Professional News 2007

July 2007

Coming soon to a site near you!
National registration and accreditation

Long awaited plans for national standards for the accreditation of nursing education and national nursing registration are finally coming to fruition. The mechanisms of the Council of Australian Governments are creaking into action to respond to the recommendation of the 2005 Productivity Commission report into the health workforce. This recommendation has been welcomed by the nursing profession, as the aggravations and inconsistencies associated with registering in more than one state are familiar to many. While the process was improved by mutual recognition, this latest initiative represents a welcome step for national standards in relation to nursing registration and course accreditation. This will provide the Australian community with the security of knowing that wherever they are in Australia, the standards of quality and safety for the care they can expect to receive from nurses and midwives and other health professionals are the same. There will be national uniformity in the educational standards required for entry to practice and in the recognition of specialty qualifications. National registration will enable nurses and midwives to move freely around Australia without having to register more than once, and there will be uniform processes in relation to initial entry to practice and licence renewal.

There is a great deal of consensus in nursing over this issue. The ANF has worked closely with the Australian Peak Nursing and Midwifery Forum (APNMF, which includes Royal College of Nursing, Australia, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery) in developing responses to COAG as it moves toward a national board by July 2008.

Many details are still unclear however: while state and territory authorities will remain, their roles will be limited to administration and disciplinary processes.

What is known is that there will be profession specific boards at national level for each of the existing nine regulated health professions.

These boards will have a mix of professional and consumer representatives, and their roles will include development and review of standards and guidelines, assessment of overseas educated practitioners, national and international representation, and conducting research.

The ANF is confident that collaboration and consultation with the profession will continue and we will keep members informed as more details emerge.

Fiona Armstrong
ANF Federal Professional Officer