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Where there are consultations which have closed, they will be shown below along with the individual submissions that were received and considered.
Where there are consultations which are open for input, they will be shown under Current Consultations.
Released: 27 November 2023 Closed: 1 March 2024 (Consultation was extended for four weeks)
Ahpra and National Boards are reforming the regulation of registered health practitioners who work in the cosmetics sector in Australia, to improve practice and standards, public safety and informed consumer choice.
We consulted on three documents below related to the regulation of registered health practitioners who perform and advertise non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
Submissions will be published on the Ahpra website.
Released: 20 October 2023 Closed: 16 November 2023
An independent review into the regulation of podiatric surgeons was commissioned by the Podiatry Board of Australia and Ahpra in October 2023. The review was undertaken by Professor Ron Paterson.
You can read the Podiatry Board and Ahpra’s response at Independent review of the regulation of podiatric surgeons in Australia.
The review received 130 written submissions. Of these, 79 were in scope and informed the review’s findings. Some stakeholders requested that their submission remain in confidence. Submissions from organisations are listed alphabetically below. All other submissions are available in a combined PDF as listed below. Some submissions have been published with the person’s name withheld or removed.
We have redacted contact details and potentially defamatory, sensitive or identifying comments from published submissions.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the submissions are those of the individuals or organisations who submitted them and their publication does not imply any acceptance of, or agreement with, these views by Ahpra or the Podiatry Board.
Released: 3 August 2023 Closed: 29 September 2023
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the National Boards invited stakeholders to have their say as part of a review of the Criminal history registration standard (the criminal history standard).
The review, which was part of the work of our blueprint for reform to strengthen public safety in health regulation, which has a focus on sexual misconduct in healthcare, sought feedback on the current version of the criminal history standard, as well as comments on the future direction of other focus areas of work to improve public safety in health regulation including:
The consultation formed phase one of our work to review the Criminal history standard and ensured we received a range of views before a revised criminal history standard is developed and another opportunity is provided for stakeholders to comment (phase two).
Submissions will be published soon.
Released: 16 August 2023
Closed: 13 September 2023
The National Boards and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) consulted on two further possible changes to the National Boards’ English language skills (ELS) requirements. The National Boards invited responses to questions about the two further possible changes including specific issues the Medical Board of Australia asked its stakeholders to consider. This consultation did not invite further feedback on proposed changes to the National Board ELS standards that have been previously consulted on.
This was a shorter streamlined consultation process designed to meet timeframes likely expected by Health Ministers. Feedback will be used to inform the final ELS standards National Boards submit to Health Ministers.
From 13 July to 7 September 2022, Ahpra and the National Boards (except the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia) publicly consulted on revised English language skills registration standards (the ELS standards). There was broad support from stakeholders for the proposed revised registration standards. On 30 September 2022, the National Cabinet announced the Independent review of overseas health practitioner regulatory settings (the Kruk review), and in April 2023, the National Cabinet endorsed the interim review report. In line with recommendations within the interim report endorsed by the National Cabinet, the National Boards consulted on two further possible changes to their English language skills requirements: expanding the range of recognised countries and a possible change to one element of the English test results accepted by the National Boards.
Released: 14 December 2022 Closed: 14 February 2023
National Boards and Ahpra are reviewing the current accreditation arrangements for the national health practitioner regulatory scheme to prepare for the next period to mid-2029.
The current accreditation arrangements end on 30 June 2024 for all professions except paramedicine, which end on 30 November 2023. The National Boards and Ahpra intend to complete this scheduled review by May 2023 to inform National Boards’ decisions on arrangements for the next period and provide certainty for the future. The last scheduled review and public consultation on accreditation arrangements was in 2018.
This consultation is a key stage of the review and aims to confirm performance and progress on current accreditation priorities and will inform the priorities for the next period, including how progress in priority areas could be measured.
Released: 10 November 2022
Closed: 31 January 2023
In November 2022, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) launched a public consultation on our draft Data strategy and future directions for three focus areas:
Ahpra invited practitioners, members of the community, employers and other stakeholders to give feedback on the draft Data strategy and the future uses of the data we collect and hold.
Ahpra published a consultation paper that included the draft Data strategy and further information about the three focus areas, including case studies.
Resources for practitioners, the public and health sector employers were also developed to highlight how some of the concepts discussed in the draft Data strategy may be relevant to these groups.
Read our consultation report to learn more about what we heard through the consultation on the draft Data strategy and our next steps.
The consultation received 109 submissions. Some stakeholders requested that their submission remain in confidence. Some submissions have been published with the person’s name withheld or removed. We have redacted contact details and potentially defamatory, sensitive or identifying comments from published submissions.
If you have a question or concern about how we’ve approached publishing your submission, please contact us at [email protected].
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the submissions are those of the individuals or organisations who submitted them. Their publication does not imply any acceptance of, or agreement with, these views by Ahpra or the National Boards.
Released: 13 July 2022
Closed: 7 September 2022
Ahpra and the National Boards (except the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia) launched a public consultation on revised English language skills registration standards in July 2022.
National Boards invited practitioners, community members, employers, education providers and other stakeholders to give feedback on the standards.
National Boards published a consultation paper that included an overview of the review, proposed changes to the standards, frequently asked questions (FAQs), a literature review and questions to help frame feedback.
Background
To practise safely in Australia, registered health practitioners must have effective English language skills. This includes being able to communicate effectively with patients/clients/consumers and their relatives and carers, collaborate with other health care professionals and keep clear and accurate health records. The National Boards set requirements for English language skills to make sure all registered health practitioners can provide safe care and communicate effectively in English.
The English Language Skills Registration Standard (the ELS standard) is one of the five core registration standards required by all National Boards. It helps to ensure that everyone who registers as a health practitioner in Australia has these skills, regardless of their language background.
Ahpra and the National Boards (except the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia) have reviewed their respective ELS standards to ensure that they stay current and keep pace with our changing and dynamic environment.
The review process has included considering available evidence of best practice, international benchmarking and consulting with various stakeholders whose feedback has been taken into account. For more details about the background and review process, please see the consultation paper
Released: 4 March 2022
Closed: 14 April 2022
An independent review, commissioned by Ahpra and the Medical Board of Australia in November 2021, and led by Mr Andrew Brown, carried out a public consultation on the regulation of health practitioners in cosmetic surgery.
Over the six-week consultation it received 595 responses to the consumer survey and 249 submissions.
Please note: The review and consultation were titled Independent review of the regulation of health practitioners in cosmetic surgery. However, the report is named Independent review of the regulation of medical practitioners who perform cosmetic surgery to better reflect the scope of the review and its recommendations.
You can read Ahpra and the Medical Board’s full response on the review page
The review received 249 submissions. Some stakeholders requested that their submission remain in confidence. Submissions from organisations are listed alphabetically below. Due to the number of submissions received, all other submissions are available in combined PDFs as listed below. Some submissions have been published with the person’s name withheld or removed.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the submissions are those of the individuals or organisations who submitted them and their publication does not imply any acceptance of, or agreement with, these views by Ahpra or the Medical Board.
Released: 11 May 2021 Closed: 6 July 2021
Ahpra and the 12 National Boards that share a Code of conduct carried out a public consultation on a revised shared Code. The National Boards invited practitioners, stakeholders and the community to give feedback on the revised Code of conduct.
A consultation paper that included an overview of the review, case studies, high level overviews of the proposed changes to the revised Code and optional questions was made available. Links to the consultation documents are available below.
Released: 23 March 2021 Closed: 18 May 2021
The National Boards and Ahpra carried out a public consultation on the revised Regulatory principles for the National Scheme.
The regulatory principles encourage a responsive, risk-based approach to regulation across all professions within the National Scheme. They also acknowledge the importance of community confidence and working with the professions to achieve good outcomes.
The draft revised Regulatory principles reflect two recent policy directions issued by COAG Health Council which provide a clear mandate to the National Boards and Ahpra to further strengthen public protection in the work of the National Scheme.
Released: 11 September 2019 Closed: 17 December 2019
National Boards (excluding psychology and pharmacy) and AHPRA carried out a public consultation on the proposed Supervised practice framework as part of their project to enable a consistent, responsive and risk-based approach to supervised practice across the National Scheme.
Released: 11 September 2019 Closed: 26 November 2019
The National Boards and AHPRA carried out a public consultation on the Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service. The guidelines were developed to explain the advertising requirements in the National Law and to help advertisers (including registered health practitioners) to meet these requirements and advertise responsibly. The review is to make sure the guidelines are as contemporary, relevant and effective as possible.
The 15 National Boards in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) released for public consultation draft guidelines on Mandatory notifications.
Released: 11 September 2019 Closed: 6 November 2019
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) sought feedback from all interested persons and organisations, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, organisations and health experts on the definition of ‘cultural safety’.
Released: 3 April 2019 Closed: 24 May 2019
Submissions received
Reports
The Accreditation Committees for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice, Chinese medicine and medical radiation practice professions have completed public consultation as part of a joint project to develop revised accreditation standards.
Released: 29 August 2018 Closed: 22 October 2018
The Accreditation Committees consulted on their draft revised accreditation standards, and invited feedback from education providers, practitioners, other stakeholders and the community.
The following submissions were received for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice, Chinese medicine and medical radiation practice as part of the joint project:
Profession specific submissions can be viewed on each National Board’s webpage.
National Boards and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) have completed public consultation as part of a scheduled review of accreditation arrangements from mid-2019, when the current terms of assignment of accreditation functions end.
Released: 17 April 2018 Closed: 14 May 2018
Submissions to this consultation are published below. A brief consultation report is also provided.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and the National Boards of Australia have published a consultation paper on the draft guideline for informing a National Board about where you practise.
Released: 13 April 2018 Closed: 25 May 2018
The 14 National Boards in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) released for public consultation draft guidelines on the regulatory management of registered health practitioners and students infected with blood-borne viruses.
Released: 24 July 2014 Closed: 26 September 2014
National Boards have undertaken public consultation on a review of the English language skills and Criminal history registration standards.
Released: 25 October 2013 Closed: 23 December 2013
All National Boards have undertaken further public consultation on a proposal to refine international criminal history checks.
Released: 1 October 2013 Closed: 31 October 2013
Submissions to this consultation are provided below. AHPRA and National Board’s response to the consultation feedback is also included.
Released: 4 April 2013 Closed: 30 May 2013
The 14 National Boards in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) consulted on the following proposed guidelines:
Most Boards also consulted on a revised Code of conduct (either the code shared by most National Boards, or for some Boards there is a profession-specific code). Boards that did not consult on their code as part of this consultation were the Medical Board of Australia and Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
Below is a compilation of information about board-specific codes of conduct to assist stakeholders of multiple National Boards.
Released: 22 February 2013 Closed: 5 April 2013
This consultation paper welcomed feedback on the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme - Data access and research policy.
The policy established a consistent approach to requests for data access and research participation across the National Scheme in accordance with the National Law and the regulatory functions of the National Boards.
Submissions to the public consultation on international criminal history checks are progressively being published. If an organisation or individual has asked that their submission made during the preliminary consultation phase be considered in the public consultation phase, then these submissions will also be published.
Submissions to the public consultation are published below. If an organisation or individual has asked that their submission made during the preliminary consultation phase be considered in the public consultation phase, then these submissions are also published.
Public submissions are available on this website for transparency on our consultations regarding important matters affecting health practitioners.
We publish submissions in their original format as made by the submitter. If you have difficulty accessing a submission, please contact Ahpra at [email protected], and we will try to contact the submitter to provide an accessible version of their submission for your reference.
Please note that submitters are asked to provide their submissions to our public consultations in web accessible formats, and we guide them on how this can be achieved. We will update inaccessible submissions on this website when accessible format versions of files become available.