Key definitions
Regulation
Regulation is the establishment and enforcement of standards and rules that regulated health professionals must follow to ensure safe, high quality and ethical practice. This includes ethical conduct, knowledge, skills, attributes, recency of practice and continuing professional development.
Regulation may be either self-regulation or statutory regulation. Regulatory functions may include:
- setting standards
- certification/registration
- complaints/notifications management
- overseas-qualified practitioner assessment
- accreditation of programs of study leading to eligibility for certification/registration
- audits/monitoring
- enforcement
Self-regulation
Self-regulation allows professions to set and monitor their own standards, often through professional bodies. Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) is the professional body that sets and monitors professional standards for speech pathologists in Australia.
Some self-regulated professions, such as speech pathologists, operate under a framework provided by National Alliance of Self Regulating Health Professions (NASRHP), or they may operate independently to set standards for their profession.
Self-regulation allows a profession to tailor the standards and compliance processes to their profession. However, it lacks the legal authority to enforce the breadth of sanctions provided by statutory regulation.
National Alliance of Self-Regulating Health Professions (NASRHP)
NASRHP is a formal independent body that provides a regulatory framework for some self-regulating health professions in Australia. Membership by the professional bodies of self-regulated professions is optional - SPA is a full member of NASRHP.
Full membership of NASRHP requires organisations that perform self-regulatory functions for their professions to meet 11 benchmark standards of a quality regulation framework, with these standards closely modelled on standards under the NRAS, i.e., standards that ‘Ahpra-registered’ professions adhere to. NASRHP’s 11 standards ensure that full members, such as SPA, maintain excellence through comprehensive governance, ethical guidelines, stringent accreditation processes, and a commitment to ongoing professional development. These standards collectively ensure that organisations like SPA uphold high levels of accountability, practitioner competence, and public safety, aligning with national regulatory benchmarks.
The 11 standards focus on:
-
Scope (Areas) of Practice
- Code of Ethics/Practice and/or Professional Conduct
- Complaints Procedure
- Competency Standards
- Course Accreditation
- Continuing Professional Development
- English Language Requirements
- Mandatory Declarations
- Professional Indemnity Insurance
- Practitioner Certification Requirements
- Recency and Resumption of Practice Requirements
Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP)
A CPSP is a speech pathologist who has demonstrated they meet specific standards of practice in the field of speech pathology, as specified by the regulatory body, Speech Pathology Australia.
Obtaining and maintaining CPSP status is voluntary, requiring compliance with the Speech Pathology Australia Code of Ethics, Professional Standards, and Scope of Practice. CPSPs must meet specified recency of practice (RoP) and continuing professional development (CPD) requirements.
Some funding schemes, such as Medicare and private health insurance require speech pathologists to hold CPSP status to participate. Speech pathologists without CPSP status can still provide services, but their clients cannot claim a rebate if the funding scheme requires providers to be CPSPs.
CPSP status may be obtained separately from SPA membership - both are voluntary
Obtaining CPSP status does not mandate SPA membership. Speech pathologists may apply either as a Non Member Certified Practitioner or a Certified Practising Member. Regardless of SPA membership status, all CPSPs are required to sign the same declarations, meet the same requirements and are subject to annual certification audits. Certification audits are undertaken by SPA.
Statutory regulation
A form of regulation provided for by legislation passed by parliament(s). This legislation provides legal authority to establish regulatory bodies to set and enforce standards and requirements for regulated individuals to comply with these standards.
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (National Law)
With the primary goal of protecting the public, the National Law is in force in each state and territory in Australia, not at the Commonwealth level. The National Law establishes NRAS, defines the functions and powers of National Boards and Ahpra, and identifies which health professions are regulated under the NRAS, i.e., which professions are Ahpra-registered.
National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS)
A framework established by the National Law for regulating health practitioners from 16 health professions in Australia, ensuring standards and accountability are of a consistent level across these professions. The Health Ministers’ Meeting (HMM) has oversight of NRAS. HMM is a collective body of all health ministers from Australia’s federal, state, and territory governments.
Refer here for a listing of NRAS-regulated ('Ahpra-registered') health professions.
National Boards and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra)
Fifteen National Boards are responsible for the regulation of 16 health professions under NRAS. Refer here for a listing of NRAS-regulated ('Ahpra-registered') health professions. National Boards may delegate functions to Ahpra or accreditation authorities.
Ahpra provides administrative support to the National Boards to implement NRAS. Together, Ahpra and the National Boards are responsible for the registration of every practitioner in the registered health professions across Australia.
Together, Ahpra and the National Boards have five core functions:
- setting professional standards
- registration
- compliance
- notifications
- accreditation
Many National Boards delegate the assessment of a practitioner’s eligibility to register to Ahpra, and the accreditation of education providers and programs of study to an accreditation authority. For example, the Physiotherapy Board of Australia delegates accreditation functions and assessment of overseas-qualified practitioners to the Australian Physiotherapy Council, which is an accreditation authority.
Title protection
Title protection aims to safeguard the public by preventing unqualified individuals from misrepresenting their qualifications.
Each health profession regulated under NRAS has an associated protected title listed in the National Law. This legally restricts the use of specific professional titles to individuals who are Ahpra-registered to practice in the corresponding health practitioner category. The National Law’s title protection provisions only apply to those health professions regulated under NRAS. As speech pathologists are not regulated under NRAS, the term 'Speech pathologist’ is not a protected title.
Register of Practitioners
Ahpra keeps a list of every health practitioner who is registered to practise in Australia. Sometimes a registered practitioner has a type of registration or conditions that limit what they can do. This information is also published on the list.
Ahpra also maintains a list of cancelled practitioners and a list of practitioners who have formally agreed not to practise. The practitioners on these two lists are not allowed to provide any services as a registered health practitioner.
Notification
Under NRAS, a notification is a formal report or complaint made by a member of the public, an employer, or another practitioner regarding an Ahpra-registered practitioner’s conduct, health or performance that may impact their ability to provide safe and effective care.
Program accreditation
The process of assessing whether a higher education program and the education provider meet standards required to produce graduates with the required knowledge, skills and professional attributes to practise safely and competently in Australia.
The National Health Practitioner Ombudsman (NHPO)
Provides an independent ombudsman, privacy and freedom of information oversight of NRAS, the work of Ahpra and the National Boards, and the administrative processes experienced by practitioners and the public.