Nursing and Midwifery regulation at work: Protecting the public in 2017/18

07 Mar 2019

A professions-specific annual report summary that highlights the work of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia over the year to 30 June 2018 has now been published.

The report draws on data from the 2017/18 annual report by AHPRA and the National Boards. This information provides a snapshot of the nursing and midwifery professions as at 30 June 2018, and includes the number of applications for registration, outcomes of practitioner audits and segmentation of the registrant base by gender, age, division and principal place of practice.

Notifications information includes the number of complaints or concerns received, matters opened and closed during the year, types of complaint, monitoring and compliance and matters involving immediate action.

Insights into the nursing profession include:

• 398,596 nurses (including 28,277 dual registered nurses and midwives) were registered in 2017/18.
• 36,727 new applications for registration were received.
• Nurses make up 56.7% of all registered health practitioners in Australia.
• The number of nurses increased by 3.1% from 2016/17.
• 88.2% nurses are women; 11.8% are men.
• 88.9% of nurses are women (including dual registered nurses and midwives); 11.1% are men.
• The age bracket with the largest number of nurses was 30–34.
• 1,612 notifications (complaints or concerns) were lodged with AHPRA about nurses.
• AHPRA closed 1,580 notifications about nurses in 2017/18.
• 1,523 cases about nurses were being actively monitored by AHPRA at 30 June 2018 for compliance with restrictions placed on their registration.
• Immediate action was taken by the NMBA on 192 matters relating to nurses in 2017/18.
• 74 complaints were made about possible statutory offences by nurses during the year; 90 were closed. Most new matters related to title protection.

Insights into the profession of midwifery include:

• 33,486 midwives (including 28,277 dual registered nurses and midwives) were registered in 2017/18.
• 1,960 new applications for registration were received.
• Midwives make up 4.8% of all registered health practitioners in Australia.
• The number of midwives decreased by 0.2% from 2016/17.
• 99.6% midwives are women; 0.4% are men.
• 98.5% are women (including dual registered nurses and midwives); 1.5% are men.
• The age bracket with the largest number of midwives was 55–59 (294 midwives and 5,680 dual registered nurses and midwives). However for midwives only the age bracket with the largest number was 25–29 (934).
• 72 notifications (complaints or concerns) were lodged with AHPRA about midwives.
• AHPRA closed 80 notifications about midwives in 2017/18.
• 155 cases about midwives were being monitored by AHPRA at 30 June 2018 for compliance with conditions on their registration.
• Immediate action was taken by the NMBA on 8 matters relating to midwives in 2017/18.
• 1 complaint was made about a possible statutory offence by a midwife during the year. 5 were closed. The new matter related to title protection.

To download this report, or to view the main 2017/18 annual report, visit the AHPRA website.

In January and February 2019, AHPRA and the National Boards are publishing summaries that break down 2017/18 data for 13 other Boards in the National Scheme.

For more information

• Visit the AHPRA website
• Lodge an online enquiry form
• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 9275 9009 (overseas callers)
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200