The Queensland government introduced the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 into parliament on 31 October 2018.
Public submissions on the Bill closed on 23 November and the Bill will now sit with the Health, Communities, Disability Services and Domestic and Family Violence Prevent Committee (Committee) for detailed consideration. The Committee’s report is due on 4 February 2019.
The main change proposed by the Bill is to amend the National Law to introduce reforms to mandatory reporting by treating practitioners, to ensure health practitioners have confidence to seek treatment for health conditions, while protecting the public from harm.
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is urging Queensland parliament to make further changes to the Bill to have the National Law mirror the protections provided to health practitioners under Western Australian law. The AMA have stated that they want health practitioners to be confident they can “seek mental health care without fear of reprisal or threat to their medical careers.”
Read the AMA’s statement here and find out more about the Bill here.