Ahpra registration renewal – what you need to know

There are two questions about criminal history:

1. Since your last declaration to Ahpra, has there been any change to your criminal history in Australia that you have not declared to Ahpra?
2. Since your last declaration to Ahpra, has there been any change to your criminal history in countries other than Australia that you have not told us about?

The National Law requires certain relevant events to be notified to Ahpra within 7 days of occurring. The events for criminal history include:

• any charge relating to an offence punishable by 12 months' imprisonment or more
• any conviction or finding of guilt for an offence punishable by imprisonment.

If a relevant event occurred during the previous 12 months and you have notified Ahpra, you do not need to disclose it again for your registration renewal.

Apart from the notifiable criminal events, you must disclose in your renewal anything else covered by the definition of criminal history that you have not previously notified to Ahpra. These include:

• convictions for an offence
• a plea of guilty or finding of guilt by a court, irrespective of whether a conviction is recorded for the offence
• if you are charged with an offence
• spent convictions as spent convictions legislation does not apply to criminal history disclosure requirements
• convictions for unpaid parking fines, only in Western Australia
• offences where you have pleaded guilty and the outcome was guilty without conviction, only in Queensland
• speeding or parking fines, only in Tasmania.

Check for state and territory differences about what constitutes a criminal offence. The explanatory notes in the renewal form provide information about what to disclose. If you are making a disclosure, it’s best to first review the Medical Board of Australia’s criminal history registration standard.

If you answer yes, you can include information in the text box about the nature of the charge or conviction and note if you are supplying any additional documents.

The National Law defines ‘impairment’ as: ‘a physical or mental impairment, disability, condition or disorder (including substance abuse or dependence) that detrimentally affects or is likely to detrimentally affect … the person’s capacity to practise the profession’.

Medical conditions that are safely managed through treatment, aids or equipment are not considered impairments.

If you have a condition which is likely to affect your ‘capacity to practise the profession’ because, for example, you must avoid certain tasks or situations, it is prudent to disclose this condition in your registration renewal. You can use the text box for additional information, for example, to confirm it hasn’t caused any issues with your clinical practice. You can also attach information from your treating practitioner if appropriate.

If you are unsure about whether disclosure is required, you may wish to discuss this with your treating practitioner for the condition.

You do not need to include complaints to Ahpra, the Medical Council or Health Care Complaints Commission in NSW, Office of the Health Ombudsman in Queensland or any other Australian health complaints entity.

You do need to disclose any complaints made to ‘an entity with responsibility for regulating medicines, drugs or poisons in a state or territory of Australia, or an overseas regulatory body’. This includes state or territory pharmaceutical regulatory units, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and any equivalent overseas bodies.

You do not need to disclose employment and other complaints raised internally within a hospital or practice.

This is a question about your compliance with continuing professional development (CPD) requirements, which requires you to identify your CPD home for 2024 and confirm you have complied with your CPD requirements.

Since the beginning of 2024, all doctors from PGY3 and beyond need to have a CPD home. For interns and PGY2 in a supervised position, CPD is included in your accredited training position.

You will need to choose a response from the drop-down options, which includes all approved CPD homes.

If you are required to have a CPD home and do not have one, you should join one immediately and then complete your registration renewal. If you select ‘I did not have a CPD home’, you may be contacted by the regulator.

Exposure prone procedures include procedures such as cardiothoracic surgery, gynaecological surgery and neurosurgery. Some examples of non-exposure prone procedures are the insertion and maintenance of intravenous or central lines, minor suturing of uncomplicated skin lacerations and an incision of superficial abscesses.

If you answer yes to this question, you need to indicate whether you have complied with the Australian national guidelines for the management of healthcare workers living with, or exposed to, bloodborne viruses during the previous 12 months. You must also indicate whether you agree to comply with those guidelines in the future. This includes testing for HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B at least once every 3 years.

In the final declaration, you must confirm that all advertising of your services or your business complies with the advertising laws. The relevant section of the National Law is set out in the form. See our factsheet, Advertising guidelines when promoting your practice for more information about these obligations.