Vic Annual Report Summary 2015/16

Foreword from Victoria State Manager, Mary Russell

The key focus for the Victorian office in 2015/16 was to strengthen performance. We developed strategies to ensure a strong culture of continuous improvement, which reflects AHPRA’s values of service, achievement and collaboration.

Highlights of 2015/16

  • Successful collaboration: The NSW and Victorian registration teams worked together to process almost 10,000 applications for registration from new graduates over a fivemonth period.
  • A period of growth: The number of registrants in Victoria grew by 3.1% in 2015/16 to 169,478 registered health practitioners, representing just over a quarter of all health practitioners in Australia.
  • Better ways of working: The Victorian office launched a number of initiatives this year to ensure notifications about practitioners are managed in a fair and time-efficient manner under the National Law and to improve the experience of notifiers and practitioners.

Working in partnership with the National Boards

While the day-to-day responsibilities of the Victorian office focus on managing registration and notification matters in relation to local practitioners, we also support Boards in determining complex applications. These include specialist dental registration expertise to the Dental Board of Australia and to the Podiatry Board of Australia about assessment of endorsement for scheduled medicines.

In collaboration with the NSW office, the Victorian registration team this year managed a major project to process new graduate applications for medical, nursing, midwifery and physiotherapy practitioners Australia-wide. Over a five-month period, the team finalised almost 10,000 graduate registration applications, ensuring practitioners were ready to commence internships and graduate programs in a timely manner.

Building stakeholder relationships

The Victorian AHPRA office continued to work with Victorian practitioners, students and employers to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities under the National Law. Further stakeholder enagement in 2015/16 included:

  • Michael Gorton presented to the Victorian Branch of the Australian College of Health Service Managers
  • we conducted a program of site visits to health services and attended regional health service development days
  • State Manager Mary Russell and the Director of Notifications met with the Chairs of the Quality Committees group, and
  • we contributed to training programs at the University of Melbourne Law School and the Monash University Public Health program.

The Victorian office also focused on strengthening working relationships with relevant programs within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of the Health Services Commissioner and professional organisations.

A memorandum of understanding was established with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Managing risk through local decision-making

The mechanisms for managing risk are consistent in each state and territory under the National Scheme, and may include some or all of the following: immediate action; imposing restriction; accepting undertakings; suspension or cancellation of registration; ongoing compliance monitoring of practitioners; and/or audits.

Boards may also refuse or impose conditions on registration while making decisions on registration applications.

During 2015/2016 AHPRA focused on indentifying opportunities to continue to improve the timeliness and efficiency of our work with notifications.

Initiatives were introduced throughout the year to ensure an appropriate balance between the interests of patients, public safety and the rights of practitioners under investigation. These included:

  • staff in the Victorian notifications team worked with the National Director, Notifications to pilot an enhanced process for assessing risk in individual notifications
  • the Victorian Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia collaborated closely with AHPRA to integrate new processes for risk assessment into their deliberations
  • a national pilot of a Notifications Liaison Officer role was launched in Victoria. This pilot informed improvements in the ways we engage with notifiers and practitioners, and
  • we changed the ways we assess and triage new notifications, which are contributing to timeliness.

A stronger approach to information sharing has been developed, and this work is ongoing. Where a risk to public health, or the health or safety of patients is identified, information is being shared with relevant agencies, in accordance with the provisions of the National Law. Work has been undertaken with the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services to develop a regulatory compact, which sets out arrangements for information sharing.

Local office, national contribution

The Victorian office continues to embody an attitude of willingness to embrace change and test different processes to ensure improved efficiency both locally and nationally. I thank staff and stakeholders for upholding the values of the National Scheme in order to protect the public.

The significant improvements in our processes this year have helped to strengthen our performance and support the work of the Boards and Committees who are the regulatory decision makers. I would like to thank the Chairs and members of Victorian Boards and Committees for their willingness to work collaboratively with us to achieve these improvements.

I acknowledge the importance of the strong working relationship we have developed with the Office of the Health Services Commission. This enables us to work effectively together in the interests of public safety.

AHPRA relies on the work of an extremely talented group of staff. I thank them for their contribution and commitment throughout an extremely busy year.

photo of Mary Russell

Dr Mary Russell
Victorian State Manager, AHPRA