Media release

09 Apr 2013

Media release - National Boards are consulting on a draft social media policy and revised guidelines on advertising and mandatory reporting.

Have your say on how health practitioners are regulated

Public consultation on common guidelines and codes of conduct for all registered health practitioners

AHPRA - Media release - 9 April 2013 (90.6 KB,PDF)

Members of the public have an opportunity to comment on how registered health practitioners are regulated with the release of a consultation paper on common guidelines that apply to all registered health practitioners, and codes of conduct for most professions.

The 14 National Boards in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) have released the paper for public consultation, which proposes:

• revisions to the Guidelines for advertising - which provide guidance about the advertising restrictions imposed by the law, including social media, on individuals (including practitioners) and businesses


• a Social media policy - to address social media issues, and the legal obligations of practitioners, and


• revisions to the Guidelines for mandatory notifications - which provide guidance about the requirements for practitioners to make mandatory notifications under the law.

These documents are common across all 14 Boards in the National Scheme and, once finalised, will apply to all 530,000 registered health practitioners in Australia.

Most Boards are also consulting on a revised Code of conduct (either the code shared by most National Boards, or for some Boards there is a profession-specific code). The Medical Board of Australia and Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia are not consulting on their codes at this stage, but will do so later in the year.

Anyone with an interest in health practitioner regulation, including health practitioners and members of the public, is strongly encouraged to read and respond to the consultation paper.

The National Boards will consider the consultation feedback on the proposed guidelines and codes, before finalising the documents.

The consultation paper is available on the current consultation page of the AHPRA website. 

The consultation closes: 30 May 2013

About the National Boards and health practitioner regulation

The objectives of the National Scheme are to protect the public by ensuring that only suitable and qualified practitioners are registered; and to increase the flexibility, responsiveness, sustainability and mobility of the Australian health workforce. The National Boards aim to make sure the public has access to safe and competent services from the regulated professions. They do this through the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme), supported by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). The National Scheme has patient safety at its heart, and all health practitioners have a duty to make the care of their patients their first concern and to practise safely and effectively.

For more information

• Read the consultation paper on the current consultation page of the AHPRA website 
• Visit the Contact us page to lodge an online enquiry form 
• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 8708 9001 (overseas callers) 
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200