Landmark national law reforms require the regulator to publicly mark sexual misconduct decisions on practitioner records
Australia's national health regulator has begun adding past sexual misconduct findings against health practitioners to its public registers under new laws designed to strengthen patient safety and transparency.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) confirmed that, from this week, information about sexual misconduct findings is being included on both the public register of practitioners and the register of cancelled practitioners, following amendments to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.
The first round of updates has affected 107 practitioners whose tribunal decisions involved sexual misconduct, Ahpra said. Of those, 86 are already listed on the register of cancelled practitioners.
The changes are retrospective and permanent, and will ultimately apply to all relevant tribunal decisions dating back to the start of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme in July 2010.
Ahpra chief executive Justin Untersteiner said sexual misconduct represented a fundamental breach of the obligations owed by registered practitioners.
"Sexual misconduct by registered health practitioners is an unacceptable breach of trust that undermines public health and safety," he said in a statement.
Under the reforms, most tribunal decisions continue to be published online as before, with links from the public register.
However, entries will now clearly state when a decision involved sexual misconduct, making that aspect of a practitioner's disciplinary history more visible to patients, employers and other stakeholders.
"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," Untersteiner said.
Ahpra said it had carried out extensive legal analysis and a show-cause process to implement the changes, which were agreed by health ministers in April 2024 and enacted through the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025.
The reforms sit within a broader programme of work to prevent sexual misconduct by registered health practitioners and to respond decisively when it occurs.
Sexual misconduct, as defined by the regulator, includes professional boundary violations, sexual harassment, and criminal offences, and may occur both within and outside clinical settings.
"Sexual misconduct not only breaches professional and ethical standards, it breaches the trust placed in practitioners by their patients, colleagues and community," Untersteiner said.
"Any incident can have a lasting and profound impact. Ahpra has dedicated staff and resources available to support anyone wishing to raise a concern about a practitioner, and I would encourage them to do so," he said.
The National Law reforms also impose new nationally consistent requirements on individuals with sexual misconduct findings who are not currently registered but seek to regain registration in the future.
