Too many licensing authorities, not enough accountability or power to enforce standards
Fourteen health professions come into the jurisdiction of the Australian Health Professionals Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Having one national licensing authority for the professions instead of separate authorities in each state and territory makes good sense. For doctors, if AHPRA had stopped at one registration fee, and left the paraphernalia to the states and territories, it would have been a modest body and not enmeshed with a national medical board and a national medical council. This awkward arrangement is demonstrated in the recommendations of a recent parliamentary report.1
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- Murray to the Mountains Intern Training Program, Sydney, NSW.
- 1. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing. Lost in the labyrinth: report on the inquiry into registration processes and support for overseas trained doctors. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2012. http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=haa/overseasdoctors/report.htm (accessed Jul 2014).
- 2. Decluttering the company. Schumpeter blog. The Economist 2014; 2 Aug: 53.
- 3. Snowball K, for the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council. Review of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for health professions. August 2014: 82. http://www.ahmac.gov.au/cms_documents/Consultation%20Paper%20-%20Review%20of%20the%20National%20Registration%20and%20Accreditation%20Scheme%20for%20health%20professions.pdf (accessed Oct 2014).
- 4. Legal and Social Issues Committee — Australian Health Professionals Regulation Agency Inquiry. Submission No. 1. Letter by Peter Radford to Richard Willis Senior Secretary, Council Committees. Department of the Legislative Council. Victorian Parliament. 24 Jan 2013. http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/SCLSI/Leg_ctee/AHPRA/Submissions2/01_Peter_Radford.pdf (accessed Oct 2014).
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