Vexatious notification safeguard reform

09 Dec 2024

New measures to prevent notification process being weaponised

Processes to identify and minimise the harm caused by vexatious complaints against health practitioners are being strengthened under ongoing regulation reforms.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and National Boards have begun introducing reforms to the Framework used to identify and deal with vexatious notifications, including measures that could see the assessment tool used more frequently, and which will provide greater clarity about regulatory decisions.

The action follows a request from Ahpra for the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman to review the implementation of the Framework following its 2020 introduction, resulting in a range of recommendations announced today. 

Ahpra CEO Martin Fletcher said the Framework must balance the need for public safety concerns to be received and managed appropriately, while ensuring practitioners who are the subject of a notification are treated fairly and not placed under undue stress.

‘The review was commenced at Ahpra’s invitation to examine whether the framework has been effective, or if it has had any unintended consequences,’ he said.

‘We want to have the fairest regulation processes in the world – our practitioners and the public deserve it.

‘We are pleased the review confirmed that vexatious notifications are rare, however we appreciate they can have a significant detrimental impact on those involved and it is vital that everything is done to prevent harm.

‘Our reforms in this area are already well advanced, and we look forward to implementing these recommendations to further build upon our processes.’

Ahpra introduced its Framework in December 2020 as the first of its kind for any Australian regulator, designed to provide end-to-end guidance for identifying and managing a notification that may be vexatious. Under the framework, a notification is determined to be vexatious if it is without substance and intended to cause distress, detriment or harassment to the named practitioner.

In 2022 Ahpra asked the NHPO to undertake an independent review of the implementation of the Framework to ensure it was operating as intended. In its review, published today, the NHPO found there were key areas where the Framework itself, as well as the way it was being implemented, could be improved.

The NHPO found the Framework was not being used to assess whether a notification was vexatious as frequently as it had expected, nor had Ahpra recorded all instances where practitioners claimed notifications against them were vexatious.

It also found evidence of the notification process being weaponised in family violence matters and has called on Ahpra to improve the way it manages complaints involving allegations of family violence, particularly coercive control.

While the review confirmed true instances of vexatious notifications were rare, it found there was disconnect in the perception of practitioners over what constituted a vexatious complaint and how common they were.

To strengthen the Framework in these areas, Ahpra has agreed to implement all NHPO recommendations, including:

• changes to the notification form and information gathering processes to enable stronger vexatiousness assessments
• better documentation of vexatiousness assessments and stronger public reporting about the reasons for ‘no further action’ decisions, particularly where a notification was found to be ‘vexatious’
• improvements to the management of cases involving domestic or family violence allegations
• managing unreasonable conduct and unreasonably persistent notifiers, and detailing when we would seek to fine a person for providing false or misleading information
• own motion investigations into practitioners who have made vexatious notifications about other practitioners.

Mr Fletcher said Ahpra had already begun implementing changes to its Framework to better detect and handle vexatious notifications, and was reviewing information on its website to better explain what is a ‘sub-optimal’ complaint rather than being vexatious.

Following its recent joint statement with Australia’s other health regulators against family violence, Ahpra is developing a policy and related resources to improve the assessment and management of family violence allegations.

Other actions to address the potential for vexatious notifications already underway include:

• reviewing policy and resources relating to the identification, assessment and management of notifications that are or may be vexatious
• improving transparency for notifiers and practitioners on the application of the Framework
• publishing videos, animations and infographics on the Ahpra website to better articulate the types of concerns we can manage and the likely outcome of lower-risk concerns
• finalising a position statement on when a person may be fined for providing false or misleading information or documents to an Ahpra investigator.

You can find out more about the recommendations and how Ahpra is strengthening is process at the vexatious notifications page.

Contact us

• Ahpra Media Line: (03) 8708 9200 or media@ahpra.gov.au