In July, the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council announced changes to the membership of the 10 National Boards originally appointed in August 2009 for a three-year term.
Two new community members, Ms Allyson Warrington (Tasmania) and Mr Max Howard (Queensland), were appointed to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (the National Board) from 1 September 2019. These appointments replaced a community member, Ms Heather Sjoberg (Northern Territory), and an existing community member vacancy. The remaining community members and seven out of the eight health practitioner members were appointed for a further three-year term of office. Ms Anne Copeland, the National Board Chair and Queensland health practitioner member, was appointed to the National Board for a further 12 months.
Further details on these appointments have been published in the July 2019 communiqué of the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council.
In the interest of transparency and accountability, the National Board and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) are increasing public access to financial information about the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme). For the first time, the National Board will soon publish on its website the Health Profession Agreement that outlines the services that AHPRA will provide to the National Board in 2019/20.
The National Board released new quarterly registration data in August 2019. Improvements have been made to the overall presentation of the statistical reporting, which details types of registration held by state and territory, endorsements by state and territory, registrant age and gender. Take a moment to visit the National Board website for further details on our quarterly registration data, a snapshot of which is included in this edition of the newsletter.
Over the past 12 months, the National Board has continued to work diligently to fulfil the objectives of the National Scheme and its Strategic Plan. During the year, the National Board participated in state, territory, national and international activities aimed at improving the regulation of nursing and midwifery professions, some of which are outlined in this edition of the e-newsletter. More information is outlined in the upcoming 2018/2019 AHPRA Annual Report which will be formally released to the public in the near future.
The work of the National Board is ongoing and will continue to build on the efforts of the inaugural National Board members. I thank everyone who has contributed to the work and the achievements to date. On behalf of the National Board, I am grateful for the commitment shown and the willingness to protect the public by ensuring appropriate regulation is in place.
Chair,
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
