Strategic direction
Influencing systemic improvements
Our office influences positive change in the regulation of Australia’s health practitioners at the system level. Case studies throughout our annual report highlight the types of individual and system-level changes we created in 2022–23.
Our office aims to resolve complaints quickly and efficiently to achieve practical outcomes. We finalise most complaints without an in-depth formal investigation.
In addition to managing complaints in line with the most appropriate process, our office actively monitors and tracks emerging issues in our complaints data. This gives us insight into issues that may affect many people and may need more immediate attention or review.
We also undertake independent reviews of systemic issues in order to achieve positive change in the regulation of Australia’s registered health practitioners.
Learn more about our vexatious notifications framework review
Engaging and communicating
We ensure our office’s services are understandable and accessible to our diverse community. We want to make sure anyone who may need to contact us can access our office.
Our office uses complaints data and trends to inform our contributions to public discussions on the regulation of health practitioners in Australia. One way we contribute to discussion is through our submissions responding to public consultations. In 2022–23, we made submissions to the following public consultations:
- September 2022 – the Boards’ shared English Language Skills Registration Standard
- December 2022 – Medical Board’s regulation of medical practitioners who provide cosmetic medical and surgical procedures
- January 2023 – Ahpra’s draft data strategy
- February 2023 – Ahpra and the Boards’ accreditation arrangements
- February 2023 – Ahpra’s issuing of public statements about health practitioners
- May 2023 – Robyn Kruk’s review into the regulatory settings for overseas health practitioners
- June 2023 – Ahpra Board’s Accreditation Committee’s glossary of accreditation terms.
Building capability
We support operational development and staff excellence.
We seek to provide our staff with opportunities to connect with likeminded professionals. This is one of our strategies to effectively enhance capability and professional development. We continue to strengthen our internal governance mechanisms to ensure accountability, provide opportunities to incorporate staff feedback, and facilitate quick responses to emerging environmental issues.
Enhancing accountability
We highlight our essential but lesser-known oversight roles in the National Scheme.
Our role in the National Scheme has broadened significantly over time to provide greater accountability. Our enhancing accountability strategic direction focuses on driving awareness of our newer and lesser known privacy and FOI functions and the expansion of our jurisdiction to accept complaints to the Ombudsman and Commissioner about accreditation organisations in the National Scheme.
Our office can now assist with complaints about all accreditation organisations undertaking accreditation functions under the National Law, and specialist medical colleges in relation to approved programs of study.
Learn more about accreditation-related complaints
We work with accreditation organisations to continuously improve the National Scheme. We understand it can sometimes be challenging, and even at times confronting, for staff and organisations to begin responding to complaints about the way they have handled matters (even if the allegations are not well founded). We seek to provide helpful information to the organisations we now oversee about the roles of our office, and their new obligations under the National Law.