The annual accreditation meeting of the Forum of National Registration and Accreditation Scheme Chairs brings together more than 100 accreditation stakeholders to discuss the role of accreditation in addressing Australia’s workforce needs. The next meeting, in September 2025, will build upon the themes of the inaugural meeting held in 2024.

Ahpra and all National Boards have accreditation agreements in place until mid-2029. The agreements incorporate minor updates from previous agreements to align with contemporary practices, with key performance indicators (KPIs) designed to enhance the monitoring and management of accreditation authorities’ performance. The agreements are consistent across professions unless there are specific reasons to include additional information. 

The new KPIs will allow for clearer measurement of accreditation authority performance. They will also create datasets over the initial years of the agreements that will allow benchmarks for expected performance to be set.

The committee met four times; Professor Andrew Wilson AO is its independent Chair. Its priority areas of work are supporting the future health workforce and strengthening accreditation systems.

Principles and guidance 

The committee finalised and published its Guidance on embedding good practice in health practitioner education: clinical placements, simulation-based learning and virtual care to help improve initial student health practitioner education. The committee also carried out public consultation on its Principles to strengthen the involvement of consumers in accreditation and published these principles in August. Work on Guidance on developing professional capabilities was also completed, and the guidance was published in February. The committee also carried out preliminary consultation on Outcomes-based approaches to accreditation and continued implementing its Interprofessional collaborative practice statement of intent. 

Reform priorities 

In late 2024, the Ahpra Board reviewed the committee’s workplan and requested the committee strengthen its reform focus to better reflect health workforce and health service needs. The Ahpra Board also agreed to reinforce and drive reform directions through a strengthened committee charter, increasing jurisdictional and consumer representation. 
The committee’s updated workplan includes a stronger focus on accreditation reform. All deliverables have been prioritised and include an indicative timeframe for delivery, any known resourcing implications and National Scheme entity involvement.

The committee has identified two areas of reform as high priority: 

• Reducing duplication in accreditation processes, including across accreditation authorities and between regulators and others. This would lower the regulatory burden and bring associated cost benefits. 
• Providing advice on the governance, ownership and development of professional capabilities that are consistent across professions. 

Both these projects will require significant engagement with stakeholders including relevant jurisdictions, National Boards and accreditation authorities.

Nine National Boards exercise accreditation functions through external councils. 

Five National Boards – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice, Chinese Medicine, Medical Radiation Practice, Paramedicine and Podiatry – exercise accreditation functions through a committee established by their Boards. 

One National Board – Nursing and Midwifery – exercises accreditation functions related to education programs through an external council, and exercises functions related to assessment of internationally qualified nurses and midwives through a committee established by the Board. 

The National Boards contributed over $12 million of funding to these accreditation authorities and committees.

Ahpra supported the accreditation committees for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice, Chinese medicine, medical radiation practice, paramedicine and podiatry to: 

• assess and accredit programs of study 
• monitor approved programs of study 
• review accreditation standards 
• develop and implement consistent guidelines for accreditation of education and training programs in these five professions. 

We also supported the nursing and midwifery accreditation committee to oversee the outcomes-based assessment of the knowledge, clinical skills and professional attributes of internationally qualified nurses and midwives who want to register in Australia. 

This work across six professions supports our multiprofession approach to accreditation. 

Accrediting and monitoring programs 

We supported the accreditation committees to assess, accredit and monitor programs of study: 

• 14 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice 
• 7 for Chinese medicine 
• 30 for medical radiation practice 
• 25 for paramedicine 
• 15 for podiatry and 2 for podiatric surgery. 

Policy and process 

We also supported the accreditation committees to: 

• continue to apply a flexible approach to monitoring education providers’ compliance with accreditation standards, based on specific issues and risk profile – this flexible, risk-based model enables responsive and proportionate regulatory approaches to assessment and monitoring activities 
• implement consistent cross-profession guidelines for accreditation, complemented by profession-specific processes (such as establishing assessment teams) 
• collaborate to implement consistent cross-profession processes and tools to collect data from 44 education providers delivering almost 100 approved programs across the five professions 
• conduct a joint review of their accreditation standards. 

ABSTARR Consulting developed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety training specifically for accreditation assessors within the National Scheme. The training began in 2024 and continues to be rolled out to committee members and accreditation assessors.

The training comprises six online modules to improve accreditation assessors’ understanding of cultural safety and their ability to apply cultural safety in accreditation.