AGY-6722 | Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales

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The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme

In the past, the “regulation of health professionals was undertaken by states and territories, without a consistent approach across Australia”. In July 2006, however, “the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to implement a National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for health professionals, beginning with those professions currently registered in all jurisdictions”. In March 2008, “COAG members signed the Intergovernmental Agreement for a National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the Health Professions to implement the National Scheme”.

On 1 July 2010, “Australia introduced the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) to regulate health practitioners for states and territories other than Western Australia, which joined the National Scheme on 18 October 2010”. The National Scheme “involved the creation of a single national system for 10 health professions: chiropractic, dental, medicine, nursing and midwifery, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry and psychology”. The new arrangements aimed to “provide stronger safeguards for the public, facilitate health practitioners moving across the country more easily, reduce red tape and promote a more flexible, responsive, safe and sustainable health workforce". (1)

The National Scheme was established by “states and territories through a national ‘applied laws’ model”, but was not a Commonwealth Government scheme. Queensland enacted the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law first, then the other jurisdictions (states and territories) “proceeded to adopt the National Law, or pass corresponding legislation in the case of Western Australia”. The National Law “received royal assent in each state and territory parliament progressively”. In New South Wales, the Law was enacted in November 2009. (2)

The National Scheme included “a number of different entities with distinct roles and responsibilities”. Together, these entities had a “shared responsibility for the regulation of health practitioners within the” scheme. The entities included: the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council; the Australian Health Workforce Advisory Council; the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency Management Committee; the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA); the State and Territory Offices of AHPRA; the National Boards; the National Committees of the National Boards; the state, territory, and regional boards of the National Boards; and the Accreditation Authorities. (3)

The intention of the National Scheme was to implement uniform legislation. However, “several jurisdictions have made amendments. In particular New South Wales opted out of Part 8 of the National law and retained its own complaints system, rather than using the national system for dealing with notifications about health practitioners". New South Wales operated a “co-regulatory model where notifications involving registered health practitioners” were “managed through the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission and the health professional councils”. (4)

Therefore, in NSW the registration and accreditation functions of the former Nurses and Midwives Board were transferred to the New South Wales Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, assisted by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council. AHPRA also provided administrative assistance to the Boards in the exercise of their registration functions. The health, conduct and performance functions of the former Board were transferred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales. (5)

The Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales

The Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales was established as a Statutory Body on 1 July 2010 by the Health Practitioner Regulation Amendment Act 2010 (Act No.34, 2010), which was assented to on 15 June 2010, and proclaimed to commence on 1 July 2010. (6) This Act also changed the name of the Health Practitioner Regulation Act to the Health Practitioner Regulation (Adoption of National Law) Act 2009 (Act No.86, 2009). The Act also repealed the Nurses and Midwives Act 1991 (Act No.9, 1991), and the Nurses and Midwives Regulation 2008, and abolished the Nurses and Midwives Board. Other amendments made by the Health Practitioner Regulation Amendment Act 2010 were consolidated in the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (Act No. 86a). (7)

The Council consisted of 16 members appointed by the Governor including a President and Deputy President, who were required to be “registered in the health profession for which” the Council was established, from the following groups: three local registered nurses, one local midwife, one local enrolled nurse all of whom were to be elected in accordance with the NSW Regulations; one nominee each of the New South Wales Nurses’ Association and the College of Nursing; the following nominees of the Minister; two nurses or midwives engaged in the tertiary or pre-enrolment education of nurses or midwives; one enrolled nurse; one registered nurse who practised nursing in the area of mental health; one registered nurse who was an officer of one of the following organisations: the Department of Health, an Area Health Service, the Ambulance Service of New South Wales or the Health Administration Corporation; one Australian lawyer; and three representatives of the community. (8)

The purpose of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales was to “act in the interests of the public by ensuring that”: nursing and midwifery students were fit “to have contact with members of the public” while they undertook “approved programs of study”; registered nurses and midwives maintained “standards of conduct and professional performance ” and were “fit to practise”. The Council managed “a range of programs, services and procedures to achieve this purpose”. (9)

The Council could “establish committees to assist it in connection with exercise of any of its functions”. By mid-2011, the Council had established the following committees: Counselling, Finance, Notifications, Legal, Education and Research, and Section 150 Review. Other Bodies which assisted the Council in its work were: the Nursing and Midwifery Tribunal, the Professional Standards Committee, the Impaired Registrants Panel, and the Performance Review Panels. (10)

The Council was required to prepare an Annual report under the Annual Report (Statutory Body) Act 1984 (Act No. 87, 1984) including: all complaints either received by the Council during the year or not concluded of in the previous year; actions taken by the Council in relation to the complaints, and the results of that action in the year; all matters referred to Performance Review Panel for performance review; the results of Performance Review Panels concluded in the year. (11)

The Council was required to ensure that the following information “in relation to a registered health practitioner registered in the profession” was made available to the public on request: “any condition imposed on registration of the practitioner”; any “other order made in respect of the practitioner” under the Act. This information could be made available by means of the Register kept by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (12)

The Council could establish an account named the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales Education and Research Account for “amounts decided by the Minister from time to time” for “any purpose relating to education and research about the health, performance and conduct of registered health practitioners or students registered” in the Nursing and Midwifery professions. By mid-2011, the Council had established an account of that name. (13)

The Executive Officer of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales was “responsible, as the chief executive officer of the Council, for the management of the affairs of the Council subject to any directions of the Council”. (14)

The Executive Officer was required to keep a record of: all the proceedings and decisions of the Nursing and Midwifery Tribunal and Committees to which the Council referred matters; and all inquiries held by the Council. (15)

The Executive Officer was also required to give all money received by the Council “to the Health Administration Corporation, constituted under the Health Administration Act 1982, for payment into an account established under section 13A of that Act”. (16)

The Council was unable to employ any staff in its own right under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (Act No. 86a). (17) However, the Health Professional Councils Authority division was established on 1 July 2010, under the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 (Act No.43, 2002), as a Non-Public Service Division assigned to statutory corporations in order to support the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales and other health councils to fulfil their “regulatory responsibilities”. The Authority replaced the former Health Professions Registration Boards division, and was an “administrative body of the Health Administration Corporation”. (18)

On 1 January 2011, the Health Services Amendment (Local Health Networks) Act 2010 (No.97, 2010) amended all references to an Area Health Service, in the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (Act No. 86a), to a Local Health Network. (19) On 1 July 2011, the Health Services Amendment (Local Health Districts and Boards) Act 2011 (Act No.4, 2011) further amended the National Law by altering all references in the Act from a Network to a Board. (20)

On 21 June 2012, the Health Legislation Amendment Act 2012 (Act No. 39, 2012) amended all references to the Department of Health, in the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (Act No. 86a) to the Ministry of Health. (21)

On 1 January 2014, the Civil and Administrative Legislation (Repeal and Amendment) Act 2013 (Act No.95, 2013), abolished the Nursing and Midwifery Tribunal and transferred its functions to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales. All references in the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (Act No. 86a) to the Nursing and Midwifery Tribunal were amended to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal. (22)

Endnotes
1. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the National Boards Annual Report 2010 - 2011, reporting on the National Registration and Accreditation and Scheme, p.7.
2. Ibid., pp.7-8; Health Practitioner Regulation Act 2009 (Act No. 86, 2009). Long title, An Act to apply as a law of this State a national law relating to health practitioner regulation, assented to on 19 November 2009.
3. Ibid., pp.8-9.
4. Ibid., pp.8-12.
5. Ibid., pp.8-12, 27, 37, 53, 75-76, 88, 91, 112-114, 123-125, 138; 'Home page; from the Nurses and Midwives Board, Nurses and Midwives Board of Australia Website, http://www.nmb.nsw.gov.au/ (accessed 4 March 2015); 'Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia' from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales Website, http://www.hpca.nsw.gov.au/Nursing-and-Midwifery-Council/About-Us/Regulation-of-nurses-and-midwives-in-NSW/Nursing-and-Midwifery-Board-of-Australia/default.aspx (accessed 11 February 2015); 'The New South Wales Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia' from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Website, http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/About/State-and-Territory-Nursing-and-Midwifery-Board-Members/The-New-South-Wales-Board-of-the-Nursing-and-Midwifery-Board-of-Australia.aspx (accessed 4 March 2015); Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales Annual Report 2010-2011, p.3; Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (Act No. 86a), ss.5, 36, 299; Health Practitioner Regulation (New South Wales) Regulation 2010 (2010–333) (as amended) cls.25; notified on NSW Legislation Website (LW), 1 July 2010.
6. Health Practitioner Regulation Amendment Act 2010 (Act No. 34, 2010), s.2, Schedule 1, Clause [8]. A new Part 5A, New South Wales Councils [NSW] of the Principal Act. The Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales was established by s.41B of Part 5A.
7. Ibid., Schedule 1, Clause [1]. Amending s.1 of the Principal Act; Schedule 3, Repeals.
8. Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (Act No. 86a), Schedule 5C, Provisions relating to members and procedure of Councils, Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales, Clauses 5, 6, 10.
9. Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales Annual Report 2010-2011 op.cit., p.3.
10. Ibid., pp.4 - 7; Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (Act No. 86a) op.cit., s.41F.
11 Ibid., s.41H.
12. Ibid., s.41I.
13. Ibid., s.41S; Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales Annual Report 2010-2011 op.cit., p.42.
14. Ibid., s.41Q.
15. Loc. cit.
16. Ibid., s.41R.
17. Ibid., s.41C (2).
18. Health Practitioner Regulation Amendment Act 2010, op.cit., Schedule 2.46, amending Schedule 1, Divisions of the Government Service, of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 (Act No.43, 2002); Schedule 1, Clause [25]. A new Schedule 5A, Savings and Transitional Provisions [NSW] of the Principal Act. Staff from the former HPRB division were transferred to the HPCA division under Clause 15 of Schedule 5A; Health Administration Act 1982 (Act No.135, 1982), s.13A, Schedule 2A; 'About Us’ from the Health Professional Councils Authority Website, http://www.hpca.nsw.gov.au/About-Us/default.aspx (accessed 6 February 2015); Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales Annual Report 2010-2011 op.cit., pp.3, 11, 23, 41, 43.
19. Health Services Amendment (Local Health Networks) Act 2010, s.2 (1), Schedule 2.11. Amends references in the Principal Act, Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (Act No. 86a), Schedule 5C from an area health service to a local health network; Commencement Proclamation under the Health Services Amendment (Local Health Networks) Act 2010 (Act No. 97, 2010) (2010–716); notified on NSW Legislation Website, 17 December 2010.
20. Health Services Amendment (Local Health Districts and Boards) Act 2011, s.2, Schedule 2.13; Commencement Proclamation under the Health Services Amendment (Local Health Districts and Boards) Act 2011 (2011 - 313); notified on NSW Legislation Website, 1 July 2011.
21. Health Legislation Amendment Act 2012, s.2 (1), Schedule 1.1 [27]. Amends references in Schedule 5C and 5D of the Principal Act from Department of Health to Ministry of Health.
22. Civil and Administrative Legislation (Repeal and Amendment) Act 2013, s.2 (1), Schedule 6.4. Deletes s.41Q (3) (b) from the Principal Act. All other references in the Act to a Tribunal amended to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal.