Osteopathy Board of Australia - April 2025
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April 2025

Issue 41 – April 2025

From the Chair

Image of Paul Orrock OsteoBA

I’d like to wish all osteopaths and students a happy World Osteopathic Healthcare Week during 14 to 20 April 2025. Your contribution to Australia’s growing and expanding healthcare needs is important.

The Board is currently consulting on future options for Guidelines on clinical records for osteopaths. Soon we will also consult on the registration standards for continuing professional development and recency of practice.

The Board would like to hear directly from registered osteopaths, academics, students and stakeholders who use and may also provide education modules using these documents. Your input is important for shaping future requirements. For more information, visit our Current consultations webpage.

Associate Professor Paul Orrock
Chair, Osteopathy Board of Australia

Priority news

Tribunal fines osteopath for not holding PII

Failure to hold professional indemnity insurance (PII) can be considered by the Board to be professional misconduct and therefore required to be referred to an independent tribunal. A recent tribunal decision resulted in an osteopath being reprimanded, conditions placed on their registration, and a fine of $3,000 plus the Board’s agreed costs. Other registered health professionals have also recently had their registration suspended. Tribunal decisions are linked to each practitioner’s name on Ahpra’s public register.

The consequences of not holding PII can be expensive and stressful to you. Tribunals take extra time to list and hear a matter. It can be extremely serious if patients are harmed and make a claim against you when you are uninsured.

This is entirely preventable if you have sufficient PII for all aspects of your work and various employment positions. You need to regularly check that your PII is current, and it is important to check this before declaring at renewal of registration. Please diarise when your PII policy is due for renewal and check your email and spam folder for the renewal notice.

If your PII arrangements are no longer in place you must notify Ahpra within seven days through the Ahpra practitioner portal, as there is no longer a PDF form. See the Ahpra Notifications webpage for instructions and information on how to self-report.

Board news

Consultation to update record keeping guidance

The Board is reviewing guidelines on record keeping for osteopaths and wants to hear from you.

The Guidelines on clinical records were developed over a decade ago and are being reviewed to ensure they meet current expectations and reflect current practices.

Read the consultation paper and have your say. Please read about the future options and fill out a survey by 2 May 2025.

Australian regulation leads by example this World Osteopathic Healthcare Week

The Osteopathy Board of Australia joins the international osteopathic community in celebrating World Osteopathic Healthcare Week from 14 to 20 April.

In 1978, Australia became the first country in the world to fully regulate osteopathic practitioners. At that stage, there were only about 100 osteopaths registered when statutory registration began.

Now there are more than 3,600 registered practitioners, and this number continues to grow.

Since becoming part of the national regulatory scheme 15 years ago, the osteopathic profession has benefitted greatly through enhanced national mobility, uniform standards and consistent laws governing their practice.

Hear from Osteopathy Board Chair, Associate Professor Paul Orrock, about how Australia leads by example: watch the video on our website. 

Meet the Board at our 2025 forums

The Board is keen to engage directly with osteopaths about current and future requirements in regulation. We met with Tasmanian osteopaths recently in Hobart at a breakfast forum on 28 March.

Following this, we will be in Perth at the end of August followed by Canberra in late November. It is a great opportunity for you to hear about upcoming consultations, changes to requirements, additional position statements, and to meet local senior Ahpra staff.

Look out for the email invitations for your state or territory event closer to the time. We will be organising a program for 2026 which will include a virtual ‘Meet the Board’ session for osteopaths who live and work in areas outside of the major cities.

Latest workforce data released

The Board’s latest quarterly registration data report covers the period to 31 December 2024. There were 3,673 registered osteopaths nationally at this date: 3,442 with general registration, four UK-trained osteopaths with provisional registration and 227 with non-practising registration.

For further data breakdowns by age, gender and principal place of practice, visit the Board’s Statistics page to read the report.

Students and graduates

Meet the Osteopathy Board Chair

Each year, the Osteopathy Board Chair aims to meet with final-year osteopathy students at each university’s program of study. This is your chance to hear directly about how the Board operates, how to apply for registration, and what your responsibilities are once registered. This is a career-long relationship with the regulator, and we want to start you off on the right foot.

Board Chair Paul Orrock will be presenting to students at RMIT University and Victoria University in April, and to Southern Cross University students later in their program. It is a good chance to ask questions and consolidate your learning about requirements.

What’s new?

New Ahpra practitioner portal

Ahpra has recently launched a new online practitioner portal and new digital smart forms for application and renewal of registration.

This means next time you log in, the experience will be a bit different. When you next renew, you’ll be asked to migrate your existing account to the new practitioner portal. We’ve introduced multifactor authentication (also called two-step verification) for additional account security. For more information on setting up your portal and two-step verification, visit our Ahpra portal help centre.

We’ve also stopped using the 10-digit User ID and have switched to an email username. As your email is now your user ID, it must be unique to you. It cannot be one you share with anyone else.

You won’t be able to use an email shared by your family, or the reception email used at your clinic.

Once you’ve set up your practitioner portal, you will use it to manage all aspects of your registration.

If you’re lodging a new application for limited, general or specialist registration, you’ll be using our new digital smart forms. The forms step you through the process, showing only the questions that are relevant to your application. You can complete your proof of identity check and upload your documents all through the portal.

When it’s time to renew your registration, we will provide detailed instructions on how to set up your new Ahpra practitioner portal.

Read more about what you can do in the new practitioner portal.

Research provides clues to boost health workforce retention

Most Australian health practitioners surveyed say they want to stay in their profession, however more than one in 10 are unsure about their future or have plans to leave within a year, with mental burnout a key reason why.

New research from Ahpra, published in the Australian Health Review, identifies the factors driving practitioners’ choices to stay or leave the health workforce, across nine regulated health professions.

Despite a regulated workforce of 920,535 health practitioners in 2024, forecasts predict that the sector will struggle to meet the demands of Australia’s growing and ageing population in coming years.

Ahpra’s Workforce Retention and Attrition Project found the top five reasons influencing practitioners to leave their profession included mental burnout, retirement, feeling undervalued/unrecognised, lack of professional satisfaction, and work no longer being fulfilling.

Over 20% of osteopaths completed this survey and the Osteopathy Board of Australia will be publishing the results for retention and attrition in Australia and presenting the findings at international profession conferences. We look forward to providing further updates during 2025.

Read more about the research.

Health practitioner regulators united: family violence is unacceptable

Australia’s health practitioner regulators are united in their view that family violence is unacceptable.

For the first time ever, these regulators issued a joint statement reminding practitioners of the critical contribution they can make in Australia’s response to tackling family violence.

The statement recognises the role of regulators in the collective effort to end family violence by supporting victim-survivors, setting clear expectations of health practitioners, taking regulatory action as appropriate and condemning all forms of family violence.

Health practitioners are often the first point of contact for victim-survivors, so play an essential role in the early detection, support, referral, and delivery of specialised treatment to those experiencing family violence.

Health practitioners are also reminded that their own conduct, as well as that of their colleagues, must reflect the trust and confidence the public have in them for safe and effective healthcare.

Regulators work to ensure health practitioners are safe, ethical, and professional for the protection of the public.

Family violence can also be a serious crime and a violation of human rights. It is a gross departure from the ethical standards of behaviour expected of health practitioners. Health practitioners who are perpetrators of family violence could face suspension, cancellation, the imposition of conditions, or refusal of registration.

As regulators we are committed to minimising the risk of adding to victim-survivors’ trauma or exposing them to further risk of harm. We seek to respond to victim-survivors’ complaints about health practitioners in a trauma-informed way. This means prioritising the safety and dignity of victim-survivors and respectfully and sensitively supporting them through the health complaint management process.

We encourage any person aware of a health practitioner perpetrating family violence to provide information to the police and appropriate regulatory body. A list of health practitioner regulator contact details, as well as police, family violence information and support services, is included in the joint position statement.

Read the media release.

Ahpra appoints new CEO

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) has appointed Justin Untersteiner as Chief Executive Officer.

Justin, who will join Ahpra in April, brings over 20 years’ experience in regulation and compliance, most recently as Chief Operating Officer at the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

Ahpra Board Chair Gill Callister PSM said that Justin was an impressive leader who stood out in a field of domestic and international candidates.

‘Justin’s experience in leading change and bringing new approaches, combined with his knowledge of regulation and compliance, made him a standout candidate,’ she said.

‘Justin’s appointment marks an exciting new chapter for Ahpra, and the Board is looking forward to working with him to build the next phase of Australia’s health regulation system.’

Justin succeeds Martin Fletcher, who completed his final term as CEO in December 2024.

Learn more about Ahpra’s incoming CEO.

Updated English language skills registration standard now in effect

The revised Registration standard: English language skills is now in effect. While already registered practitioners won’t need to meet this standard, these changes will enable more flexible pathways for future applicants, getting more practitioners into the workforce safely.

Important changes to the standard include expanding the list of recognised countries, reducing the accepted score for the writing component of approved English language tests to IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent), adding the Cambridge English language skills test and improving flexibility for applicants to meet National Boards’ English language skill requirements.

Read more about the updated standard.

Discrimination and racism will not be tolerated: Joint statement from Ahpra and the National Boards

More than 900,000 registered health practitioners provide much needed safe healthcare every day in Australia. 

Safe healthcare relies on trust between patients and practitioners. Discrimination and racism erode that trust and put lives at risk. 

There is no place for discrimination, racism or intolerance in healthcare.

Ahpra and the National Boards remind registered health practitioners of their obligations under their codes of conduct and ethics to provide care that is free of discrimination and racism. The codes of conduct and ethics set out the legal requirements, professional behaviour and conduct expectations for registered health practitioners in Australia. The codes underpin the requirements for the delivery of safe and respectful practice. 

The shared Code of conduct, for example, states that practitioners must:   

  • respect diverse cultures, beliefs, gender identities, sexualities and experiences of people, including among team members
  • adopt practices that respect diversity, avoid bias, discrimination and racism, and challenge belief based upon assumption. 

The codes for all professions include similar requirements. 

Practitioners are also reminded of their obligations when using social media, and encouraged to review the social media guidance which has been updated following the release of the joint statement. The updates include prioritising the information around public comment and trust in the professions, new case studies for social media activities likely to warrant an investigation, and further professionalism pitfalls to be aware of when using social media.  

Practitioners must also comply with the standards of their workplace and adopt practices that foster a respectful, inclusive and safe healthcare environment. 

Read the full statement on the Ahpra website.

New case studies added to guidance for practitioners using social media 

Ahpra and the National Boards have made some updates to the social media guidance to ensure it remains relevant and useful to practitioners.  

The updates include prioritising the information around public comment and trust in the professions to highlight the recent joint statement on discrimination and racism, new case studies for social media activities likely to warrant an investigation, and further professionalism pitfalls to be aware of when using social media.  

While these additions do not change the underlying guidance for practitioners, it provides further clarity on emerging issues. Ahpra and the National Boards will assess the need to conduct a full review of the guidance in the future, with an opportunity for you to provide feedback.  

Read the latest additions to the social media guidance on our website.  

Keep in touch with the Board

  • Visit www.osteopathyboard.gov.au for the mandatory registration standards, codes, guidelines and FAQs. Visiting the website regularly is the best way to stay in touch with news and updates from the Board.
  • Lodge an enquiry form via the website by following the Enquiries link on every webpage under Contact us.
  • For registration enquiries, call Ahpra on 1300 419 495 (from within Australia) or +61 3 9125 3010 (for overseas callers).
  • To update your contact details, see important emails about registration renewal and get other Board updates, log in to the Ahpra portal using your User ID and password.
  • Address mail correspondence to: Assoc Prof Paul Orrock, Chair, Osteopathy Board of Australia, GPO Box 9958, Melbourne, VIC 3001.
 
 
Page reviewed 14/04/2025
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