ADA WA, ADA QLD) in Dental Board Notifications and complaint related matters for dental practitioners. 2. Dental Board of Australia policies and guidelines in relation to the use of chaperones and associated notices for registered dental practitioners subject to supervised practice due to a notification. 3. A document or set of documents that show the number of “vexatious” notifications/complaints that the Dental Board/AHPRA has received about registered dental practitioners between 2010 to 2022.	Notice of Board decision to take action template Notice of Board decision to take immediate action template Ahpra chaperone protocol	Access granted in part
33829	3 June 2022	The following documents: The number of registered nurses in South Australia in the months of May, June and July 2009. The number of registered nurses in the South Australia in the month of July, August and September 2021. The number of registered nurses in Australia in the month of July, August and September 2021.	Nursing and Midwifery Board of South Australia’s Annual Report for 2008-2009 Nursing and Midwifery Board of South Australia’s quarterly registrant data report for July-September 2021.	Item 1 - access refused as no documents found Items 2 and 3 - publicly available documents
36111	3 June 2022	Request for documents that show the total number of responses for each answer option in the Dental Board’s feedback survey “Helping practitioners with infection prevention and control: public consultation on Guidelines on infection control” that closed 15 November 2021.	Online survey summary of number of responses	Access granted in full
35772	3 June 2022	Request for documentation, policies and related information related to Ahpra's obligations under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA)	Chemical-Management-Policy Clean-Desk-Policy Code-of-Conduct-policy COVID-19-Vaccination-Policy Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy People-policy Recruitment-and-selection-policy Grievance-Resolution-policy Bullying-harassment-and-discrimination-policy Discipline-policy Unsatisfactory-performance-and-conduct-policy	Access granted in full
31406	3 June 2022	The following documents: A document issued to employees, contractors or agency staff which obliges parties receiving, assessing, investigating or making decisions on notifications concerning health practitioners to comply with people’s human rights while having involvement in administering the National Law. A copy of the 'Unsatisfactory Performance & Conduct Policy" and the "Discipline Policy" as referred to in the Ahpra Code of Conduct. A document issued by AHPRA, the National Board or Psychology Board of Australia, which confirms psychologists are not legally obliged or required to provide letters or information to Centrelink to assist the agency in determining a person’s correct entitlements under Social Security Law.	Code of Conduct Unsatisfactory performance and conduct policy Discipline Policy	Access granted in full
30674	7 July 2021	The Chinese Medicine Board of Australia’s (CMBA) Board approved ‘Framework for Assessing a qualification from an overseas qualified Chinese medicine applicant’	CMBA Overseas Assessment Policy Framework	Full access provided
24135	9 October 2019	Documentation of the Ahpra internal policy regarding the admissibility of audio recordings.	Ahpra National Legal Position Paper regarding recording and communicating private conversations.	Partial access provided Personal information exempted under section 47F of the FOI Act
23574		Dental Board policies and procedures governing the management of actual and potential conflicts of interest of members of the Dental Board	Guidelines for Board and committee members with respect to conflict of interest (NOTE - applies to all National Boards)	Full access provided
23350	25 September 2019	Documents outlining: Documentation of the AHPRA internal policy regarding the admissibility of audio recordings.	AHPRA National Legal Position Paper regarding recording and communicating private conversations	Partial access provided Personal information exempted under section 47F of the FOI Act
22045	22 February 2019	Documents outlining: Policies, guidelines, directives, rules, codes of practice, procedures governing the handling of incoming telephone calls by the AHPRA’s call centre (a.k.a. switchboard operators / enquiry officers). Policies, guidelines, directives, rules, codes of practice, procedures governing the handling of complaints about breaches of the Medical Board of Australia's Code of Conduct for Doctors in Australia. Policies, guidelines, directives, rules, codes of practice, procedures governing the handling of requests under Part III of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Agreed measures or metrics used to define and evaluate the critical success factors in the delivery of services by the AHPRA’s call centre (a.k.a. switchboard operators / enquiry officers).	Policies, protocols, facts sheets, standard operation procedures, and workbooks for the AHPRA National Customer Service Team. Policies, guidelines, protocols, manuals, and information sheets in relation to AHPRA’s management of notifications	Partial access provided. Items 3 - 4 refused under section 24A.
22046	22 February 2019	Documents outlining: Procedures for determining whether an employee in the agency has breached the Code of Conduct in Section 13 of the Public Service Act 1999 (Cth). Policies, guidelines, directives, rules, codes of practice, procedures governing the handling of complaints from members of the public about the conduct of employees that is illegal, unreasonable, unjust or oppressive, improperly discriminatory, based on improper or irrelevant grounds, based on a mistake of law or fact, or otherwise wrong. Policies, guidelines, directives, rules, codes of practice, procedures governing the handling of complaints from members of the public about breaches of the Australian Privacy Principles in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).	AHPRA guide to complaint handling for National Law entities; AHPRA public interest disclosure (whistleblower) policy) AHPRA procedure to respond to a breach of privacy and incident report templates	Full access provided. Item 1 refused under section 24A of the FOI Act.
22059	22 February 2019	Documents outlining: Organisational structure of AHPRA’s National Information Release Unit (NIR Unit). Functions and activities of the NIR Unit. who (within the senior executive) is responsible for leading the work in the NIR Unit. Policies, guidelines, directives, rules, codes of practice, procedures governing the handling of requests under Part III of the FOI Act.	AHPRA National Legal Practice organisation chart National Information Release Unit description and overview of work Role descriptors of AHPRA employees currently working within the National Information Release Unit	Full access provided (material irrelevant to the request has been deleted under section 22 of the FOI Act). Item 4 refused under section 24A of the FOI Act.