Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - Past Consultations
Look up a health practitioner

Close

Check if your health practitioner is qualified, registered and their current registration status
Practitioners
Profession
Location
Please enter a search term
Help & Tips

Past Consultations

Where there are consultations which have closed, they will be shown below along with the individual submissions that were received and considered.

Where there are consultations which are open for input, they will be shown under Current Consultations.

Public Consultation – Review of the Criminal history registration standard

Released: 4 June 2024
Closed: 30 July 2024

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the National Boards invited stakeholders to have their say on the draft Criminal history registration standard (the criminal history standard) and supporting documents.

In late 2023, as part of our work to improve public safety in health regulation the National Boards and Ahpra consulted widely on a range of reforms, including a series of questions about the current version of the criminal history standard.

After consideration of all feedback, a draft registration standard and new supporting materials were developed. Stakeholders were invited to again have their say on how we have responded to feedback, the draft changes we have made to the criminal history standard, and the other material we have developed to explain how the standard is applied.

Consultation documents and submissions received are available on the Past Consultations page of the Ahpra website.

Public consultation – Proposed Guidelines for privately practising nurses

Released: 1 March 2024
Closed: 12 April 2024

The NMBA consulted on the proposed Guidelines for privately practising nurses.

The introduction of the Guidelines for privately practising nurses is a new initiative. The guidelines have been developed to outline the regulatory requirements within which privately practising nurses must practise, to ensure ongoing competence and safe practice.

Public consultation paper - Consultation - Proposed Guidelines for privately practising nurses (451 KB, PDF)

Submissions will be published soon.

Public consultation – Review of the Nurse practitioner regulatory framework

Released: 30 January 2024
Closed: 22 March 2024

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) in collaboration with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) consulted on the following documents that are part of the nurse practitioner regulatory framework:

  1. NMBA – Registration standard: Endorsement as a nurse practitioner,
  2. NMBA – Safety and quality guidelines for nurse practitioners, and
  3. ANMAC – Nurse practitioner accreditation standards

The NMBA consulted on the proposed revised Registration standard: Endorsement as a nurse practitioner and proposed Guidelines for nurse practitioners (previously titled Safety and quality guidelines for nurse practitioners).

Public consultation paper - Revised registration standard: Endorsement as a nurse practitioner and Guidelines for nurse practitioners (611 KB, PDF)

Submissions will be published soon.

Public Consultation - Regulation of health practitioners who perform and who advertise non-surgical cosmetic procedures

Released: 27 November 2023
Closed: 1 March 2024 (Consultation was extended for four weeks)

Ahpra and National Boards are reforming the regulation of registered health practitioners who work in the cosmetics sector in Australia, to improve practice and standards, public safety and informed consumer choice.

We consulted on three draft documents below related to the regulation of registered health practitioners who perform and advertise non-surgical cosmetic procedures.

  1. Guidelines for nurses who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures (nurses practice guidelines – applies to nurses only)
  2. Guidelines for registered health practitioners who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures (shared practice guidelines – applies to registered health practitioners excluding medical practitioners and nurses)
  3. Guidelines for registered health practitioners who advertise non-surgical cosmetic procedures (advertising guidelines – applies to all registered health practitioners).

Submissions will be published to on the Ahpra website.

Draft Registration standard: General registration for internationally qualified registered nurses

Facilitating the registration of suitably qualified internationally qualified nurses and midwives (IQNM) into Australia is a priority for state, territory and federal governments, the NMBA and Ahpra. Streamlining the registration of IQNMs has the potential to contribute to easing the workforce pressures on health, aged and primary care, rural and remote and metropolitan services across all Australia through the supply of critically needed safe, competent and effective practitioners.

The NMBA consulted on a draft registration standard, with two (2) new pathways, designed to streamline the registration process for eligible internationally qualified registered nurses (IQRN).

Background information

Submissions received

Public consultation – Review of the Criminal history registration standard and other work to improve public safety

Released: 3 August 2023
Closed: 29 September 2023

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the National Boards invited stakeholders to have their say as part of a review of the Criminal history registration standard (the criminal history standard).

The review, which was part of the work of our blueprint for reform to strengthen public safety in health regulation, which has a focus on sexual misconduct in healthcare, sought feedback on the current version of the criminal history standard, as well as comments on the future direction of other focus areas of work to improve public safety in health regulation including: 

  • our plan to better explain and publish more information about how we make decisions about criminal history and about professional misconduct by registered health practitioners
  • whether we can publish information about practitioners who are registered again after being removed from practice because of serious professional misconduct, and
  • more support for people who are affected by professional misconduct by registered health practitioners.

The consultation formed phase one of our work to review the Criminal history standard and ensured we received a range of views before a revised criminal history standard is developed and another opportunity is provided for stakeholders to comment (phase two).

Submissions will be published to the Ahpra website.

Public consultation – Two further possible changes to the National Boards’ English language skills requirements

Released: 16 August 2023

Closed: 13 September 2023

The National Boards and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) consulted on two further possible changes to the National Boards’ English language skills (ELS) requirements. The National Boards invited responses to questions about the two further possible changes including specific issues the Medical Board of Australia asked its stakeholders to consider. This consultation did not invite further feedback on proposed changes to the National Board ELS standards that have been previously consulted on.

This was a shorter streamlined consultation process designed to meet timeframes likely expected by Health Ministers. Feedback will be used to inform the final ELS standards National Boards submit to Health Ministers.

From 13 July to 7 September 2022, Ahpra and the National Boards (except the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia) publicly consulted on revised English language skills registration standards (the ELS standards). There was broad support from stakeholders for the proposed revised registration standards.

Background

On 30 September 2022, the National Cabinet announced the Independent review of overseas health practitioner regulatory settings (the Kruk review), and in April 2023, the National Cabinet endorsed the interim review report. In line with recommendations within the interim report endorsed by the National Cabinet, the National Boards consulted on two further possible changes to their English language skills requirements: expanding the range of recognised countries and a possible change to one element of the English test results accepted by the National Boards.

Submissions will be published soon.

Consultation regulation impact statement: Registration standard: Endorsement for scheduled medicines – designated registered nurse prescriber

Released: 16 June 2023
Closed: 28 July 2023

The NMBA has developed a consultation regulation impact statement (C-RIS) with a number of options for the proposed model of designated registered nurse (RN) prescribing to support the proposed Registration standard: Endorsement for scheduled medicines − designated registered nurse prescriber (the proposed registration standard) and invites your feedback.

The purpose of this consultation is to seek feedback on the costs, benefits and impacts of the options provided within the C-RIS and how the proposed registration standard will work in practice.

Public consultation – scheduled review of National scheme accreditation arrangements

Released: 14 December 2022
Closed: 14 February 2023

National Boards and Ahpra are reviewing the current accreditation arrangements for the national health practitioner regulatory scheme to prepare for the next period to mid-2029.

The current accreditation arrangements end on 30 June 2024 for all professions except paramedicine, which end on 30 November 2023. The National Boards and Ahpra intend to complete this scheduled review by May 2023 to inform National Boards’ decisions on arrangements for the next period and provide certainty for the future. The last scheduled review and public consultation on accreditation arrangements was in 2018.

This consultation is a key stage of the review and aims to confirm performance and progress on current accreditation priorities and will inform the priorities for the next period, including how progress in priority areas could be measured.

Consultation on the revised Safety and quality guidelines for privately practising midwives

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) sets the national standards, codes and guidelines that nurses and midwives must meet to be registered in Australia.

The current Safety and quality guidelines for privately practising midwives protect the public by articulating a robust regulatory framework to support the safe, professional practice of privately practising midwives (PPMs). By providing PPMs with current, evidence-informed regulatory information, the guidelines enhance the provision of safe, high-quality care, facilitate workforce flexibility and improve access to midwifery services.

The current guidelines were published in 2017. This review aligns with the NMBAs commitment to review standards, codes and guidelines approximately every 5-years.

The intention of the review is to ensure the guidelines remain contemporary and reflect the current safety and quality expectations for PPMs.

The NMBA is inviting your feedback on the revised Safety and quality guidelines for privately practising midwives.

Background information

What we heard

Read our consultation report to learn more about what we heard through the consultation on the revised Safety and quality guidelines for privately practising midwives.

Submissions received

Public consultation on the English language skills registration standards

Released: 13 July 2022
Closed: 7 September 2022

Ahpra and the National Boards (excluding the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia) launched a public consultation on revised English language skills registration standards.

National Boards invited practitioners, community members, employers, education providers and other stakeholders to give feedback on the standards.

National Boards published a consultation paper that includes an overview of the review, proposed changes to the standards and questions that may help frame your feedback. A link to the consultation paper is available below.

A set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) have been published to address some common queries about the review process. The literature review that was carried out as part of the review process has also been published. Both the FAQs and literature review are available below.

Submissions will be published soon.

Public consultation on the proposed revised Registration standard: Recency of practice 

Released: 13 July 2020
Closed: 31 August 2020

The NMBA released for public consultation the proposed revised Registration standard: Recency of practice.

Submissions received

Public consultation on the proposed changes to the Nurse practitioner standards for practice

Released: 13 July 2020
Closed: 31 August 2020

The NMBA released for public consultation the proposed changes to the Nurse practitioner standards for practice.

Consultation report

Submissions received

Public consultation on the proposed Supervised practice framework

Released: 11 September 2019
Closed:  17 December 2019

National Boards (excluding psychology and pharmacy) and Ahpra carried out a public consultation on the proposed Supervised practice framework as part of their project to enable a consistent, responsive and risk-based approach to supervised practice across the National Scheme.

Consultation documents and submissions received are available on the Past Consultations page of the Ahpra website.

Public consultation on the review of the Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service

Released:  11 September 2019
Closed:  26 November 2019

The National Boards and Ahpra carried out a public consultation on the Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service. The guidelines were developed to explain the advertising requirements in the National Law and to help advertisers (including registered health practitioners) to meet these requirements and advertise responsibly. The review is to make sure the guidelines are as contemporary, relevant and effective as possible.

Consultation documents and submissions received are available on the Past Consultations page of the Ahpra website.

Public consultation on the review of the Guidelines for mandatory notifications

The 15 National Boards in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) released for public consultation draft guidelines on Mandatory notifications.

Released: 11 September 2019
Closed: 6 November 2019

Consultation documents and submissions received are available on the Past Consultations page of the Ahpra website.

Public consultation on Guidelines for registered health practitioners and students in relation to blood borne viruses

The Dental, Medical, Nursing and Midwifery, Paramedicine and Podiatry Boards of Australia published a consultation paper on the draft Guidelines for registered health practitioners and students in relation to blood borne viruses.

Released: 5 September 2019
Closed: 1 November 2019

Submissions received

Proposed Decision-making framework for nurses and midwives

The NMBA released for public consultation the proposed Decision-making framework for nurses and midwives (DMF).

Released: 23 April 2019

Closed: 21 June 2019

Consultation report

Consultation report - Proposed Decisions-making framework for nurses and midwives (183 KB,PDF), Word version (87.8 KB,DOCX)

Submissions received

Proposed change to definitions relating to advanced practice

The NMBA released for consultation a proposed change to definitions relating to advanced practice.

Released: 8 March 2019

Closed: 23 April 2019

Submissions received

The NMBA is collating feedback received and will publish it as soon as practical.

Proposed Registration standard: Endorsement for scheduled medicines for registered nurses prescribing in partnership

The NMBA released for public consultation the proposed Registration standard: Endorsement for scheduled medicines for registered nurses prescribing in partnership and Guidelines: For registered nurses applying for and with the endorsement for scheduled medicines.

Released: 26 July 2018
Closed: 28 September 2018

Submissions received

The NMBA is collating feedback received and will publish it as soon as practical.

Public consultation on review of accreditation arrangements – assignment of accreditation functions

National Boards and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) have completed public consultation as part of a scheduled review of accreditation arrangements from mid-2019, when the current terms of assignment of accreditation functions end. 

Released: 17 April 2018
Closed: 14 May 2018

Submissions and a brief consultation report are available on the Past Consultations page of the AHPRA website.

Registered nurse and midwife prescribing – discussion paper

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) released for public consultation the discussion paper to seek the views of the nursing and midwifery professions, other health professionals and the public about potential models of registered nurse and midwife prescribing.

Released: 30 October 2017
Closed: 22 December 2017

Submissions received

The NMBA is collating feedback received and will publish it as soon as practical.

Midwife standards for practice

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) released for public consultation the draft Midwife standards for practice, which were developed by Deakin University.

Released: 3 July 2017
Closed: 25 August 2017

Consultation report

Consultation report - Midwife standards for practice (98.7 KB,PDF), Word version (723 KB,DOCX)

Submissions received

The NMBA is collating feedback received and will publish it as soon as practical.

Codes of conduct for nurses and midwives

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) released for public consultation the draft Code of conduct for nurses and Code of conduct for midwives.

Released: 23 January 2017
Closed: 10 March 2017

Consultation Report:

Submissions received:

Registered nurse standards for practice

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) released for public consultation papers on the review of the Registered nurse standards for practice.

Released: 11 May 2015
Closed: 3 July 2015

Submissions received:

The NMBA received over 4,000 responses via a public online survey on the Registered nurse standards for practice.

In addition, written responses were received from:

Endorsement as a nurse practitioner registration standard and associated guidelines

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) released for public consultation papers on the review of the Endorsement as a nurse practitioner registration standard, Safety and quality guidelines for nurse practitioners and Guidelines for registered nurses applying for endorsement as a nurse practitioner.

Released: 24 October 2014
Closed: 19 December 2014

Submissions received:

Registration standard endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) released for public consultation papers on the review of the Registration standard endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives.

Released: 24 October 2014
Closed: 19 December 2014

Submissions received:

Enrolled nurse standards for practice

Monash University is conducting a research project funded by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) to develop Enrolled nurse standards for practice.

These standards for practice will replace the current approved National competency standards for the enrolled nurse. The intention of the review is to make sure that the standards for practice provide an accurate guide for enrolled nurse contemporary practice and the educational preparation that enrolled nurses require to deliver professional health care.

Released: 7 August 2014
Closed: 2 October 2014

Background information

The following is additional information relating to this consultation:

Submissions received

Monash University received over 700 responses to the NMBA consultation survey on the Enrolled nurse standards for practice.

In addition, written responses were received from:

Public consultation on a review of the following registration standards and guidelines

Released: 19 May 2014
Closed: 14 July 2014

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (National Board) released a consultation paper on a review of the following:

Registration standards:

  • Professional indemnity insurance
  • Continuing professional development
  • Recency of practice

Guideline:

Submissions received

The National Board is still collating feedback received and will publish it as soon as practical.

Safety and quality framework for midwives

Released: 30 April 2014
Closed: 23 June 2014

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (National Board) released a consultation paper on a draft revised Safety and quality framework for midwives.

The proposed framework replaces the existing Board-approved Safety and quality framework for privately practising midwives attending homebirths.

Submissions received

Public consultation on a review of the English language skills and Criminal history registration standards 

Released: 25 October 2013
Closed: 23 December 2013 

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (National Board) released a consultation paper on a review of the English language skills and Criminal history registration standards.

Submissions received

Submissions received can be found on the Past consultations page on the AHPRA website.

Proposed Re-entry to practice framework

Released: 14 October 2013
Closed: 9 December 2013

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (National Board) released a consultation paper on the proposed:

  • Draft Re-entry to practice policy
  • Draft Principles for assessing applicants for re-entry to practice
  • Draft Re-entry to practice self assessment tool
  • Draft Re-entry to practice - Fact sheet
  • Draft Supervision guidelines for nursing and midwifery

The public consultation included the following consultation documents:

Document name PDF Accessible format Document date
Consultation paper PDF (163KB) Word version (129KB,DOCX) 14 October 2013
ATT B Draft Re-entry to practice policy PDF (136KB) Word version (326KB,DOCX) 14 October 2013
ATT C Draft Principles for assessing applicants for re-entry to practice PDF (93.9KB) Word version (315KB,DOCX) 14 October 2013
ATT D Draft Re-entry to practice self assessment tool - RN PDF (79.8KB) Word version (85.4 KB,DOCX) 14 October 2013
ATT E Draft Re-entry to practice - Fact sheet PDF (125KB) Word version (124KB,DOCX) 14 October 2013
ATT F Draft Supervision guidelines PDF (397KB) Word version (341 KB,DOCX) 14 October 2013

Submissions received

The National Board is still collating feedback received and will publish it in the coming weeks.

Proposed Registration standard for scheduled medicine endorsement

Released: 6 September 2013
Closed: 4 November 2013 

Submissions coming soon.

International criminal history checks - further public consultation

Released: 2 October 2013
Closed: 31 October 2013

Submissions coming soon.

Consultation on common guidelines and policy

Released: 4 April 2013
Closed: 30 May 2013  

The consultation paper included:

  • revisions to the Guidelines for advertising (common to all National Boards)
  • a Social media policy (common to all National Boards), and
  • revisions to the Guidelines for mandatory notifications (common to all National Boards).

Submissions received are available under Cross-Board consultation on common guidelines and Code of conduct in the Past consultations page on the AHPRA website.

Survey: Professional indemnity insurance for privately practising midwives

Released: 8 March 2013
Closed: 8 April 2013

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (National Board) sought feedback on professional indemnity insurance (PII) arrangements for privately practising midwives.

This was done as a research project by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), funded by the National Board. 

Submissions received

On behalf of the National Board, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) collated feedback. A report on findings is now published on the National Board website, together with commentary from the National Board.

Please read the related media statement:

Survey: Consultation on revised National competency standards for nurse practitioners

Released: 19 December 2012
Closed: 1 March 2013

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (National Board) sought feedback on a review of National competency standards for nurse practitioners.

This was done as part of a collaborative research project by Southern Cross University and the University of Sydney, funded by the National Board.

Submissions received

On behalf of the National Board, Southern Cross University and the University of Sydney are still collating feedback received. This will be published on the National Board website as soon as practicable.

Consultation on Guidelines for professional indemnity insurance arrangements for registered nurses and nurse practitioners

Released: 19 November 2012
Closed: 10 January 2013

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia sought feedback on guidelines for professional indemnity insurance for registered nurses and nurse practitioners.

Submissions received

The National Board is still collating feedback received and will publish it in coming weeks.

Consultation paper on review of the accreditation arrangements for the nursing and midwifery professions

Released: 30 October 2012
Closed: 7 December 2012

  1. Public consultation on the review of the accreditation arrangments for the nursing and midwifery professions (714 KB,PDF)
  2. Submission from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council- review of the accreditation arrangements (750 KB,PDF)

Submissions received

Consultation paper on international criminal history checks

Released: 25 June 2012
Closed: 17 August 2012   

Submissions received can be found on the AHPRA website.

Draft policy on re-entry to practice for nurses and midwives

Released: 14 June 2011
Closed: 9 August 2011

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia sought feedback on a draft policy on re-entry to practice for nurses and midwives.

Submissions received

The Board is still collating the feedback received, and will be publishing them in coming weeks. Overall the feedback received showed in principle support for the policy.

Draft for professional indemnity insurance for midwives guideline

Revision for professional indemnity insurance arrangements registration standard

'Quantum of cover' for professional indemnity insurance for midwives guideline

Released: 10 March 2011
Closed: 6 May 2011

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (the Board) is sought feedback from all stakeholders on the:

Submissions received

There 36 submissions received. These submissions were received from all stakeholders including individuals, professional organisations, education providers and government.

Please note some submissions have not been posted on the Board’s website either on request of the author or where details of personal situations were described.

All requests to remove a submission from the website or include a submission can be arranged by e-mailing the request to nmba-consultations@ahpra.gov.au.

Individual submissions

Organisation / staff member submissions

Registration Standard for English Language Skills

Released: 11 November 2010
Closed: 14 January 2011

Submissions received

There were 280 submissions received. These submissions were received from all stakeholders including individuals, professional organisations, education providers and government.

Please note some submissions have not been posted on the Board’s website either on request of the author or where details of personal situations were described.

All requests to remove a submission from the website or include a submission can be arranged by e-mailing the request to nmba-consultations@ahpra.gov.au.

Individual submissions

Organisation / staff member submissions

Registration Standard and Guidelines for Endorsement as a Nurse Practitioner

Released: 29 October 2010
Closed: 26 November 2010

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) sought feedback from stakeholders regarding a revised draft Endorsement as a Nurse Practitioner registration standard and newly developed Guidelines.

Provision for nurses to hold both registration as an enrolled nurse and as a registered nurse at the same time

Released: 17 August 2010
Closed: 1 September 2010

The Nursing and Midwifery Board sought input from key stakeholders regarding the provision for nurses to hold both registration as an enrolled nurse and as a registered nurse at the same time.

Exemption from Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Public submissions are available on this website for transparency on our consultations regarding important matters affecting nurses and midwives.

We publish submissions in their original format as made by the submitter. If you have difficulty accessing a submission, please contact us, and we will try to contact the submitter to provide an accessible version of their submission for your reference.

Please note that submitters are asked to provide their submissions to our public consultations in web accessible formats, and we guide them on how this can be achieved. We will update inaccessible submissions on this website when accessible format versions of files become available.

 
 
Page reviewed 30/10/2024
Look up a practitioner