Community Reference Group to advise AHPRA and national boards

The CRG will be heard at the “very heart” of the National Registration and Accreditation Sche (National Sche) with the establishment of a Community Reference Group by working with AHPRA and the 14 national health-practitioner registration boards, such as the Medical Board of Australia and the Optometry Board of Australia.It is the first time a national group of the kind has been established in Australia, according to a statent by AHPRA on 20 May.Formation of the CRG comes as the medical and optometrical professions rain at loggerheads over the role of optometrists in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma (and now other conditions).Seven mbers from the community, none of whom are health-care practitioners, have been appointed to the group, which will be chaired by Mr Paul Laris, a community-representation mber on two boards in the national sche.The group will have a number of roles, including providing feedback, information and advice on strategies for building better knowledge in the community about health practitioner regulation, but also advising AHPRA on how to better understand, and most importantly, meet, community needs.