November 2025

• From the Chair
• Priority news
  • It’s time to renew your registration in your new Ahpra portal
  • Fee relief for practitioners taking protected leave now in effect  
• Board news
  • New Board member welcome
  • Ahpra and the Board attend 2025 NAATSIHWP
• Students and graduates
  • About to complete your studies? It’s time to apply for registration
• Across the National Scheme
  • Protection for people making a complaint boosted from 1 December 2025
  • Sexual misconduct to be permanently published on register of practitioners
  • Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner on stewardship and system reform
  • Need a receipt or tax invoice? Here’s what you need to know
  • Review presents opportunities for Ahpra’s regulatory reform agenda 
  • Guidance on medicinal cannabis prescribing targets unsafe practice
  • New cosmetic procedures guidelines published
• Want more information?

From the Chair

I was proud to represent the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board at Garma Festival in August. The theme was Rom ga Wana Watanu – Law of the Land, Standing Firm. This was my second time travelling to Gulkla to attend Garma – my first was 20 years ago – and the Festival has grown in size and importance since then. The inspirational speeches from our respected elders, leaders and emerging leaders helped strengthen my personal commitment to champion the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners in providing culturally safe and expert clinical care, and to celebrate the unique role we play in mainstream healthcare settings.

It's that time of year where we need to renew our registration. Renewal will look a little different this year, so I encourage you to get onto it as soon as you can. To those students about to enter the profession, the Engagement and Support team is here to support you through the registration process. You can contact Chantelle, Cara and Alyssa at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Iris Raye
Chair, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia

Priority news

It’s time to renew your registration in your Ahpra portal

It’s that time of year, when you need to renew your general or non-practising Health Practitioner registration. You have until 30 November to renew and if you submit your application to renew on time, you can continue practising while your application is assessed. Renewing on time also means you’ll avoid late fees which apply after 30 November 2025.

Keep an eye out for your reminder email from Ahpra with your link to online renewal.

When it comes time to renew, things will look different this year. Ahpra has a new online portal with multifactor authentication (MFA) to manage all aspects of your registration. 

Multifactor authentication is an extra layer of security used to protect your data.

Before you renew, you will need to link an authenticator app to your portal. This app generates a one-time 6-digit code and is more secure than sending the code by SMS. Every time you log in, you’ll enter:  

• your username 
• your password 
• the 6-digit code from the app.

If you already know your username and password, you can log in now, link the authenticator app and renew. If you’re not sure what your username is, Ahpra will include your username in your renewal reminder. If you share your email account with someone else, such as your partner, or use a group email such as ‘[email protected]’ then you will need to change it to an email that is unique to you when you first log in. There’s information available on the Ahpra portal help centre on how to do this.  

Need help with your portal? 

Here is where you can find more help about logging in to your portal and linking MFA: 

• Ahpra portal help centre 
• Guides and videos to link MFA.

You can also contact Ahpra’s Customer Service team. 

Fee relief for practitioners taking protected leave now in effect  

A 30 per cent rebate on annual renewal fees is now available for Health Practitioners who take parental leave and other forms of protected leave, such as disability and carer’s leave

The rebate applies to practitioners who take leave for at least six continuous months on the grounds of a protected attribute. You can only claim the rebate at the next renewal after your six-month period of leave ends. You cannot apply for this rebate before the six-month period has started, or before it ends.  

A wider review is looking at how a pro rata approach to fees can be implemented. It is expected to report by November 2025 with recommendations aimed at coming into effect by 1 July 2026. 

Visit the Fee relief for parental leave and other types of leave webpage for more information and to read the full policy.  

Board news

New Board member welcome

Welcome Caroline Brim Hudson to the Board. Caroline is a proud Tjapukai and Thanakwithi woman, living and working on Whadjuk Noongar Country. She joins the Board as an Aboriginal Health Practitioner representative for Western Australia. Her vision is to bring a more holistic perspective to healthcare that will create safer and more inclusive environments that cater to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Read her profile on the Board website. 

Ahpra and the Board attend 2025 NAATSIHWP

Ahpra and the Board spent two days in Darwin, attending the 2025 NAATSIHWP Professional Development Symposium. The Engagement and Support team had a stall, where the team answered questions about the National Scheme. They also helped Health Practitioners access Ahpra’s new operating system, helping them link multifactor authentication to their new portal.

Students and graduates

About to complete your studies? It’s time to apply for registration

Your Ahpra portal

Congratulations! You’ve studied hard and you’re about to graduate. Before you can start working as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner, you must become registered. The first steps in applying for registration are to set up your Ahpra portal and link multifactor authentication. Your portal is where you will manage all aspects of your registration throughout your career.

We have an online portal help centre with step-by-step instructions and videos on how to create our portal and securely link your multifactor authentication app.

Information to help with your application

On the Graduate applications page of the Ahpra website, you will find helpful guides on completing your application for registration, tips for how to avoid delays, and information flyers you can download for working offline. There is also a page of Frequently asked questions that go into more detail on a range of topics.

How long does it take to assess my application?

We can’t finalise your application until we receive your graduation results from your education provider.

If you’ve submitted everything needed to prove you’ve met the requirements for registration, we aim to finalise your application within two weeks of receiving your graduation results.

For more information, read the news item.

Across the National Scheme

Protection for people making a complaint boosted from 1 December 2025

People who make a complaint against a health practitioner will be protected from reprisals or retaliation under increases to consumer protections coming into effect from 1 December 2025.

People who make a complaint in good faith are already protected from liability for information they provide to Ahpra and the National Boards. The changes will extend this protection, making it an offence for someone to threaten, intimidate or otherwise retaliate against a notifier for making a complaint.

The maximum penalty will be $60,000 for an individual or $120,000 for a body corporate.

It will also be illegal to enter into a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with a patient, unless it clearly states in writing that it does not limit a person from making a notification or providing assistance to regulators. Any NDAs that do seek to limit a person’s ability to make a complaint will be invalid.

The consumer protection changes are part of series of amendments to the National Law coming into effect over the coming months.

Information on the changes, how they will be implemented and what they mean for practitioners and the public is available in the full information guide.

The guide is available on the National Law amendments page on the Ahpra website which includes links to related topics and will be updated as our implementation activities progress.

Sexual misconduct to be permanently published on register of practitioners

Changes to the way sexual misconduct is reported on the public register of practitioners are coming in early 2026.

Practitioners who have a tribunal finding of professional misconduct involving sexual misconduct will have this information permanently published on the register. This change is retrospective, applying from the start of regulation of a profession in the National Scheme.

The information recorded on the register will include a statement that:

• the practitioner engaged in professional misconduct on the basis of sexual misconduct
• any sanctions imposed, and
• the tribunal decision (if published).

Health ministers decided on this change to protect public safety and ensure people are able to make an informed decision when choosing a health practitioner.

Ahpra and the National Boards are finalising guidance on sexual misconduct and the National Law following extensive consultation, and will release this guidance as soon as possible. We have also produced a guide to the overall suite of National Law changes which includes more detail on the sexual misconduct changes.

This change will be distressing for some practitioners. If you are contacted by Ahpra about additional information being put on your register entry, we encourage you to contact your insurer, professional association or legal adviser for guidance and support. We publish information on general and profession specific support services on our Support services page.

Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner on stewardship and system reform

Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner called for renewed collaboration at the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme’s annual meeting in Melbourne, describing Ahpra as stewards of Australia’s health system.

Reflecting on four months of national stakeholder engagement, Justin acknowledged the opportunities and challenges ahead and discussed current priorities including improving notifications, preventing harm, ending racism in healthcare, and ensuring a responsive workforce.

Justin urged stakeholders to take a system-wide view and collaborate across Ahpra, boards, accreditors, and educators to better meet evolving workforce needs.

As stewards of the health system, we must all accept responsibility for the long-term integrity and sustainability of what has been entrusted to us,’ he said. ‘The nature of our roles – distinct but connected – obliges us to support a health workforce that can support Australia.’

Read the full speech.

Need a receipt or tax invoice? Here’s what you need to know

Receipts or tax invoices for payments made in the 2024–25 financial year will be emailed to you directly – they won’t be available in your Ahpra portal.  

If you paid after 18 March 2025

You’ll receive your receipt or tax invoice shortly after your payment via email. 

If you paid between 1 July 2024 and 18 March 2025

We’ll email your receipt or tax invoice from mid-June 2025. Be sure to check both your inbox and spam/junk folder. 

If you haven’t received it by mid-July, please submit an online enquiry, and let us know you need a receipt or tax invoice for the 2024–25 financial year. 

If you need a receipt or tax invoice for a previous year

For payments made before July 2024, please submit an online enquiry and specify which financial year(s) you need. We’ll email the relevant documents once we receive your request. 

National Law amendment information guides out now

New resources are now available to help registered practitioners in all the regulated professions understand and adapt to changes to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, which will come into effect over the next 12 months.

Information on the changes, how they will be implemented and what they mean for practitioners and the public is available in the full information guide, while the two-page short guide provides a high-level snapshot of the changes.

Both guides are available on the National Law amendments page on the Ahpra website which includes links to related topics and will be updated as our implementation activities progress.

The changes to the National Law were passed earlier this year, focusing on:

• stronger consumer and notifier protections (including around non-disclosure agreements)
• permanently publishing information on the register for practitioners that have been found by a tribunal to have engaged in professional misconduct that includes sexual misconduct
• requiring practitioners across Australia to get a reinstatement order from a tribunal when they seek to return the register after being cancelled and/or disqualified.

Review presents opportunities for Ahpra’s regulatory reform agenda 

Ahpra welcomed the release of the Independent review of complexity in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (Dawson review) second consultation paper and thanked the reviewer Ms Sue Dawson and her team for their comprehensive work. 

Ahpra supports in principle the review’s recommendations, many of which are in lockstep with Ahpra’s current reform agenda. 

The reforms centre around: 

• Regulatory action and leadership to minimise and prevent harm to the public, especially in response to emerging healthcare challenges. 
• Strengthening notification processes and investment to support better timeliness, transparency, and procedural fairness. 
• Evolution of national health regulation including a national framework that ensures a risk-based approach is taken and that health professionals are regulated according to public safety needs.

Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said the review presents an exciting opportunity for the next chapter in regulation.  

‘The National Scheme is facing challenges it has not previously encountered,’ he said.  

‘The time is right to take the National Scheme forward to meet the evolving needs of contemporary regulation. I look forward to working with stakeholders to bring the recommendations of the review to life.’ 

Read the full media release.  

Guidance on medicinal cannabis prescribing targets unsafe practice

Ahpra and the National Boards have published guidance on the prescribing of medicinal cannabis after concerning reports of patients presenting to emergency departments with medicinal cannabis-induced psychosis.

The guidance reminds prescribers that medicinal cannabis should be treated as a medicine and to be as careful and diligent when prescribing medicinal cannabis as they are when prescribing other drugs of dependence.

‘We don’t prescribe opioids to every patient who asks for them, and medicinal cannabis is no different. Patient demand is no indicator of clinical need,’ Medical Board of Australia Chair Dr Susan O’Dwyer said.

The guidance addresses concerns that profits are being prioritised over patient safety and aims to support practitioners to provide safe care, particularly for those patients at most risk of harm.

Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey AM, Chair of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, urges nurse practitioners within the industry to combine this guidance with their professional practice framework when conducting assessments.

‘Nurses and other registered practitioners must provide holistic care in all areas of their practice. They must take their professional responsibilities with them no matter where they work,’ Adjunct Professor Casey said.

Safe prescribing of medicinal cannabis includes assessing patients thoroughly, formulating and implementing a management plan, facilitating coordination and continuity of care, maintaining medical records, recommending treatments only where there is an identified therapeutic need, ensuring medicinal cannabis is never a first line treatment, and developing an exit strategy from the beginning.

You can read the full media release and the guidance on the Ahpra website.

New cosmetic procedures guidelines published

Australians undergoing cosmetic procedures such as anti-wrinkle injections and fillers will have greater protections under sweeping guidelines being introduced across the booming billion-dollar industry.

Ahpra and the National Boards have published advance copies of the Guidelines for practitioners who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures and the Guidelines for practitioners who advertise higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures, which will strengthen safeguards across the industry when they come into effect on 2 September 2025.

The new protections highlight that many practitioners need more than just the foundational qualifications included in their initial training before they can safely perform non-surgical procedures like cosmetic injections. Further training or education will be necessary for those practitioners wanting to expand their scope of practice.

While cosmetic procedures remain out of scope for many practitioners, the guidelines will now apply to all regulated professions, futureproofing those that may join the lucrative cosmetic industry.

Learn more about the new cosmetic procedure practice and advertising guidelines.

Want more information?

Call Ahpra on 1300 419 495 or 08 7071 5647 if you:

• have any questions
• need help filling in forms, or
• are having trouble explaining to your employer about requirements. You can ask your employer to call this number.

The Board’s website has information on registration forms, registration standards, codes and guidelines, and news. If you have already lodged your application, you may call the registration officer responsible for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner applications directly on 08 7071 5647.