More than 100 health practitioners, including 21 nurses and midwives, have had findings of sexual misconduct against them recorded on the public register, following reforms by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) aimed at helping patients make more informed decisions about their care.
Under landmark changes to the National Law, Ahpra has begun adding sexual misconduct findings on both the public register of practitioners and the register of cancelled practitioners, as it reviews 5,000 professional misconduct cases dating back to July 2010 to identify those involving sexual misconduct.
Last week, more than 107 practitioners had sexual misconduct findings added to the public registers. Of these, 86 were on the list of cancelled practitioners. Doctors made up nearly half (50) of practitioners whose historical sexual misconduct findings were made public, followed by 21 nurses and midwives.
Sexual misconduct covers professional boundary violations, sexual harassment and criminal offences, and can occur inside and outside of a practice setting.
“Sexual misconduct by registered health practitioners is an unacceptable breach of trust that undermines public health and safety,” Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said.
“Publishing sexual misconduct findings on the public register empowers patients to make informed choices about their care and reinforces that breaches of trust will not be hidden.”
Most tribunal decisions are already published online, with a link included on the public register. Under the changes, the register entry will now clearly state when the decision involved sexual misconduct. This change will apply to all tribunal decisions dating back to the beginning of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, July 2010.
Under official guidance released in December, the information being added to the register is drawn from a previous tribunal finding of professional misconduct with a basis of sexual misconduct.
Ahpra says it undertook extensive legal analysis and review, including a show-cause process, to implement the changes.
“Sexual misconduct not only breaches professional and ethical standards, it breaches the trust placed in practitioners by their patients, colleagues and community,” Mr Untersteiner said.
“Any incident can have a lasting and profound impact.”
Ahpra’s Notifier Support Service is available to assist people who wish to raise concerns about a practitioner.
