Vic Annual Report Summary 2015/16

Part 1: Decision-making in Victoria: Board and committee reports

Victorian Registration and Notification Committee, Dental Board of Australia: Chair’s message

The Victorian committee of the Dental Board of Australia has continued in 2015/16 to work to meet the objectives of the National Scheme in managing risk to patients. We make decisions about individual registered dentists after receiving a notification about them; and assess the most complex applications for registration, often from overseas-trained practitioners.

Data showing the work of the local committee are detailed in this report. More comprehensive information about the work of the Dental Board of Australia (the Board) is included in the 2015/16 annual report of AHPRA and the National Boards, which can be downloaded from the AHPRA website.

The committee is the local face of dental practitioner regulation in Victoria, and is made up of practitioner and community members from Victoria. The decisions the committee makes are guided by the national standards and policies set by the National Board.

We make most decisions about dental practitioners in our region, supported by the local AHPRA office, in accordance with the National Law. Our committee is in a position to provide invaluable local feedback to the National Board on its standards and policies.

As Chair, I have had the opportunity to meet with the other chairs of Regional committees and the members of the National Board of three occasions throughout the year.

There have been some changes to the committee membership in 2015/16. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr Esperence Kahwagi for her expertise and professionalism in support of the Board, profession and community of Victoria. I would also like to welcome Dr Ioan Jones as a new member to the committee.

I thank my colleagues on the Victorian Registration and Notification Committee for their professionalism, expertise, energy and commitment to the people of Victoria during the year.

I would also like to thank the Chair of the National Board, Dr John Lockwood, the other members of the National Board and my fellow chairs of the state and territory Registration and Notification Committees for their wisdom and guidance in assisting me in the execution of my role as committee Chair.

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Werner Bischof
Chair, Victorian Registration and Notification Committee, Dental Board of Australia

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Dr John Lockwood AM
Chair, Dental Board of Australia

Members of the Committee in 2015/16

  • Dr Werner Bischof (Chair)
  • Dr Janice Davies
  • Dr Ioan Jones (from 24 July 2015)
  • Dr Gabrielle MacTeirnan
  • Dr Rachel Martin
  • Dr Craig McCracken

Victorian Board of the Medical Board of Australia: Chair’s message

The Victorian Board of the Medical Board of Australia has had a busy year in 2015/16, ensuring best practise for carrying out the requirements of the National Scheme to protect the Victorian public.

In addition to dealing with a wide range of registration, conduct, performance, health and compliance matters affecting individual Victorian medical practitioners, the Board has been involved in a range of other initiatives through the work of its committees and through the contributions of many individual Board members.

Engagement with Victorian stakeholders continues to be a major priority and we met with a range of representatives throughout the year, including AMA Victoria, the Health Services Commissioner, the Victorian Doctors Health Program, medical indemnity organisations and others.

Individual Board members have participated in a number of local conferences and have provided articles for professional bulletins.

Within the scheme, Board members have participated in the development of a set of principles governing the work of professional performance panels. Board members regularly provide feedback to AHPRA about how we communicate both with notifiers and the profession. We understand that words are powerful and must be chosen with care.

We have examined practices in other jurisdictions, especially in relation to timely decision making, and have adopted several initiatives that reduce delay, particularly during the early assessment period that follows receipt of new notifications.

We have also undertaken enquiries into current and emerging trends in workplace-based assessment of practitioners with limited registration.

In keeping with the standards expected of the profession generally, the Board has been at the forefront of a national initiative, supported by the Medical Board of Australia, to undertake periodical systematic reviews of the performance of individual Board members.

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Dr Peter Dohrmann
Chair, Victorian Board, Medical Board of Australia

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Dr Joanna Flynn AM
Chair, Medical Board of Australia

Members of the Victorian Board in 2015/16

  • Dr Peter Dohrmann (Chair)
  • Dr Christine Bessell
  • Dr John Carnie PSM
  • Mrs Paula Davey
  • Dr Tilak Dissanayake
  • Mr Kevin Ekendahl
  • Ms Jennifer Jaeger
  • Dr William Kelly
  • Associate Professor Abdul Khalid
  • Dr Alison Lilley
  • Mr Simon Phipps
  • Dr Miriam Weisz
  • Dr Bernadette White

Victorian Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia: Chair’s message

Over the past year, the Victorian Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) has streamlined processes to ensure timely decision-making of registration applications and the handling of complaints.

As Chair of the Victorian Board of the NMBA, I have been extremely fortunate to continue to work with very knowledgeable, experienced and enthusiastic Board members in 2015/16.

I wish to also acknowledge the high standard of work and support that the AHPRA Victoria office continues to provide to the Board. We have found their expertise and commitment have ensured the smooth running of the Victorian Board of NMBA and our committees.

We have been able to continue to successfully manage the high volume of notification and registration matters in Victoria by developing a more flexible approach to Committee memberships. In collaboration with the NMBA, this has included having an alternating roster of Victorian Board members across our Notification and Registration Committees, bringing in Board members from other jurisdictions when needed. Their expertise has been of great benefit, and it has been encouraging to see so many colleagues willing to share the workload to ensure matters are dealt with in a timely manner and in accordance with the National Law.

This approach has enabled all Board members to develop their expertise across different committees. It has also allowed us to continue to take an individualised risk-based approach to notification and registration matters concerning individual practitioners.

In collaboration with local AHPRA staff and Victorian State Manager, Mary Russell, we commenced using a new risk matrix when evaluating notifications that may pose immediate risk to patient safety. Along with the National Restrictions Library, the regulatory principles and increased Board member expertise, we have been able to put more specific conditions in place to manage risk to the public.

We have also welcomed the introduction of quarterly meetings with other professions’ Victorian Board Chairs. This has improved collaboration and benchmarking across local Victorian Boards of the larger health professions, such as psychology, dental and medical.

On 31 December 2015, we farewelled three experienced practitioner Board members: Mrs Katrina Swire, Ms Deborah Rogers and Ms Leanne Satherley. Ms Kate Hough took over as Chair of the Notifications Committee and Mr Greg Miller became Chair of the Registration Committee. I am grateful to the outgoing members for their hard work and commitment to keeping the Victorian public safe, and thank the new members equally for their enthusiasm and diligence this year.

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Naomi Dobroff
Chair, Victorian Board, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

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Associate Professor Lynette Cusack
Chair, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

Members of the Board in 2015/16

  • Ms Naomi Dobroff (Chair)
  • Mr Gregory Miller
  • Ms Kathryn Hough
  • Ms Virginia Rogers
  • Ms Maureen Capp
  • Dr Leslie Cannold
  • Ms Deborah Rogers
  • Ms Leanne Satherley
  • Mrs Katrina Swire

Pharmacy Board of Australia: Chair’s message

The Pharmacy Board of Australia (the National Board) makes decisions about all registered pharmacists in Victoria. Regulation of pharmacists at a state and territory level is guided by the standards and policies set by the National Board.

Practitioner representation from each of the states and territories on the National Board helps to ensure consistency and transparency in the Board’s work to implement the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme at a local level. This is supported by a public perspective which comes from community member representatives from four states. Ms Joy Hewitt is the practitioner member from Victoria on the National Board.

To ensure local knowledge informs nationally consistent decisions, the National Board has a notifications committee to make decisions about individual registered pharmacists in Victoria. In addition to five core members from the National Board, there are two representatives from each state and territory on this committee.

The representatives (jurisdictional members) from Victoria on the notifications committee are:

  • Mr Brendon Moar, and
  • Mr Tim Tran.

Input throughout the year from stakeholders in Victoria has been important in helping the Board to complete significant work.

The National Board consulted widely before publishing revised registration standards on:

  • professional indemnity insurance arrangements
  • continuing professional development and related guidelines
  • recency of practice
  • supervised practice arrangements, and
  • examinations for eligibility for general registration.

Feedback received after the publication of the National Board’s Guidelines on compounding of medicines resulted in a further period of consultation with stakeholders in relation to the expiry of compounded parenteral medicines. The Board continues to work closely with technical experts, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and other stakeholders to finalise this guidance.

The National Board also worked with an external service provider to create a revised training program for oral examiners. This drew on the skills and expertise of local pharmacists who support the Board through their participation as examiners for the national pharmacy examination.

Information for students and interns published on the National Board’s website was reviewed and updated. New resources were also created, including PowerPoint presentations that explain the National Board’s requirements and can be used by local education providers.

Pharmacy professional officers support the National Board in its engagement with stakeholders in Victoria which includes speaking each year to final-year pharmacy students and intern training providers about the Board’s requirements for provisional registration and how to apply, the intern year and the national pharmacy examination.

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Mr William Kelly
Chair, Pharmacy Board of Australia


ACT, Tasmania and Victoria Regional Board of the Psychology Board of Australia: Chair’s message

The Regional Board of the Psychology Board of Australia (the Board) serves communities in the Tasmania, Victoria and the ACT. We are the local face of the psychology profession.

The decisions we make about psychologists in our region are guided by the national standards and policies set by the Psychology Board of Australia. The Regional Board is supported by AHPRA’s office in Victoria, with assistance from teams in Tasmania and the ACT.

The main focus of the Regional Board has continued to be on public safety as we make decisions about the registration and regulation of individual psychologists. Most of our work in 2015/16 considered what action we needed to take to manage risk to the public as a result of a notification (complaint). Another priority was to assess complex applications for registration, particularly those who have been registered overseas.

We endeavoured to engage with our stakeholders as much as possible during the year, including an annual visit to Hobart to meet with registrants in Tasmania. The meeting was well attended with practitioners present from the local area and a separate group dialling in via Skype from Launceston. The Regional Board’s yearly practitioner forums in the ACT and Tasmania are an important way to maintain and grow collegiate connections with staff in each office. They also provide an opportunity to discuss information relevant to local practitioners, and for practitioners to engage with the Board on local matters of relevance or concern.

This year, we welcomed Dr Anthony Love to the Regional Board.

I would like to thank all members of the Regional Board for their continued hard work and for their commitment to protecting the public by ensuring that psychologists in our region are suitably qualified and uphold the standards that are expected of the profession.

The work of the Psychology Board of Australia will be released in a profession-specific annual report summary, due to be released in late February 2017. For a more complete picture of AHPRA and the National Boards’ work on a national level in 2015/16, visit the 2015/16 annual report of AHPRA and the National Boards website.

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Dr Cristian Torres
Chair, Regional Board of the Psychology Board of Australia

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Professor Brin Grenyer
Chair, Psychology Board of Australia

Members of the Regional Board in 2015/16

  • Dr Cristian Torres (Chair)
  • Mr Simon Kinsella (Deputy Chair)
  • Mr Robin Brown
  • Dr Melissa Casey
  • Ms Anne Horner
  • Associate Professor Terry Laidler
  • Professor Anthony Love (from 1 June 2016)
  • Dr Patricia Mehegan
  • Ms Maree Riley
  • Associate Professor Kathryn Von Treuer (until 30 August 2015)

National Boards and committees: making local decisions

The remaining nine National Boards in the National Scheme have taken a different approach to decision-making about local practitioners, with national committees comprising state and territory representatives.

The committees were established to manage the risk profile, complexity and size of their professions. See the ‘Meet the Chairs’ panel below to find out which National Boards have national committees that oversee decision-making on a local level.

The committees are appointed by the National Boards on merit and include Board members in most cases. Additional members may be appointed to bring specific professional or jurisdictional expertise when needed. Committees are overseen by the National Boards, who support consistent and robust decision-making to keep the public safe.

Using national committees is an important way to cut the cost of regulation for these professions, while maintaining the benefits of scale and public protection provided by the National Scheme. National Boards also work closely with our network of AHPRA state and territory managers, so they can monitor and respond to any jurisdiction-specific issues for their professions.

Throughout 2015/16, National Boards engaged with local stakeholders in a range of ways, including:

  • holding stakeholder forums in states and territories to meet local practitioners and community members, and to discuss important issues for health practitioner regulation
  • responding to invitations to address professional and employer organisations, education providers and other interested groups
  • participating in joint, cross-board consultations about common registration standards, codes, guidelines and policies, and
  • sharing advice and feedback from the National Scheme Community Reference Group and Professions Reference Group.
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For more information about the work of National Boards during the year, read the 2015/16 annual report of AHPRA and the National Boards.

Meet the Chairs

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Ms Lisa Penrith
Presiding Member, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia

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Professor Charlie Xue
Chair, Chinese Medicine Board of Australia

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Dr Wayne Minter AM
Chair, Chiropractic Board of Australia

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Mr Neil Hicks
Chair, Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia

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Ms Julie Brayshaw
Chair, Occupational Therapy Board of Australia

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Mr Ian Bluntish
Chair, Optometry Board of Australia

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Dr Nikole Grbin
Chair, Osteopathy Board of Australia

photo of Charles Flynn

Dr Charles Flynn
Presiding Member, Physiotherapy Board of Australia

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Ms Catherine Loughry
Chair, Podiatry Board of Australia