AGY-7247 | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Council of New South Wales

Full description

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Council (ATSIHPC) was a statutory body established on 1 July 2012 by the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) Amendment (Health Professions) Order 2012. (1)

The function of the Council was to act in the interests of the public by ensuring that registered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice practitioners were fit to practice and that students were fit to have contact with members of the public whilst they undertook approved programs of study. The Council could manage a range of programs, services and procedures to achieve this purpose. (2)

The Health Professional Councils Authority (HPCA) provided shared executive and corporate services to support the Council's regulatory activities. On behalf of the Councils, the HPCA liaised with:

• The Ministry of Health to provide advice and responses to the Minister for Health and the Secretary on regulatory matters and member appointments and about other operational functions such as human resources.
• The HCCC on complaints management issues.
• The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) regarding financial, registration and reporting matters.

This coordinated approach provides efficiencies through shared services that would be costly for each Council to implement on its own and allows the Councils to concentrate on their core regulatory functions. The HCCC had a wider role in complaints management covering unregistered health practitioners and health services. (4)

Endnotes
1. Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) Amendment (Health Professions) Order 2012 No. 32; NSW Legislation Website, 3 February 2012.
2. ATSIHPC, Annual Report, 2012-2013 [https://www.atsihealthpracticecouncil.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/atsihp_council_annual_report_2013.pdf], p.3.