AHPRA Annual Report 2015/16

Tribunals, panels and appeals

Performance snapshot

• 84.6% of the matters decided by tribunals in the year resulted in disciplinary action.
• 81.5% of the matters decided by panels in the year resulted in disciplinary action.
• 92.6% of appeals against regulatory decisions resulted in the original decision remaining in place.
• Only 7.4% of appeals against regulatory decisions resulted in the original decision being substituted with a new decision or the original decision being amended.

Tribunal and panel hearings

A National Board can refer a matter to a tribunal for hearing. This happens only when the allegations involve the most serious unprofessional conduct (professional misconduct), and a National Board believes suspension or cancellation of the practitioner’s registration may be warranted. For a list of tribunals in each state and territory, see Table N8.

Tribunals in each state and territory

There were 260 notifications open in the tribunal stage as at 30 June 2016, compared with 336 at the same time last year.

The total number of tribunal hearings involving matters older than 12 months was lower this year compared with 2014/15. However, the proportion of tribunal hearings involving matters older than 12 months was largely steady at 62.7% of matters, compared with 62.2% last year. Tribunal proceedings are conducted in accordance with timetables set by the responsible tribunal in each jurisdiction.

Of the 175 National Board matters decided by tribunals in the year:

• 84.6% (148) resulted in disciplinary action
• 10.3% (18) resulted in no further action, and
• 5.1 (9) were withdrawn and did not proceed.

Since 2010, all health practitioners who have had their registration cancelled by a court or tribunal, been disqualified from practice or have had their registration prohibited appear on the cancelled health practitioners register. See the Cancelled Health Practitioners page.

We publish summaries of outcomes on the AHPRA website on the Tribunal decisions page.

Panels

A National Board has the power to establish two types of panel depending on the type of notification. There are health panels (for health matters) and performance and professional standard panels, for conduct and performance issues. Under the National Law, panels must include members from the relevant health profession as well as community members. Health panels must include a medical practitioner. Each National Board has a list of approved people who may be called on to sit on a panel.

There were 56 notifications open in the panel stage as at 30 June 2016, compared to 138 the previous year. Only 14.3% of these matters were older than 12 months.

Of the 173 matters decided by panels during the year:

• 51.4% (89) resulted in conditions being imposed or an undertaking being accepted
• 28.9% (50) resulted in a caution or reprimand
• 0.6% (1) resulted in a suspension
• 0.6% (1) resulted in surrender of registration, and
• 18.5% (32) resulted in no further action.

We publish information about panel decisions on our Panel decisions page.

Appeals against decisions made under the National Law

The National Law provides a mechanism of appeal against a decision by a National Board in certain circumstances. This includes:

• decisions to refuse an application for registration or endorsement of registration, or to refuse renewal of registration or renewal of an endorsement of registration
• decisions to impose or change a condition placed on registration, or to refuse to change or remove a condition imposed on registration or an undertaking given by the registrant, and
• decisions to suspend registration or to reprimand a registrant.

There were 102 appeals lodged nationally about decisions made under the National Law in 2015/16, including matters handled by the Health Professional Councils Authority (HPCA) in NSW (see Table TPA1). This represents a national reduction of 42.4% when compared to the previous year. This was primarily due to a decline in appeals against decisions following assessments for registration of internationally qualified nurses and midwives.

Of the appeals, 65.2% were lodged in the jurisdictions of Queensland (21), Victoria (20) and NSW (17). All jurisdictions had fewer decisions appealed compared to last year.

Of the 89 appeals managed by AHPRA (excluding HPCA):

• 42.7% related to a decision to impose or change a condition on a person’s registration or endorsement (38 matters)
• 34.8% related to a decision to refuse registration, refuse renewal of registration or refuse an endorsement on registration (31 matters)
• 10.1% related to a decision to refuse to change or remove a condition imposed on a person’s registration or the endorsement of a person’s registration (9 matters)
• 6.7% related to a decision to impose conditions on a person’s registration under section 178 of the National Law (6 matters)
• 3.4% related to a decision to suspend a person’s registration (3 matters), and
• 2.3% related to appeals against other decisions.

The majority of these appeals related to the professions with higher regulatory decision volumes, such as medical practitioners (35), and nursing and midwifery practitioners (28).

Table TPA2 provides details of appeal matters closed in 2015/16. Of the 54 appeals finalised during the year:

• 35.2% had the original decision confirmed. This is a significant increase when compared with 10.2% in the previous year
• 57.4% were withdrawn by the appellant and did not proceed, meaning the original decision remained in place, and
• only 7.4% resulted in the original decision being substituted with a new decision (2 matters) or the original decision being amended (2 matters).

There were 65 appeals still open as at 30 June 2016.

The policy and assessment approach for internationally qualified nurses and midwives was further embedded during the year. This has contributed to a reduction in the number of appeals, an increased rate of decisions being confirmed and low rates of amendment or substitution of the original decision.

In addition, the National Scheme’s regulatory principles apply when evaluating qualifications and eligibility for registration. The principles are designed to encourage a responsive, risk-based approach to regulation across all professions to ensure the public is safe. The regulatory principles continue to have a positive impact on regulatory decision-making.

Supplementary tables on appeals are available on our Downloads page.

Table TPA1: Appeals lodged in 2015/16 by profession and jurisdiction¹

Profession	AHPRA ACT	AHPRA NSW	AHPRA NT	AHPRA QLD	AHPRA SA	AHPRA TAS	AHPRA VIC	AHPRA WA	AHPRA Subtotal 2015/16	HPCA2	Total 2015/16	Total 2014/15
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner									0
Chinese Medicine Practitioner	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1		1	3
Chiropractor	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2		2	2
Dental Practitioner	0	2	1	2	1	1	2	0	9	3	12	11
Medical Practitioner	2	2	1	11	3	1	9	6	35	5	40	64
Medical Radiation Practitioner	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	3		3	4
Midwife									0	1	1	2
Nurse	0	11	1	5	3	1	4	3	28	2	30	61
Occupational Therapist	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1		1	0
Optometrist									0		0	0
Osteopath									0		0	3
Pharmacist	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	4	1	5	5
Physiotherapist	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1		1	2
Psychologist	1	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	5	1	6	20
Total 2015/16	3	17	4	21	9	3	20	12	89	13	102
Total 2014/15	5	26	7	25	28	5	24	32	152	25		177

Table TPA2: Nature of decisions appealed where the appeal was finalised through consent orders or a contested hearing by jurisdiction

Nature of decision appealed	Original decision amended AHPRA1	Original decision amended HPCA2	Original decision confirmed AHPRA	Original decision confirmed HPCA	Original decision substituted for a new decision AHPRA	Original decision substituted for a new decision HPCA	Withdrawn AHPRA	Withdrawn HPCA	Total 2015/16 AHPRA	Total 2015/16 HPCA	Total 2014/15 AHPRA	Total 2014/15 HPCA
Decision to impose conditions on a person's registration under section 178	0		0		0		2		2	0	13	1
Decision to impose or change a condition on a person's registration or the endorsement of the person's registration	2	2	8		2	1	10	1	22	4	36	5
Decision to refuse to change or remove a condition imposed on the person's registration or the endorsement of the person's registration	0		2		0		2	2	4	2	5	0
Decision to refuse to endorse a person's registration	0		0		0		1		1	0	3	0
Decision to refuse to register a person	0		5		0		9	1	14	1	41	7
Decision to refuse to renew a person's registration	0		0		0		4		4	0	4	0
Decision to reprimand a person	0		1		0		0		1	0	0	0
Decision to suspend a person's registration	0		3	2	0		1		4	2	13	4
Other	0		0		0		2		2	0	3	0
Total 2015/16	2	2	19	2	2	1	31	4	54	9
Total 2014/15	5	0	12	4	26	2	75	11			118	17