Codes and Guidelines

The Occupational Therapy Board of Australia has developed codes and guidelines to guide the profession. These also help to clarify the Board’s views and expectations on a range of issues.

Policies

Document	PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Common Protocol - Informing notifiers about the reasons for National Board decisions	PDF (91.8KB)	Word version (58.6 KB,DOCX)	1 August 2018

Codes and guidelines

Document	PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Guideline - Informing a National Board about where you practise	PDF (152 KB)	Word version (590 KB,DOCX)	1 August 2018
Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service	PDF (192 KB)	Web page	14 December 2020
Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered health practitioners*	PDF (250 KB)	Web page	1 March 2020
Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered students**	PDF (150 KB)	Web page	1 March 2020
Code of conduct For more information see Code of conduct page	PDF (323KB)	Web page	29 June 2022
Managing health records – Self-reflective tool		Web page	20 April 2023
Managing health records – Summary of obligations	PDF (64KB)	Web page	20 April 2023

Position statements

Document	PDF	Accessible format	Document date
No place for sexism, sexual harassment or violence in healthcare	PDF (205KB)	Word version (120 KB,DOCX)	30 June 2021

Policy directions

Under Section 11 of the National Law, as in force in each state and territory, the Ministerial Council may issue a National Board with policy directions.

Document	PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Policy Direction 2019-01 - Paramountcy of public protection when administering the National Scheme Policy Direction 2019-02 - Requirements to consult with patient safety bodies and health care consumer bodies on every new and revised registration standard, code and guidelines	PDF (2.34MB)		8 January 2020

Continuing Professional Development

All practising occupational therapists must undertake continuing professional development (CPD) as a requirement of registration. Refer to our dedicated CPD information page to find the Guidelines: Continuing professional development for more information about CPD requirements and exemptions, and to access our CPD resources.

Supervised practice

The Supervised practice framework sets out the principles the Board considers central to safe and effective supervised practice for a range of regulatory needs.

Document	PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Supervised practice framework^† For more information see Supervised practice framework page	PDF (202KB)	Web page	1 February 2022
Supervision guidelines For more information see Supervised practice framework page	PDF (76.0KB)	Web page	1 February 2022

^† The Supervised practice framework was updated in April 2023 to reflect the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia adopting the framework from 1 April 2023.

FAQ and Fact Sheets

For more information, please see FAQ and Fact Sheets.

Additional information

Document	PDF	Accessible format	Date of effect
Summary of research to inform registration standards review	PDF (117 KB)	Word version (30.1 KB,DOCX)	23 October 2019

Retired versions

Document	PDF	Document date
Retired version: Code of conduct	PDF (146 KB)	17 March 2014 to 28 June 2022
Retired version: Supervision guidelines for occupational therapy	PDF (403 KB)	1 January 2019 to 31 January 2022
Retired version: Guidelines for advertising regulated health services	PDF (155 KB)	To 13 December 2020
Retired version: Guidelines for mandatory notifications	PDF (149 KB)	To 29 February 2020
Retired version: Supervision guidelines for occupational therapy	PDF (400 KB)	To 2 September 2014
Retired version: Guidelines for advertising of regulated health services	PDF (458 KB)	To 16 March 2014
Retired version: Guidelines for mandatory notifications	PDF (424 KB)	To 16 March 2014
Retired version: Code of conduct	PDF (442 KB)	To 16 March 2014

*The Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered health practitioners have been updated on 29 June 2020 to include minor formatting and word changes and changes to the flowcharts on pages 20, 22 and 26 of the guidelines.

**The Guidelines: Mandatory notifications about registered students have been updated on 29 June 2020 to include minor formatting and word changes and sections 39 and 40 of the National Law in Appendix A.