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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: 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. Submissions will be published soon.
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: 13 July 2022 Closed: 7 September 2022
Ahpra and the National Boards (except the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia) carried out 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
Submissions will be published soon.
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.
Consultation documents, the Patient and Consumer Health and Safety Impact Assessment and submissions received are available on the Past Consultations page of the Ahpra website.
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.
Consultation documents and submissions received are available on the Past Consultations page of the Ahpra website.
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
Released: 13 April 2018 Closed: 25 May 2018
Submissions received are available on the Past Consultations page of the AHPRA website.
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 and a brief consultation report are available on the Past Consultations page of the AHPRA website.
Released: 13 March 2018 Closed: 4 May 2018
Template - Continuing professional development portfolio (61.8 KB,PDF), Word version (370 KB, DOCX).
The six Boards involved in reviewing core registration standards undertook research and benchmarking to inform the development of the revised standards. The Optometry Board of Australia is reviewing its CPD registration standard and related guidelines as part of this multi-profession review. A high level summary of the research and benchmarking, conducted from a regulatory risk perspective for the six Boards, was used to inform the core registration standards (continuing professional development, professional indemnity insurance and recency of practice). The research summary is available to download.
Summary of research to inform registration standards reviews (89.6 KB,PDF), Word version (26.0 KB, DOCX).
Released: 1 February 2017 Closed: 31 March 2017
Released: 25 September 2015 Closed: 20 November 2015
Released: 24 July 2014 Closed: 26 September 2014
Submissions received will be available on the Past Consultations page of the AHPRA website.
Released: 19 May 2014 Closed: 14 July 2014
Released: 25 October 2013 Closed: 23 December 2013
Released: 2 October 2013 Closed: 31 October 2013
Released: 4 April 2013 Closed: 30 May 2013
Released: 23 November 2012 Closed: 4 February 2013
Released: 20 September 2012 Closed: 2 November 2012
Released: 28 August 2012 Closed: 23 October 2012
Released: 25 June 2012 Closed: 17 August 2012
Submissions received can be found here.
Released: 27 March 2012 Closed 18 May 2012
Released: 4 October 2011 Closed: 2 December 2011
Released: 21 September 2011 Closed: 18 November 2011
Released: 5 August 2011 Closed: 3 October 2011
Released: 14 January 2011 Closed: 4 March 2011
Public submissions are available on this website for transparency on our consultations regarding important matters affecting optometrists.
We publish submissions in their original format as made by the submitter. If you have difficulty accessing a submission, please contact AHPRA at webservices@ahpra.gov.au, 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.