NSW Annual Report Summary 2015/16

About the National Scheme

Who

The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) regulates almost 660,000 registered health practitioners across Australia.

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) supports the 14 National Boards that are responsible for regulating the health professions. The primary role of the National Boards is to protect the public.

The 14 National Boards are:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia
  • Chinese Medicine Board of Australia
  • Chiropractic Board of Australia
  • Dental Board of Australia
  • Medical Board of Australia
  • Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia
  • Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
  • Occupational Therapy Board of Australia
  • Optometry Board of Australia
  • Osteopathy Board of Australia
  • Pharmacy Board of Australia
  • Physiotherapy Board of Australia
  • Podiatry Board of Australia
  • Psychology Board of Australia

The National Scheme makes sure that only practitioners who have the skills and qualifications to provide safe and ethical care are registered to practise in Australia.

What

The National Boards set professional standards that all registered health practitioners must meet. The Boards hold practitioners to account against these standards when they respond to complaints about practitioners.

Registered health practitioners can register once and practise across Australia within the scope of their registration, creating a more flexible and sustainable health workforce.

The online national registers provide a one- stop shop for the community about the current registration status of all registered health practitioners in Australia, including current restrictions on practice.

Agreed regulatory principles underpin the work of the National Boards and AHPRA in regulating Australia’s health practitioners in the public interest. The National Scheme is responsible for the quality education of health practitioners, by setting a standardised framework for the accreditation of health practitioner education and training in Australia.

You can find the register of practitioners on the AHPRA website, this is a searchable database (also know as the public register).

When

The National Scheme started in July 2010. Since then, there has been an increase in the number of registered practitioners, from 530,115 in June 2011 to 657,621 on 30 June 2016.

Where

The National Scheme operates across Australia with local offices in each capital city. It builds local decision-making into a national standards and policy framework. Every state and territory parliament has passed a national law – the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory (the National Law), which came into effect on 1 July 2010 (and 18 October 2010 in Western Australia).

Why

Public safety is the core focus of regulation. Other objectives and guiding principles of the National Scheme are set down in the National Law. For more information on the National Law, see our Legislation page.