More than 41,500 new registered health practitioners joined the National Scheme in 2018/19, which means that one in every 17 people working in Australia is a registered health practitioner, with 75% of all registrants being female.
The 2018/19 Annual Report of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) also shows AHPRA directly received 9,338 concerns (notifications) about registered health practitioners and closed 8,979 during 2018/19. “This was our busiest year ever with more notifications received and more notifications closed than ever before,” said AHPRA CEO Martin Fletcher.
“We are committed to improving the notification experience for both notifiers and practitioners and this report indicates we are making progress.” The number of notifications received by AHPRA also suggests the public are becoming more aware of their option to report their health care concerns, he said.
Across the professions, the largest growth in registrants (aside from paramedicine totalling 17,323 new registered paramedics) was Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners +7.6%, occupational therapy +6.9% and osteopathy +6.6%.
