Department of Health

Process for regulating further health professions under NRAS

Key Messages

  • Criteria for assessing additional professions for inclusion in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) are set out in the Intergovernmental Agreement for a National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the health professions.
  • The Council of Australian Governments has also agreed on requirements that Ministerial Councils are expected to meet when they are considering new regulation.

Adding health professions to the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme

The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) is subject to an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) that regulates the health professions in Australia.

Additional health professions may only be included in the scheme if:

  • the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council agrees, and
  • the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law is amended accordingly.

Criteria for registration

The IGA contains six criteria that occupations must meet in order to be considered for registration under the NRAS. These criteria are:

  • Is it appropriate for health ministers to exercise responsibility for regulating the occupation in question, or does the occupation more appropriately fall within the domain of another ministry?
  • Do the activities of the occupation pose a significant risk of harm to the health and safety of the public?
  • Do the existing regulatory or other mechanisms fail to address health and safety issues?
  • Is regulation possible to implement for the occupation in question?
  • Is regulation practical to implement for the occupation in question?
  • Do the benefits to the public of regulation clearly outweigh the potential negative impact of such regulation?

A professional association or other body may make a submission to government addressing these criteria. Submissions should be addressed to the chair of AHMAC’s Health Workforce Principal Committee.

Governments will jointly assess submissions and decide whether to allocate the resources necessary to undertake a formal regulatory impact assessment process.

Regulation impact statements

A ‘regulation impact statement’ (RIS) must be prepared and published whenever a ministerial council is considering introducing a new regulation. This is a requirement agreed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to:

  • maximise the efficiency of new or amended regulations
  • avoid unnecessary compliance costs and restrictions on competition.

Responsibility for undertaking a regulatory impact assessment lies with governments.

Further information

COAG best practice regulation: a guide for ministerial councils and national standard setting bodies

https://www.coag.gov.au/sites/default/files/coag_documents/COAG_best_practice_guide_2007.pdfExternal Link

This 2007 document provides a guide for ministerial councils and other national standard setting bodies on undertaking a regulatory impact assessment and preparing a RIS including assistance on undertaking risk analyses, cost-benefit analyses, assessments of compliance costs, assessments of competition effects and consultation.

Reviewed 23 November 2021

Health.vic

On this site

Contact details

Business Victoria is providing information on current restrictions and support to help your workplace plan and respond to coronavirus (COVID-19).

Workforce Regulatory Reform

Phone You can call Business Victoria on 13 22 15
workforce.regulatory.reform@dhhs.vic.gov.au
Visit the Business Victoria website
Was this page helpful?