Sexual misconduct by practitioners now searchable on public registers

More than 100 health practitioners have had existing sexual misconduct findings added to publicly searchable national registers by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
 
In its first round of changes made this week under ‘landmark reforms’, AHPRA has published additional information to the register entries of 107 practitioners – 86 of which are cancelled practitioners.
 
The information being added to the register is drawn from a previous tribunal finding of professional misconduct with a basis of sexual misconduct.
 
This covers a wide range of behaviours, including professional boundary violations, sexual harassment and criminal offences both inside and outside of a practice setting.
 
While most tribunal decisions are already published online, with a link included on the public register, this change will make it clear to the public that the finding involved sexual misconduct.
 
Updates to the register of practitioners and register of cancelled practitioners are ‘retrospective and permanent’, applying to all tribunal decisions dating back to the beginning of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme in July 2010.
 
It follows ‘landmark changes to the National Law’ first flagged in 2024 and introduced last year to further improve public safety.
 
AHPRA CEO Justin Untersteiner said sexual misconduct by registered health practitioners is an ‘unacceptable’ breach of trust that undermines public health and safety.
 
‘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,’ he said.
 
The changes form part of AHPRA’s broader, ongoing action to prevent sexual misconduct and respond decisively when it occurs.
 
‘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.
 
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said striking the right balance between transparency for community protection and natural procedural justice was challenging.
 
‘General practice should provide our patients with a safe environment, and transparency is part of building trust,’ he said.
 
‘Patients should be able to make an informed choice about which health professionals they consult with, including being able to view a practitioner’s regulatory history.
 
‘Our members support accountability and transparency, though have expressed concerns about retaining information on the public register permanently. It may be appropriate to publish information for a set period and then remove it from the register once it expires.’
 
AHPRA adds that for individuals who have been the subject of a sexual misconduct finding, but who are not currently registered, the National Law changes also impose new, nationally consistent requirements in the event they seek to regain registration.
 
The changes enacted this week come alongside enhanced protections introduced in December last year making it an offence to retaliate against anyone who raises a concern with regulators.
 
It also makes it an offence to seek or use non-disclosure agreements to impede investigations.
 
Further information about the change is available on the AHPRA website.
 
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