IMPORTANT: New regulatory obligations from 17 March

Revised guidelines and codes of conduct, and a new social media policy, creating new regulatory obligations for all registered dental practitioners have been released by the Dental Board of Australia (DBA) and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).  The following come into effect from 17 March 2014:

• revised Guidelines for advertising regulated health services
• revised Code of Conduct
• new Social Media policy, and
• revised Guidelines for mandatory notifications

The first three of these documents are closely related, and need to be read together.

The guidelines and policy are common across all National Boards and apply to all registered health practitioners. DBA Chair, Dr John Lockwood AM, said 'National Boards consulted widely late last year on the draft versions of the new guidelines, Social Media policy and Code of Conduct'. 

‘The experiences from the first three years of the National Scheme were applied when these documents were being reviewed to make sure that they are clear and make it easier for practitioners to understand their obligations, and for members of the community to understand what is expected of health practitioners', he said.

 

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) Chief Executive Officer, Mr Martin Fletcher, said ‘It’s important that practitioners know and understand their obligations. By publishing these documents five weeks before they come into effect, practitioners, in particular, can start to be ready for when they come into effect in mid-March'. 

 

FAQ and additional information are provided on the Board’s website:

• FAQ on the transition from the current to the new/revised documents.
• Document showing the differences between the current and revised Mandatory notifications guidelines.
• Document showing the differences between the current and revised shared Code of conduct.