National Boards consults on international criminal history checks

The various National Boards including the Dental Board of Australia are working with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) to refine the requirements for criminal history checks from jurisdictions outside Australia used to assess applications for registration as a health practitioner.

Under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, National Boards set registration standards that every registered practitioner must meet. One of these standards relates to criminal history. The current approach involves checking Australian criminal history through CrimTrac and requiring applicants to sign a declaration disclosing any criminal history outside Australia. When a criminal history is disclosed, further investigations are made and the criminal history is assessed according to the relevant Board's Criminal History Registration Standard. The National Boards must decide whether this is adequate or if they should increase the scrutiny. The National Boards are open to feedback and seeking input on this complex issue by 17 August 2012. Details of the options under consideration and background information can be found at www.ahpra.gov.au/News/Current-Consultations.aspx