About the pilot
AHPRA and the National Boards are developing a nationally-consistent approach to auditing health practitioners’ compliance with mandatory registration standards:
- criminal history (via CrimTrac)
- recency of practice
- continuing professional development and
- professional indemnity insurance.
The Pharmacy Board of Australia has delegated authority to AHPRA to conduct the pilot. As part of this process, pharmacists from across Australia have been randomly selected to participate in a pilot before the profession-wide release of the auditing program.
The pilot aims to trial the framework for auditing compliance to meet the relevant legislative requirements, determine the frequency, size and type of audits required and establish a methodology and process for reporting on findings.
Eventually the audit program will be rolled out to all regulated health professions across Australia – preserving, maintaining and ensuring the integrity of all regulated health professions.
What will the pilot involve?
The pilot will require practitioners to produce documentation as evidence of their compliance with the standards listed above.
Those who are selected as part of the pilot group will receive an audit notice in the mail, along with a checklist that will indicate the specifics of what is required. They will then have four weeks to provide the requested documentation to AHPRA.
Once AHPRA has received the completed checklist and supporting documentation, the submission will be assessed and the participant will be advised if they meet the standards or not. AHPRA may request further documentation be provided and / or refer cases to the Pharmacy Board of Australia for further investigation.
When?
The pilot will begin in January 2012 and run for approximately three months
Do I have to participate?
Participation in the audit of the recency of practice and continuing professional development registration standards are voluntary within the context of the audit. However, under section 80 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009 (the National Law), the Pharmacy Board of Australia can request registrants provide evidence that they meet these standards when they renew their registration.
Section 129(1) of National Law states that all registrations must comply with the audit of the professional indemnity insurance standard. Failure to comply with this does not constitute an offence but may constitute behaviour for which health, conduct or performance action may be taken.
More information:
Frequently Asked Questions (131 KB,PDF)