Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
Plain English Summary
Overview
This bill reforms the national system for regulating health practitioners in three key areas. It requires practitioners whose registration has been cancelled to go through a tribunal process before they can reapply, permanently publishes sexual misconduct findings on the public register, and creates new legal protections for people who report concerns about health practitioners.
Who it affects
Patients gain better information about practitioners with sexual misconduct findings and stronger protections when reporting concerns. Health practitioners who have been struck off face a harder path back to registration, and those found guilty of sexual misconduct will have it permanently on their public record.
Key changes
- Health practitioners whose registration has been cancelled must obtain a reinstatement order from a tribunal before they can apply for re-registration, creating a nationally consistent process across all states and territories
- Sexual misconduct findings by tribunals will be permanently recorded on the public register, including details of sanctions and links to tribunal decisions, so patients can make informed choices
- New offences protect people who report concerns about practitioners from threats, intimidation, dismissal, or other reprisals, with penalties up to $60,000 for individuals and $120,000 for corporations
- Non-disclosure agreements cannot prevent anyone from reporting concerns to health regulators, and existing NDAs are void to the extent they attempt to do so
- In Queensland, QCAT will hear reinstatement applications, with the Health Ombudsman or relevant National Board as the respondent depending on who brought the original matter
Bill Story
The journey of this bill through Parliament, including debate and recorded votes.
▸Committee12 Dec 2024View Hansard
Referred to Health, Environment and Innovation Committee
5 members · Chair: Robert Molhoek
The Health, Environment and Innovation Committee examined the bill and made four recommendations, including that it be passed with amendments. The bill amends the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to require permanent publication of a practitioner's regulatory history where a tribunal found professional misconduct based on sexual misconduct. The committee recommended clarification of the legislative threshold for sexual misconduct and that the decision to publish be appellable. The government supported some recommendations and not others.
Key findings (4)
- The bill requires National Boards to permanently publish additional information about a practitioner's regulatory history where a tribunal found professional misconduct based on sexual misconduct
- National Boards are given discretion to infer that a tribunal's finding of professional misconduct was based on sexual misconduct where the decision does not expressly state this
- The government did not support making the publication decision an appellable decision under the National Law, arguing it would be inappropriate as Boards do not reconsider facts
- The government supported further stakeholder consultation on operationalising the requirements and committed to at least 12 months between passage and commencement
Recommendations (4)
- The committee recommends the Bill be passed.
- The committee recommends that the explanatory notes and/or clause 21 of the Bill be amended to clarify any requisite legislative threshold for sexual misconduct.
- The committee recommends that Clause 21 of the Bill be amended to provide that a decision to publish a health practitioner's regulatory history, based on an inference by National Boards, is an appellable decision under Part 8 Division 13 of the National Law.
- The committee recommends that, during implementation, the Australian Health Ministers Meeting consults further with relevant stakeholders around operationalising any legislative threshold of sexual misconduct, and the National Boards' discretion to infer.
Committee report tabled
▸Second Reading2 Apr 2025View Hansard
▸23 members spoke23 support
Supported the bill as a clinical nurse, emphasising the importance of transparency around sexual misconduct by health practitioners and welcoming the nationally consistent framework for disciplinary action.
“As a clinical nurse, I understand the importance of upholding a high standard of conduct with patients, and I know that the vast majority of clinicians and health workers do the right thing.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
As committee chair, supported the bill and commended the minister for responding positively to committee recommendations, noting the importance of clarifying the definition of sexual misconduct and balancing patient safety with practitioner rights.
“Given the rise in complaints, I can assure the House that the need to provide greater information to the public about practitioners who have been found to have engaged in professional misconduct involving sexual misconduct, as proposed in this bill, is more than justified.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill while criticising the government for pausing the Respect at Work provisions, arguing the government cannot claim to address sexual misconduct while delaying workplace anti-harassment protections.
“It is really important that the laws this parliament passes—the bill that we are talking about now—focus specifically on sexual misconduct. Any laws that this government can uphold around sexual harassment in the workplace are incredibly important.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as a registered nurse and committee member, emphasising the right of patients to know about practitioners' sexual misconduct history and the importance of the public register for informed healthcare decisions.
“I, like everyone in this House, believe that the public has the right to know if their healthcare providers have a history relating to sexual misconduct in the workplace.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as important for protecting patients at their most vulnerable, noting the bipartisan committee work and the 223 per cent increase in sexual misconduct notifications.
“This bill is really important because it provides those much needed rights for consumers or patients, as I prefer to call them, who seek medical care from people that they trust.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as a direct response to the alarming increase in boundary violations, detailing the three reforms for reinstatement orders, expanded public registers, and strengthened notifier protections.
“The public has a right to know if their healthcare provider has a regulatory history relating to sexual misconduct and this bill will allow people to make informed decisions about their healthcare provider.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as the former health minister who originally introduced the national law amendments, while criticising the government for pausing the Respect at Work provisions which she argued were integral to addressing sexual misconduct in health workplaces.
“The health minister needs to get his head around what constitutes sexual misconduct if he is to have any hope of protecting Queensland health workers from sexual harassment in the workplace.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as a registered specialist physician, emphasising Queensland's leadership role as host jurisdiction and the importance of ensuring fairness and due process for practitioners alongside stronger public protections.
“This legislation is seen as a necessary response to a recognised alarming rise in cases of sexual misconduct within the health professions.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill while raising concerns about inadequate consultation time (only three weeks over a holiday period) and calling for minimum 12-week inquiry periods as best practice.
“Realistically, consultation should be extended a month to take into account those holiday periods. We should be aiming for parliamentary committees to have a minimum of 12 weeks to complete inquiries, and more time over a holiday period.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill to protect patients, emphasising the right to know about practitioners' sexual misconduct history and the three reforms to the national law.
“People have a right to know if their healthcare provider has a regulatory history relating to sexual misconduct, and that is what this bill will deliver.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as a registered medical practitioner while raising concerns about the lack of a clear definition for the sexual misconduct threshold and the provision allowing national boards to infer sexual misconduct from tribunal findings without merits review.
“The opposition strongly supports the passage of this bill to strengthen our laws to protect public safety and to increase transparency for the public to enable them to make fully informed decisions about their choice of healthcare professionals.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as essential for public safety and transparency, noting the 37.5 per cent increase in complaints and the importance of the reinstatement order process.
“This bill sends a strong message that Queensland will not tolerate sexual misconduct within our healthcare system.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill, sharing personal experience of being harassed by a health professional in her twenties, and emphasising the importance of building public confidence in Queensland's health system.
“I am also someone who, in my twenties, was the victim of harassment by a health professional on two different occasions. It really is a very isolating, terrifying feeling. This bill will address that and I am pleased to see it going through.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as Attorney-General, emphasising the importance of transparency for regional communities with limited healthcare choices and the three key reforms to the national law.
“My constituents, as do all Queenslanders, have the right to be privy to important information about health practitioners whom they visit for medical assessment. They deserve to know if their healthcare provider has a regulatory history relating to sexual misconduct.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill, detailing the inquiry process across both the 57th and 58th Parliaments and the nationally agreed objectives to protect public safety and increase transparency.
“The opposition will support the passing of this piece of legislation, which is designed to protect patients when they require the services of a health practitioner.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as important for public transparency, detailing the notification obligations for the 16 regulated health professions and the new protections against non-disclosure agreements.
“NDAs can be offered when people are vulnerable—when they have been battling to have their concerns validated and just want to make it all stop.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as good bipartisan law while arguing that workplace sexual harassment protections cannot be decoupled from practitioner sexual misconduct provisions, criticising the pause on the Respect at Work Act.
“We cannot decouple bad behaviour in one interaction with a patient from bad behaviour in another interaction with a work colleague, a contractor or a visitor.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as critical for public safety, noting the importance of the national register for practitioners moving between states and the reinstatement order process.
“The trust that individuals place in their healthcare providers is not something to be taken lightly. It is vital that those who provide care are not only qualified but accredited and held to the highest standards.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as driven by the serious reality of 1,156 boundary violation complaints in 2024, emphasising transparency to protect the good name of ethical practitioners and enable informed patient choices.
“I hope that the passage of this bill will send a very powerful cultural signal to the health sector that their conduct must be beyond reproach and they must meet their obligation to look after their patients in their care and do no harm.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill as a former police officer, noting that the trusted relationship between health practitioners and patients can be misused and that the bill contributes to the national scheme of accountability.
“People in the health field who want to do the wrong thing can misuse that trusted relationship and the need for physical assessment.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill, emphasising the need for permanent publication of sexual misconduct findings on the national register and the voiding of non-disclosure agreements that prevent patients from making complaints.
“The people of Rockhampton call for this bill to be implemented today.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Supported the bill drawing on her experience as a former disciplinary prosecutor with the Office of the Health Ombudsman, explaining how the bill ensures sexual misconduct findings follow practitioners on the national register even after deregistration.
“The fact that this bill now allows for the professional misconduct finding of sexual misconduct to be registered and to follow that practitioner on their registration allows the community to have some confidence and feel safe about the health care they are getting.”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
As Health Minister, delivered the speech in reply, thanking all contributors and emphasising that the bill strikes the appropriate balance between patient safety and practitioner rights, with retrospective publication of sexual misconduct findings justified by the egregious breach of trust involved.
“Is anyone truly saying that a client should not have information relating to the past sexual misconduct of a practitioner they will see at some date in the future?”— 2025-04-03View Hansard
Assent date: 9 April 2025
Referenced Entities
Legislation
Organisations
Programs & Schemes
Sectors Affected
Classified using AGIFT/ANZSIC Australian government standards