Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency - National Boards fees published for 2022/23
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National Boards fees published for 2022/23

21 Sep 2022

National Boards for the 16 regulated health professions and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) have announced annual registration fees (registration fees) for 2022/2023.

Registration fees fund the work of Ahpra and the National Boards to keep the public safe by:

  • supporting national registration to ensure only qualified, safe, and professional health practitioners can practise in Australia
  • developing evidence-based and practice-tested standards, codes, and guidelines
  • accrediting programs of study that lead to registration and endorsement, and
  • investigating concerns raised about registered health practitioners.

The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme operates on a cost-recovery basis, with each Board meeting the full costs for the professions they regulate. There should not be cross-subsidisation between professions or jurisdictions. For example, chiropractors should not cover the cost of regulating dentists, and NSW practitioners should not cover the costs of managing notifications in other states and territories, and vice versa (see Background below for more information). The National Boards work closely with Ahpra to keep fees as low as possible while continuing to meet regulatory obligations and the expectations of the public and practitioners.

In 2022/23 we are introducing a new model for allocating costs for each Board which considers the complexity, volume, and time to manage the regulatory activity for each profession, together with the costs of shared services across the professions.

The new model reflects access to more detailed data and is designed to ensure costs for regulating each profession are appropriately recovered, target equity levels are maintained to ensure sufficient funds for future activity, and the risk of cross-subsidisation minimised.

National fees

Except for medical practitioners, nurses and midwives, the annual fees cover the registration period from 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. The fees schedule for each profession is published on National Board websites.

With greater visibility of the costs for the regulatory activity for each profession, there will be a correction to the national fees for some professions in 2022/23.

While for most professions, there will be an increase or decrease within indexation, the national fee for physiotherapy will incur a one-off increase above indexation to retain adequate equity. This will be a once off correction to meet changed volumes and to better reflect the specific requirements of regulating the physiotherapy profession. Other professions, such as chiropractic, paramedicine and psychology will see decreases outside indexation, reflecting their forecast regulatory costs.

New South Wales fees

In line with a 2009 Ministerial policy direction, NSW practitioners are required to meet the same registration and accreditation costs as other practitioners in their profession across Australia, and the NSW-specific cost for notifications relating to performance, health and conduct of practitioners. The notifications element of the fee for NSW practitioners is calculated by the relevant NSW Council.

To ensure transparency, the policy direction requires Ahpra and the National Boards to identify the registration and accreditation elements of the fee for NSW practitioners. These costs include:

  • the cost of managing applications for registration, including complex internationally qualified practitioners
  • maintaining the public register
  • the auditing of practitioners for compliance with registration standards and the National Law
  • criminal prosecutions for breaches in advertising and use of title
  • funding of practitioner health services
  • funding the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman
  • funding of registration elements of reviews such as the Cosmetic surgery review
  • funding accreditation services.

In 2022/23, the registration and accreditation fee component for NSW practitioners is being corrected to adequately cover the annual costs. This correction will result in an above indexation increase in 2022/23 for a number of professions including medical practitioners, medical radiation practitioners, occupational therapists, optometrists, and physiotherapists in NSW. The correction will also see a decrease outside of indexation for NSW paramedics and chiropractors.

The fees payable by NSW practitioners for the complaints element of the NSW fee is determined by the relevant Councils in NSW. The total fees payable are detailed in the published fee schedules on National Board websites.

National registration fees for 2022/23

The fees are:

  • The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Health Practice Board of Australia has frozen its registration fees for 2022/23 at $154. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $154.
  • The Chinese Medicine Board of Australia has set its registration fees for 2022/23 at $492. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $291.
  • The Chiropractic Board of Australia has reduced its registration fees for 2022/23 by 15% to $451. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $408.
  • The Dental Board of Australia has frozen its registration fees for 2022/2023 at $719 for dentists and specialists, $639 for dental prosthetists and $355 for dental hygienists and therapists. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for dentists and specialists is $859, for dental prosthetists is $775, and for dental hygienists and therapists is $422.
  • The Medical Board of Australia has set registration fees for 2022/23 at $860, limiting the increase to indexation. The annual renewal fee took effect on 21 July 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $898.
  • The Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia has set its registration fees for 2022/23 to $203 limiting the increase to indexation. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $170.
  • The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has frozen its registration fees for 2022/23 at $180. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2024. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $180.
  • The Occupational Therapy Board of Australia has set registration fees for 2022/23 at $123, limiting the increase to indexation. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $119.
  • The Optometry Board of Australia has set registration fees for 2022/23 to $337 limiting the increase to indexation. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $323.
  • The Osteopathy Board of Australia has set registration fees for 2022/23 at $399 limiting the increase to indexation. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $461.
  • The Paramedicine Board of Australia has set registration fees for 2022/23 to $240. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. For NSW registered paramedics the fees are $268.
  • The Pharmacy Board of Australia has set its annual renewal of general registration fee for 2022/23 at $439, limiting the increase below indexation. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $518.
  • The Physiotherapy Board of Australia has set its registration fees for 2022/23 at $180, a corrective increase above indexation of 18%. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $151.
  • The Podiatry Board of Australia has frozen its registration fee for 2022/23 at $378. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $378.
  • The Psychology Board of Australia has reduced its registration fee for 2022/23 by 5% to $415. The annual renewal fee will apply from 22 September 2022 and for most practitioners covers the registration period of 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. In NSW, the fee for practitioners is $339.

Background to how notifications are managed in NSW and Queensland

In NSW, complaints (notifications) about the conduct, health or performance of NSW practitioners are managed by the Health Care Complaints Commission, the Health Professional Councils Authority (HPCA) and the state-based councils for each health profession. Ahpra’s primary role, in relation to notifications in NSW is to update the national register if changes are made to a practitioner’s registration. As such, costs for notifications managed in NSW by the state-based councils and the HPCA are calculated by the HPCA.

In Queensland, all notifications and concerns are directed to the Office of the Health Ombudsman (OHO), which shares this information with Ahpra and the National Boards. Each notification or concern raised is reviewed by the OHO and Ahpra at the same time and a joint decision is made on which organisation will manage the matter. The Queensland Health Minister determines the contribution of practitioners’ fees to be paid to the OHO. This contribution recognises the OHO management of issues related to the health, performance or conduct of Queensland practitioners, and reflects the reasonable costs of what Ahpra and the National Boards would have done if the OHO didn’t exist.

For more information

 
 
Page reviewed 21/09/2022
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