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Committee's Report

The committee tabled its Report No. 21, 57th Parliament - Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 on 1 July 2022. The Bill was passed with amendment on 13 October 2022.  

About the BILL 

On 11 May 2022, Hon Yvette D’Ath, Minister for Health and Ambulance Services, introduced the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 into the Queensland Parliament.  The Bill was referred to the Health and Environment Committee for detailed consideration.   

As set out in the explanatory notes, the Bill amends the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (National Law), as agreed by Australian Health Ministers on 18 February 2022.

The Bill implements a range of reforms which aim to update and improve the regulation of Australia’s health professions. The Bill’s main objectives are to: 

• strengthen public safety and confidence in the provision of health services;
• improve the governance of the National Scheme; and
• enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the scheme.

Key reforms in the Bill include: 

• refocusing the objectives and guiding principles of the National Law to make public safety and confidence paramount considerations, and to recognise the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for health professionals’ (National Scheme) role in ensuring the development of a culturally safe and respectful health workforce for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
• introducing a power for national regulators to issue interim prohibition orders to prohibit or restrict unregistered practitioners from providing health services or using protected titles, similar to the power already given to the Health Ombudsman in Queensland (the Health Ombudsman)
• introducing a power for the Health Ombudsman and national regulators to issue public statements about persons whose conduct poses a serious risk to public health and safety
• removing barriers to information sharing to protect the public and enable more efficient and appropriate resolution of notifications
• improving processes by which National Boards make registration decisions and manage health, conduct and performance issues.

To accommodate Queensland’s co-regulatory arrangements for registered health practitioners, the Bill also amends the Health Ombudsman Act 2013 and makes minor modifications to how certain amendments to the National Law will operate in Queensland.

submissions 

Submissions are now closed. The submissions are availabe under the "View Submissions" tab.

PUBLIC BRIEFING AND PUBLIC HEARING

Committee hearings and briefings are generally open to the public and broadcast live on Parliament TV when held on the parliamentary precinct in Brisbane. Footage will be available to view for 12 months after its live broadcast. Transcripts of the proceedings are published in due course. Visitors to parliamentary proceedings are advised that they may be filmed by broadcast media and/or be included in photos taken by Parliamentary Service staff for purposes including posting on the Parliament’s website or social media sites. The Queensland Parliamentary Service is committed to protecting the images collected for this purpose in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009.

Timeline

MORE INFORMATION

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