National law reforms pass parliament

The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 (the Bill) passed in the Queensland parliament on 14 October 2022.

The Bill, which contains the widest-ranging reform to health practitioner regulation since the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (National Scheme) was first established, embeds public protection at the heart of regulatory decision making.

What’s changing?

• The Bill contains more than 30 reforms, including:
• making public protection a paramount principle of the National Scheme
• enshrining cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as a guiding principle and objective of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (read the joint statement)
• new powers to strengthen public protection while maintaining fairness to practitioners, and
• improving the governance and enhancing effectiveness and efficiency of the National Scheme.

When will these changes take effect?

Not all changes to the National Law will start at the same time. When assent of the Bill is given (about seven to ten days after the Bill passes), the following changes will start:

• A new paramount principle for the National Scheme - protection of the public and public confidence in the safety of services provided by registered health practitioners.
• A new objective and guiding principle for the National Scheme, recognising cultural safety for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
• Increases in penalties for advertising and inciting/directing offences.
• Change of name for the Agency Management Committee – to be named the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Board or Ahpra Board.

Other changes are scheduled to start later, on a date or dates to be determined by governments. This supports a staged approach to implementation over approximately 12 months. Some of these delayed changes will likely start in the first half of 2023 – potentially March 2023 and the remainder around September 2023. We will publish start dates on the National Law amendments page when they are available. 

We are updating relevant policies and procedures for the changes that take place on assent and have started work to support implementation of the reforms that will come into effect later.

Where can I find more information?

Resources including an information guide and FAQs have been created to help the public and health practitioners understand the changes and how they might be affected.

These resources can be found on the National Law amendments page on the Ahpra website. You may also read ahpra's media release.

Thank you for your input

There were multiple rounds of consultation with stakeholders before the Bill was finalised and introduced into Queensland Parliament. The Explanatory Notes to the Bill (pages 26 to 31) provide a good summary of the consultation. The Bill also responds to review recommendations, and stakeholder feedback, from various independent reviews into the National Scheme in recent years.

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback during consultations.

_{This news item was provided by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency}