At a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting on March 26, 2008, an Intergovernmental Agreement was signed to create, for the first time a new national registration and accreditation system for all health practitioners. The Health Practitioner Regulation (Administrative Arrangements) National Law Act 2008 received Royal Assent on November 25, 2008, to go into effect July 1, 2010, thus establishing the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). [1, 4]
Mr Peter Allen, formerly Under Secretary in the Department of Human Services, Victoria was appointed Chair of AHPRA’s Agency Management Committee by the Ministerial Council on March 5, 2009. [1, 3]
The project traces back to 2005, when “the Commonwealth Government asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a research study to examine issues impacting on the health workforce including the supply of, and demand for, health workforce professionals and propose solutions to ensure the continued delivery of quality healthcare over the next 10 years” [2]
AHPRA controls what doctors can and can’t prescribe or say to their patients, under the threat of loss of licence to practice – as was seen during COVID-19 pandemic. [5]