Notifiable Conduct
under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (s 140)
| Category (s 140) | Threshold for a mandatory report¹ | Practical notes / common pitfalls |
|---|---|---|
| Impairment | You must have a reasonable belief the practitioner currently has a physical or mental impairment that has placed, or is placing, the public at substantial risk of harm. | • “Substantial risk” is a deliberately high bar. Minor or well‑managed impairments don’t trigger a report. • Treating practitioners have a slightly different threshold – they notify only if the impairment is likely to place patients at substantial risk of harm. |
| Intoxication while practising | Reasonable belief the practitioner practised while intoxicated and this placed the public at risk of harm. | • The law is limited to intoxication during practice (not after‑hours conduct). |
| Significant departure from accepted professional standards | Reasonable belief the practitioner practised in a way that is a significant departure from accepted standards and placed the public at risk of harm. | • An isolated slip or low‑level performance issue is not enough – the departure must be significant. |
| Sexual misconduct in connection with practice | Reasonable belief the practitioner engaged in sexual misconduct in connection with the practice of the profession (no risk‑threshold test – any such misconduct is notifiable). | • Includes sexualised comments, grooming, relationships with patients/former patients where power imbalance exists, or criminal sexual offences. |
What to remember
- Reasonable belief – You must base the notification on facts you’ve seen, heard, or been credibly told, not on rumour.
- Who must notify?
* Registered health practitioners (about other practitioners),
* Employers of registered practitioners, and
* Education providers (for certain student matters). - Treating‑practitioner modifications – If you learn of the conduct while treating the practitioner as a patient, the thresholds for impairment and intoxication are higher (public at substantial risk of harm). This was introduced in the 2020 amendments to balance patient confidentiality with public safety.AHPRA
- Exceptions: There is no mandatory duty to notify about students except for impairments that place the public at substantial risk during clinical training.AHPRA
- Voluntary notifications – If the threshold isn’t met but you still have concerns, you may lodge a voluntary notification.
Bottom line:
Your outline is essentially correct, but add the key phrases “reasonable belief” and “(substantial) risk of harm to the public” to reflect the exact statutory thresholds.