Queensland passes national registration Bill

News article from the MEDICAL OBSERVER

Queensland passes national registration Bill
Elizabeth McIntosh - Monday, 2 November 2009

CONTROVERSIAL legislation that gives governments greater control over medical training standards has begun its national roll-out.

The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Bill 2009 passed through the Queensland Parliament last week, and will now be used as a template by all other states and territories. ...

AMA president Dr Andrew Pesce said the Queensland Government had failed to take into account the association’s concerns.
“The AMA believes the Queensland Parliament is handing the other [states and territories] a flawed and ineffectual Bill,” he said.

Since it was first proposed, the national registration and accreditation scheme outlined in the Bill has generated much concern among medical groups. The AMA previously lobbied for the legislation to incorporate a ‘public interest test’ that health ministers would have to meet before altering standards, however the amendment was not supported by the Government.

The only concession given was that health ministers would have to consider the impact that any changes would have on the quality and safety of health care.


[NOTE: This is the Bill that has made professional indemnity insurance mandatory for all registered health professionals, at the centre of the threat to the very existence of private midwifery practice for homebirth. As has been discussed here and elsewhere, midwives have been granted a 2-year exemption from indemnity for attending birth in the home.]