ADAVB raises concerns over national registration legislation

Although supporting national registration and accreditation of health professionals, ADAVB has serious concerns about some aspects of the drafting of the enabling legislation, particularly errors and oversights.

Our submission on the draft Bill which will create the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) highlights the following concerns, amongst others:

• The lack of procedural fairness when a complaint is referred to a disciplinary body before any investigation has been undertaken;
• States and Territories being able to opt out of a national law complaint process which will lead to inconsistencies and be perceived to be unfair;
• Proposals to allow practitioners who have not met local qualification requirements to practice in ‘areas of need';
• Using the new system for workforce reforms such as ‘workplace substitution’;
• Potentially giving health funds more control over the shape of health services, in particular clinical decisions;
• The potential for the Public Interest Assessor to turn the regulation of professional conduct into an adversarial consumer complaint system;
• Having only three dentists on the Dental Board of Australia, while regulating five types of practitioners and 11 specialties, may jeopardise the Board effectiveness and credibility, and
• Mandatory reporting arrangements are too wide.

As part of the process of exposing the draft legislation to stakeholders, consultative meetings have been held nationally and submissions invited. As well as the Branch submission, the ADA Inc. and Branches also made written representations. As they are lodged, submissions are published on the NRAS website. Governments want the legislation passed by each State and Territory by the end of the year, with the new scheme starting on 1 July next year.