Your Expectations of Professional Behaviour

The Pharmacy Board and other regulators are asking for input on a revised code of conduct.

Twelve National Boards and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (have launched a public consultation on a revised shared Code of conduct for 12 registered health professions across Australia.

The National Boards and Ahpra are inviting practitioners, patients and community members, employers, education providers and other stakeholders to have their say.

The current shared Code of conduct has been revised to reflect changes in public expectations and professional practice.

Ahpra CEO, Martin Fletcher, said the code sets out important obligations about professional behaviour and conduct.

‘The updated code sets out the National Boards’ expectations of professional behaviour and reflects the professionalism that is a fundamental part of being a health professional,” he said.

“Importantly, the code describes the behaviour patients can expect whenever they see a registered health practitioner,’ he said.

“We want to hear from patients, consumers, practitioners and others to make sure the updated code is relevant and useful to practitioners and better able to protect the public.

“We want to hear all feedback to help make the code easy to understand and clear about what is expected from practitioners.

“I strongly encourage health practitioners, community members, education providers and employers to read the consultation paper and have their say,’ Mr Fletcher said.

The code, which Ahpra and the Boards say is vital in protecting patients, applies to more than 184,000 registered practitioners in 12 professions including dental practitioners, physiotherapists and pharmacists.

The shared Code of Conduct applies to the following professions:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners

• chiropractors

• Chinese medicine practitioners

• dental practitioners

• medical radiation practitioners

• occupational therapists

• optometrists

• osteopaths

• paramedics

• pharmacists

• physiotherapists, and

• podiatrists and podiatric surgeons.

The consultation is open until 6 July 2021.

The code is being updated to make sure it continues to reflect the standard of conduct and behaviour expected of registered health practitioners by the National Boards.

The updated code aims to be a relevant and useful resource for practitioners, while being more accessible to the public.

The shared Code of conduct is open for public consultation for eight weeks until 6 July 2021.

Source: https://ajp.com.au/news/your-expectations-of-professional-behaviour/ , viewed 17 May 2021.