AMA Queensland and AMA submission to HEC on National Law
The Queensland Parliamentary Health and Environment Committee recently scrutinised the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022. Queensland is the host jurisdiction for this law, and once passed in Queensland, it will be adopted in other parts of Australia. The bill entails an extraordinarily complex series of amendments, some of which are of great concern to AMA Queensland.
Of paramount concern is a potential lack of natural justice for doctors if they are the subject of a public statement from a regulator. Under current arrangements, public statements about a health practitioner are issued at the conclusion of a tribunal process. The bill proposes that a public statement could be issued prior to the completion of an action against a practitioner. A public statement about a doctor’s health, conduct or performance is a serious step. It implies guilt and could cause irreparable damage to a doctor’s reputation.
AMA Queensland strongly contends that any public statement should be issued only after a health practitioner has been shown to have breached a code of conduct or been convicted of a relevant offence.
AMA Queensland and AMA made submissions to the Health and Environment Committee.