Release of consultation paper on proposed legislative updates to national registration

06 Aug 2018

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) welcomes the release of a consultation paper by the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council (AHMAC) on keeping the national legislation on the registration and accreditation of health practitioners across Australia up to date.

The consultation paper, Regulation of Australia’s health professions: keeping the National Law up to date and fit for purpose, outlines important potential changes to the National Law¹.

AHPRA CEO, Martin Fletcher, said the paper contains a series of proposals that will change the way that Australia’s 700,000 plus registered health practitioners and over 150,000 registered students are regulated by their National Board if implemented.

‘The National Law is the cornerstone of how we regulate registered health practitioners in Australia and we welcome the opportunity for the public and practitioners to have their say’, said Mr Fletcher.

‘We’re particularly pleased to see the proposal for recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the guiding principles of the National Law’, said Mr Fletcher. ‘This proposal reflects our recent shared commitment with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health leaders to help achieve equity in health outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and other Australians by 2031.’

‘It’s important that the proposals in the consultation paper are considered fully in terms of whether they help to ensure the public continue to have access to high quality and safe health services from registered health practitioners, while maintaining fairness for practitioners.’

National Boards and AHPRA will be looking at the paper carefully and providing considered responses on the proposals and we encourage others to provide considered feedback via the submissions process by the closing date on 31 October 2018.