Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria

Full description

Establishment

The Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria was established in 1994 under the Medical Practice Act 1994 (No. 23/1994). It replaced the Medical Board of Victoria (VA 1347).

Formation and Membership of the Board

The Act provided for a Board of 12 members nominated by the Minister and appointed by the Governor in Council. The Board consisted of 9 registered medical practitioners, 1 lawyer and 2 persons who were not medical practitioners.

In 2007 the Board structure changed with the passing of the Health Professions Registration Act 2005. The Act established a board with at least 9 and not more than 12 members, with half of the members to be registered medical health practitioners, 1 lawyer and 3 members who were not medical practitioners.

Functions

The Medical Practice Act 1994 defined the functions of the Board as follows:

* To register persons who complied with the requirements of the Act to practise medicine in Victoria

* To regulate the standards of medical practice in the public interest

* To approve positions in public hospitals for the purposes of intern training

* To investigate the professional conduct, professional performance or ability to practise of registered medical practitioners and impose sanctions where necessary

* To provide information to the Australian Medical Council about registered persons or persons who have sought to become registered in Victoria

* To issue and publish codes for the guidance of registered medical practitioners about standards recommended by the Board relating to the practise of medicine and about professional performance

* To issue and publish guidelines about the minimum terms and conditions of professional indemnity insurance for registered medical practitioners

* To initiate, promote, support or participate in programs that it was considered would improve medical practitioners' ability to practise medicine and medical students' ability to have direct patient contact

* To advise the Minister on any matters relating to its functions

* To report to the Minister any concern that the Board has about the health system in Victoria that arises from the Board carrying out its functions under this Act

In May 2002, the Victorian Parliament passed a series of significant reforms to the Act. These included powers for the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria to regulate practitioners who may have been performing poorly, and powers to regulate corporate owners of medical practices.

In October 2002, the Victorian Department of Human Services commenced a review of the regulatory framework governing the registered health professions in Victoria. The review provided the opportunity not only to update all of the health practitioner registration Acts, but also to review the Victorian model of health practitioner regulation to ensure that the legislative framework satisfactorily equipped the registration boards to protect the public and address emerging challenges in the regulation of the health professions. The review resulted in the passage of the Health Professions Registration Act 2005, which came into operation on 1 July 2007. The key outcome was a single legislative framework that incorporated all of the relevant health professions and established a new registration board for each profession. Additional functions of the Board are subject to further research.


Abolition

The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Victoria) Act 2009 (No. 79 of 2009) came into operation on 1 July 2010. The purpose of his Act was to provide for the adoption of a national law to establish a national registration and accreditation scheme for health practitioners. The Act prescribed the establishment of 14 new National Boards, 10 of which commenced on 1 July 2010. The National Boards may establish a State or Territory Board, where members are to be appointed by the responsible Minister for the participating jurisdiction.

The Health Professions Registration Act 2005 (No. 97/2005) was amended as a consequence of the enactment of the Health Practitioner Regulation Law (Victoria) Act 2009 (No. 79 of 2009). The piece of legislation that enabled these amendments was the Statute Law Amendment (National Health Practitioner Regulation) Act 2010 (No. 13 of 2010), proclaimed in the Government Gazette on 30 March 2010. The purposes of this Act included the abolition of the Medical Practioners Board of Victoria and the removal of any references to this board.