Examining the Foundation of Australian Healthcare System: AHPRA's Role

This essay examines the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (AHPRA) and its role in regulating health practitioners within Australia's healthcare system. It highlights the importance of AHPRA in ensuring efficient, transparent, and accountable healthcare practices through the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme. The essay argues for the inclusion of speech pathologists under the National Scheme, emphasizing their crucial role in addressing communication disorders and developmental delays. By advocating for national recognition, the essay suggests that speech pathologists can benefit from standardized training, practice guidelines, and ethical codes, ultimately enhancing the quality and safety of their services to the public. The essay concludes by underscoring the need for government attention to ensure that professions dealing with developmental delays and medical conditions are regulated under a National Board with well-defined standards.

Running head: Foundation of Australian Healthcare System 1
Foundation of Australian Healthcare System
(Author’s name)
(Institutional Affiliation)

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The Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (AHPRA) is a statutory body
enacted by Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009, to govern, control and
regulate all health practitioners in Australia (AHPRA 2012, p.1). AHPRA regulate equally each
state and territory as provided by the law. This regulatory body supports 15 national boards that
are responsible for regulating health professionals under the National Registration and
Accreditation Scheme. These boards are required to enter a health profession agreement with
AHPLA that determines the annual budget they use, fees that health practitioner are supposed to
pay and the services provided by AHPRA(AHRPA 2015,p.2). The boards are then required to
set policies and professional standards that all health practitioners in Australia are supposed to
meet. These fifteen boards control the following professions which include Chinese Medicine,
medical doctors, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice, dentists, nursing and
midwifery, medical radiation practice, chiropractic practice, occupational therapist, osteopathy,
optometry, podiatry, paramedicine, physiotherapy, pharmacy and psychology (AHRPA 2018,
p.1). AHPRA works in partnership with all the professional boards setting powers, roles, and
responsibility under the National Law. The National Law provides several guiding principles that
require the National Scheme to operate in an efficient, transparent, effective, accountable and in
fair way with reasonable registration fees (AHRPA 2012, p.5).
However, not all health professions are under the National Scheme and some therefore
only register through Medicaid to practice. One of these professions is Speech Pathologists.
Speech pathologists are involved in the study, diagnosis and treatment of communication
disorders including difficulties in listening, speaking, writing, reading, using of voice, stuttering
and social skills (Speech Pathology Australia, 2019). In a community and hospital settings,

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speech therapist work with people and patients with communication problems due to conditions
such stroke, cerebral palsy, brain injuries, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, hearing
loss, dementia, developmental delays and other condition that affect speech and language(Speech
Pathology Australia, 2019). In that case, therefore, Speech pathologists need government
attention hence they should be highly recognized and put under the National Scheme in order to
make sure they provide quality services to the public just like any other health professions.
One of the key roles of speech pathologists is that they deal with developmental delay in
terms of speech and language in children (Speech Pathology Australia, 2019). Childhood speech
development and social behaviors is a key milestone in any person life. The government should
make sure such professions are controlled by a National Scheme to promote the quality and
safety of services (AHRPA 2018, p.2). Other than that, most people with communication
problems usually have an underlying medical condition as mentioned above (Speech Pathology
Australia, 2019). Some of such conditions like brain injuries are vital and thus ay professional
dealing with them need to be under-recognized National Board with well-identified standards
and scope of practice (AHRPA 2018, p3). In this way, specific functions, code of practice and
ethics that are nationally controlled will be put into place with well-defined licenses and
registrations for practice (AHRPA 2012, p. 6). In addition to that, with a national regulation
speech pathologist can have well elaborate modes of training and practice that will lead to the
production of competent professionals (AHRPA 2015, p.4).

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References
AHRPA, 2018. Quality Framework for the Accreditation Function. Health Professions
Accreditation Collaborative Forum 1-6. Retrieved from
https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Publications/Accreditation-publications.aspx
AHRPA, 2012. Accreditation under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act1 (the
National Law). Forum of Australian Health Professionals Council, 1-32. Retrieved from
https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Publications/Accreditation-publications.aspx
AHRPA, 2015. Communication between Accreditation Authorities and National Boards about
accreditation and program approval decisions and changes to accreditation standards – a
guidance document about good practice. Health Accreditation Council’s Forum,
1-8. Retrieved from https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Publications/Accreditation-
publications.aspx
Speech Pathology Australia, 2019. What is a Speech Pathologist? Retrieved from
https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/SPAweb/Resources_for_the_Public/What_i
s_a_Speech_Pathologist/SPAweb/Resources_for_the_Pubic/What_is_a_Speech_Patholo
gist/What_is_a_Speech_Pathologist.aspx?hkey=7e5fb9f8-c226-4db6-934c-
0c3987214d7a