Independent review of complexity in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme

About the review

The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme was established in 2009 as a single regulatory model for registered health practitioners in Australia.

The NRAS has changed since 2010. Recommendations from 25 previous reviews and parliamentary inquiries aimed to continuously improve it over time.

In early 2023, the public raised concerns about inconsistent practices. As a result, Commonwealth, state and territory health ministers agreed to an independent review of the NRAS.

The review process involved consultation with stakeholders to make sure the NRAS continues to support high-quality and safe health services.

Why the review is important

The review recommendations will:

• keep in step with community expectations
• improve how the NRAS makes decisions and deals with complaints about health practitioners
• consider how the NRAS can expand and grow to meet future needs
• advise on how strategy and direction will be set for the NRAS in the future.

Terms of reference

Health ministers approved the terms of reference for the review.

Independent reviewer

Ms Sue Dawson was appointed as the independent reviewer in April 2024.

Ms Dawson most recently held the position of New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commissioner. She has also worked in senior roles in the NSW and Commonwealth public sectors for:

• income support
• school funding
• employment policy and programs.

She has qualifications in law, social work and urban planning. Her formal training in public sector policy, regulation and service delivery includes completing the Executive Fellows program at the Australia New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG).

She brought her extensive experience and knowledge of health regulation in Australia to the review.

Outcomes

Final report

Health Ministers agreed to release the final report, Transforming health professionals regulation in Australia, on 12 September 2025. The report recommends actions across four transformation directions:

• Direction 01: Apply a regulatory stewardship model to set strategic context, priorities and accountability for health professions regulation and the National Scheme.
• Direction 02: Establish an Integrated Health Professions Regulation Framework, to inform decisions about regulating occupations across the entire Australian health workforce.
• Direction 03: Realign functions and structures within the National Scheme to strengthen performance, accountability, and transparency.
• Direction 04: Progress implementation of a unified national approach to health complaints and require immediate focus on improved management of high-risk matters within the National Scheme, to ensure best practice complaints handling.

Stakeholder submissions to the Review are available on the Consultation Hub.

Implementation

On 1 May 2026, Health Ministers made their final response to the Independent Review of Complexity in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, with a focus on consumer responsiveness, sustainability of the National Scheme and a proportionate regulatory response.

The Health Workforce Taskforce (HWT) will oversee implementation of the actions as agreed in the Ministers’ response. Implementation will involve:

• state, territory and Commonwealth jurisdictions
• the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra)
• national boards
• health complaints entities.

This section will be updated with project outcomes as they are delivered.

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