ACT Annual Report Summary 2015/16

Foreword from the AHPRA Chair and CEO

The regulation of almost 660,000 registered health practitioners across 14 health professions and a federation of eight states and territories is a large and important task.

AHPRA and the National Boards rely on the local knowledge and expertise of boards, committees and our offices in each state and territory to protect the public Australia-wide. Our number one priority is patient safety while enabling a competent and flexible health workforce to meet the current and future health needs of the community.

The ACT has 11,362 registered health practitioners. This represents 1.7% of all Australian practitioners, with growth of 3.5% from last year.

Along with local Boards and committees, AHPRA’s ACT office is the local face of the National Scheme. It takes a collaborative approach to decision-making. The team’s combined insight ensures the ACT community has access to registered health practitioners who have met national registration standards, and, once registered, that those practitioners improve efficiency, effectiveness and national consistency.

A key focus for the ACT office in 2015/16 was on collaboration and building new ways of working to continue to meet required standards. The ACT and Tasmanian registration teams now work as a single team, using the same processes, and a new digital approach has been implemented which has cut down on paperwork and time.

Another area of focus has been continuing to build relationships, including by meeting with the Health Services Commissioner, ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal and professional associations, and giving presentations to local universities and major health employers.

The ACT office ensures timely and effective regulatory decision-making, working in partnership with local territory boards and committees. This is consistent with our shared regulatory principles and our commitment to being a risk-based regulator.

We thank the staff of the AHPRA ACT office, board and committee members for their hard work and commitment over the past year. While much has been achieved, there is always more to do. We look forward to continuing to work with them to serve the ACT community.

Mr Martin Fletcher,
Chief Executive Officer

Mr Michael Gorton AM,
Chair, Agency Management Committee