Accreditation agreements published for the first time

28 Nov 2019

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the National Boards, with the support of the Accreditation Authorities, have today published the current accreditation council agreements and the terms of reference for each accreditation committee. The accreditation agreements, which are between Ahpra and each accreditation council, commenced on 1 July 2019 for a five-year period.

Ahpra’s Chief Executive Officer Martin Fletcher said he is extremely pleased to have the accreditation agreements in the public domain for the first time.

‘We are delighted that the Accreditation Authorities supported publishing the agreements. The guiding principles of the National Law require the National Scheme operates in a transparent, accountable, efficient, effective and fair way and publishing these documents reflects a strengthening of the governance, transparency and accountability around accreditation arrangements,’ said Mr Fletcher.

The current agreements and terms of reference provide a contemporary framework for addressing important accreditation issues such as cultural safety, safety and quality, reducing regulatory burden, multi-profession collaboration to meet evolving health care needs, and strengthened accountability and transparency. The agreements also include principles for funding and fee setting and new key performance indicators to track progress on priority issues.

Background

The National Law¹ sets out the accreditation functions in the National Scheme², these include developing accreditation standards, accrediting programs of study against approved accreditation standards and assessing overseas qualified practitioners.

Each National Board decides whether the accreditation functions for the profession it regulates will be carried out by an external accreditation body or a committee established by the National Board.

If the National Board decides on an external accreditation body, Ahpra enters a contract with them that sets out the accreditation functions to be delivered and the associated reporting and funding arrangements. If the National Board decides on a committee, these matters are specified in terms of reference.

Following a scheduled review of accreditation arrangements, in mid-2018, each National Board except paramedicine decided on the Accreditation Authority for their profession for the period 1 July 2019 – 30 June 2024. In November 2018, the Paramedicine Board of Australia decided the accreditation functions for the paramedicine profession will be exercised by a committee established by the Board for the period 1 December 2018 – 30 November 2021.

For more information, including a list of the current accreditation authorities, please visit the accreditation authorities webpage.

For further information

• Lodge an online enquiry form 
• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 9275 9009 (overseas callers) 
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200

¹The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force of each state and territory (the National Law).
²The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme).