September 2023 Newsletter

Registration Renewal - fees

The annual registration fees for Chinese Medicine practitioners for 2023/24 have been published by the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia (the Board). The fees for Chinese medicine practitioners in NSW will be $330 for 2023/24.  Fees are payable via the Board website from October.

There are two components to the annual fee, with the first one (registration and accreditation) set by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the second (the 'complaints' fee) set by the Chinese Medicine Council of NSW (the Council).

This year, the Chinese Medicine Council of NSW has once again waived the complaints component of the renewal fee as there is sufficient capacity to manage the current level of regulatory activity in NSW. The complaints fee reflects costs arising from the regulatory activity on complaints, and will be reinstated in future years.

The annual registration fee is a cost recovery model and there is no cross-subsidisation across other health professions. To learn more, please visit Chinese Medicine Board of Australia.

NSW Health Professional Councils and Health Professional Councils Authority joint Aboriginal Cultural Safety Strategy 2023-24

In June 2023, the NSW Health Professional Councils and the Health Professional Councils Authority (HPCA) launched its joint Aboriginal Cultural Safety Strategy.  The joint Strategy aims to improve the experiences of Aboriginal people who interact with the NSW healthcare and regulatory system.

Our Strategy aligns with existing state and national initiatives to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal people.

The Councils, HPCA and regulatory system exist for the benefit and protection of the NSW community and we acknowledge that Aboriginal people have, and continue to suffer, disproportionate levels of disadvantage, including in health outcomes.

Our Strategy aims to strengthen cultural safety within the NSW regulatory system through increased participation of Aboriginal people and collaboration with stakeholders.

To read more about the Strategy and its launch, visit the HPCA website.

Have your circumstances changed?

Do you need to self-notify Ahpra about certain events? Make sure you tell Ahpra if you have undergone a "notifiable event" since under section 130 of the National Law, it is your responsibility as a registered health practitioner to tell Ahpra if they occur. 

You can do this by either writing to Ahpra or completing a Notice of Certain Events form - NOCE 00

Ahpra will then refer this information to the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) and the Chinese Medicine Council of NSW. Check below to see when you should notify.  

Has your personal information or principal place of practice changed?

Form CHPD-00 must be used for requesting a change of personal details including change of name, address, contact details and gender. You can also change your contact information online by logging into your Ahpra account.

Are your CPD records up to date?

Continuing professional development (CPD) is how Chinese medicine practitioners maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge, competence and expertise while developing the professional and personal qualities throughout their professional lives. CPD requirements for all registered Chinese medicine practitioners are outlined here.

The Chinese Medicine Board of Australia recommends that you keep evidence of CPD, including self-directed learning, for a period of five years after completion of the CPD. It also states that records will be required when a Chinese medicine practitioner is subject to an audit or a notification/complaint.

All Chinese medicine practitioners are obligated to record their CPD and produce evidence of this when requested by a regulator. Some Chinese medicine practitioners report challenges accessing their employer’s (or previous employer’s) records when they are asked by the Council to provide their CPD records. Therefore, it is important that you do not rely on your employer's education system or online records alone. Please ensure that you keep your own CPD records and that they are up to date. 

How does the Chinese Medicine Council manage complaints?

The Council works in partnership with the HCCC to manage complaints about registered practitioners and students. A complaint can be made about the health, performance or conduct of a registered practitioner or student.

The Council deals with complaints where the safety of the public may be at risk. The Council can refer matters to the HCCC for further investigation and HCCC can prosecute. The Council also monitors conditions placed on registered practitioners and students.  

This co-regulation between the HCCC and the Council is governed by the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) for the Council and the Health Care Complaints Act for the HCCC. This approach is outlined in the graphic below.

When conditions are placed on a health practitioner, the Council notifies Ahpra. Practice-related conditions are publicly available on Ahpra’s national Register of Practitioners.

The Council has different pathways to manage different types of complaints. Initially, the practitioner is provided the details of the complaint and asked to respond to it. The Council ensures that the assessment and decision-making processes are fair and that the outcomes are focused on protecting public safety.

Further information is available on our website following the links below.

Updated Guidelines for practice from 1 December 2023

The Chinese Medicine Board of Australia has announced that updated guidelines for acupuncture infection prevention and control, and for safe Chinese herbal medicine practice, will come into effect on 1 December 2023. The new guidelines can be found on the CMBA website or follow the links below. Practitioners are expected to be familiar with any changes.