Annual report shows progress in addressing workforce needs

12 Nov 2024

Biggest increase in registered practitioners in four years

Addressing workforce needs by getting more health practitioners safely registered faster and responding to new risks from emerging models of care are the highlights of the 2023/24 Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) annual report, released today.

At 30 June this year, there were 920,535 registered health practitioners in Australia, a 4.9 per cent increase on the previous year. This means there are now 3.4 registered health practitioners for every 100 Australians.

This is the first time the number of registered practitioners has exceeded 900,000, and 96.9 per cent of these practitioners hold practising registration.

Ahpra continues to work hard to get more international practitioners registered faster and safely by implementing changes in response to the Kruk review. Improvements to Ahpra’s registration processes have almost halved the time to finalise international applications, cutting the previous 60-day average to just 33 days.

There was strong growth in the number of internationally qualified health practitioners with 48.4 per cent more new overseas practitioners gaining registration than in the previous financial year.

Maintaining a balance between access to needed healthcare and the risk posed by some emerging models of care is a key priority for Ahpra, amid the acceleration of telehealth, online prescribing and direct-to-consumer health services.

New models of care in areas such as medicinal cannabis and vaping have led Ahpra to develop cross-regulatory solutions with other regulators, such as the Therapeutic Goods Administration, to take a system-wide approach to patient safety.

By leading collaborative efforts to address emerging issues including high-speed and high-volume prescribing, or models of care focused on prescribing and dispensing a single medicine, Ahpra aims to get ahead of these concerns and ensure all health practitioners continue to put patients first.

Ahpra continues to make significant progress in implementing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy 2020–2025, now in its fourth year.

A landmark ruling under the National Law in October 2023 saw a tribunal rule against a doctor over his discriminatory, culturally unsafe, insulting and offensive behaviour towards a Yuggera, Warangoo and Wiradjuri man. The doctor was reprimanded and disqualified for 12 months. This outcome reflected changes made in 2022 to strengthen the National Law to eliminate racism from Australian healthcare.

Notifications about practitioners increased 14.2 per cent over the past financial year, with 19,522 notifications received nationally by Ahpra and co-regulatory agencies. Of those, Ahpra managed 11,200, which was an increase of 15.4 per cent. Concerns about the standard of clinical care provided by practitioners accounted for 34.7 per cent of all notifications received by Ahpra.

Through streamlined processes, Ahpra was able to resolve lower risk notifications in shorter time frames. Lower risk matters before the Medical and Dental Boards of Australia were completed on average 33 days sooner than in the previous year.

Ahpra CEO Martin Fletcher, who has announced his intention to step down after 15 years leading the national health regulator, praised staff and members of the National Boards for their continued efforts to keep Australia’s healthcare system safe.

‘This has been an exceptionally busy year and I thank the majority of registered health practitioners in Australia for their continued devotion to safe, high-quality healthcare,’ he said.

‘I have been proud to lead this organisation since its inception in 2010 and am particularly pleased with our efforts to increase the number of registered practitioners in the past year and our strengthened collaborative efforts to address the risks associated with emerging models of care.

‘This has its focus embedded in patient safety and is about identifying issues before they become major problems to ensure a better and safer healthcare system for all Australians.’ 

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