Optometrists, ophthalmologists and other registered Australian practitioners proven to have committed sexual misconduct will have this information permanently published against their name on the public register.
It’s one of several reforms from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) to improve transparency and protect the public. Others include increased protections for people who make complaints, making it an offence for practitioners to enter into non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that prevent complaints being made to regulators.
The move has been accepted by the Australian Society of Ophthalmologists (ASO), which says patient safety, clinical or otherwise, has always been a cornerstone of
its advocacy efforts.
“The ASO’s position stands that any disciplinary data published publicly on the National Register should only be the outcome of timely and thorough investigative and judicial processes,” the organisation said.
“The ASO supports the implementation of these transparent measures that ensure the personal and clinical safety of Australian patients in our healthcare settings.”
Sexual misconduct has been a major focus of Ahpra in recent years, which the regulator said had prompted a spike in reports and the number of practitioners facing regulatory action.
Allegations of ‘boundary violations’ have increased in recent times, from as low as 75 in 2012-13 to 1,156 in the latest 2023-24 data.
Across the 16 professions, medical practitioners receive the most complaints with 472 (no
ophthalmology-specific data available) followed by 320 complaints about nurses and 139 about psychologists. There has also been a steady rise in complaints about physiotherapists, with 32 sexual boundary notifications relating to that profession in 2023-24.
Optometry has consistently had one of the lowest complaint rates, with 12 alleged boundary breaches since 2012-13. Three of those took place in 2023-24.
The changes are being made under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024. Ahpra Acting CEO Ms Kym Ayscough said it was a milestone in patient protection.
“Everybody has the right to expect their practitioner to be safe and fit to practise, and these reforms strengthen that right,” she said.
“We support these changes, which align with the range of reforms that Ahpra and the National Boards are progressing as part of our actions to improve public safety involving sexual misconduct in healthcare.”
Ahpra said the new protections for people who make complaints about health practitioners were to guard against reprisals.
The bill will make it an offence to threaten, intimidate, dismiss, refuse to employ, or subject a person to other detriment or reprisal because they intend to or have made a notification or assisted people performing functions under the National Law.
It will also be an offence to enter into a NDA unless the agreement clearly sets out, in writing, that it does not limit a person from making a complaint or assisting regulators and others performing functions under the National Law.
In other changes, practitioners who have their registration cancelled, or who have been disqualified from applying for registration by a tribunal, will be required to obtain a reinstatement order from a responsible tribunal before applying
for re-registration.
National Boards will retain their decision-making authority to decide whether to grant registration, as well as any conditions that a practitioner must comply with.
“Choosing a health practitioner is a critical part of protecting your health and wellbeing. These reforms will ensure that people have access to the information they need to make an informed choice,” Ayscough said.
“These reforms provide strong new protections for patients and notifiers, while also providing clarity and consistency for practitioners seeking to have their registration reinstated.”
The legislation was passed by the Queensland Parliament on 3 April 2025 as the host jurisdiction for all states and territories, and the changes will take effect on a date determined by governments.
The changes will be implemented over the coming year, allowing stakeholders time to prepare and for state and territory tribunals to establish necessary processes.
OPTOMETRY COMPLAINTS
Meanwhile, the latest Ahpra complaints data shows the number of optometrists with complaints made against them is the highest in five years.
The figures were contained in the Optometry Board of Australia 2023-24 annual report. During that period, there were 75 complaints, or notifications, about 69 optometrists made Australia-wide.
That’s the highest number during the past five years when there were complaints about 55 optometrists in 2019-20, 44 in 2020-21, 61 in 2021-22 and 57 in 2022-23.
At the same time, however, the number of optometrists has risen sharply.
Five years ago, there were 6,043 optometrists in 2019/20. Now there are 7,051 – a 16% rise during that period.
And year-on-year (2022-23 vs. 2023-24) there are 4.3% more optometrists.
The bulk of complaints in the latest data related to clinical care (50%), followed by communication (13%). Behaviour, offence against other law, and documentation accounted for 5% each, and 21% were categorised as other.
There were 34 notifications closed during the period, with the majority requiring no further action. Breaking this down, the data shows 17.6% of closed optometry cases had conditions imposed on their registration, 38.2% were referred to another body or retained by a health complaints organisation, and 44.1% required no further regulatory action, including where the practitioner has taken steps to address the issue.
Complaints against medical professionals also reached a five-year high. In 2023-24 there were 11,207 notifications about 8,418 medical practitioners Australia-wide. That’s almost 1,200 more than 2019-20 when there were 7,254 medical practitioners with an allegation against them.
More reading
Ombudsman reviewing Ahpra’s ‘vexatious complaints’ framework
Complaints against Australian optometrists hit a five-year high
Key findings from new Optometry Australia-backed workforce projections report
