Annual report reveals that occupational therapy was the fastest-growing profession in 2016/17

15 Nov 2017

The Annual Report for AHPRA and the National Boards for the year to 30 June 2017 is now available to view online.

Over the past year, registration with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia (the Board) grew by 6.6%, making occupational therapy the fastest-growing regulated health profession in the National Scheme, according to information published today by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) in its annual report.

The Board works in partnership with AHPRA to regulate occupational therapists across Australia under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme). The 2016/17 annual report produced by AHPRA and the 14 National Boards is a comprehensive record of the National Scheme for the 12 months ending 30 June 2017.

In 2016/17, the Board worked to ensure that only those practitioners who are suitably qualified and competent to practise are registered. A significant piece of this work included reviewing competency standards for occupational therapy and continuing work on improving awareness and understanding of the Board’s recency of practise requirements.

The Board also reached out to students to discuss the role of the Board and registration requirements for the profession.

‘We hosted a seminar called Graduating soon? in September 2016, which was attended by over 200 students across Australia,’ said Ms Julie Brayshaw, Board Chair. ‘It’s important to the Board that students who are about to qualify to register as occupational therapists understand their requirements under the National Law. We want registrants to know that the Board has a host of information on our website to help them understand their professional obligations under the National Law.’

A snapshot of the profession in 2016/17:

• Easy to renew: This year saw the largest online registration renewal rate ever achieved across all 14 registered health professions. Over 98.5% of all registered health practitioners renewed online and on time, with 99.7% of occupational therapists renewing online.
•  Increased registration year on year: Occupational therapists comprised 2.9% of all health practitioners registered in Australia, and the registrant base continues to grow (up 6.6% from 2015/16 to 19,516 registrants).
• Students on the register: As at 30 June 2017, there were 7,917 registered occupational therapy students (down 0.1% from 2015/16).
• Complaints received about occupational therapists: There were 37 notifications (complaints or concerns) lodged with AHPRA about occupational therapists in 2016/17; 0.3% of the profession had complaints made about them. Two notifications were lodged about occupational therapy students.
• Of the 39 matters closed about occupational therapists in 2016/17: 7.7% resulted in the Board accepting an undertaking or conditions being imposed on an occupational therapist’s registration; 12.8% resulted in a caution or reprimand, and 79.5% resulted in no further action being taken.
• Statutory offence complaints: There were nine statutory offence complaints made about occupational therapists in 2016/17 (up from six in 2015/16). Six related to title protection and three were alleged advertising breaches.
• Four mandatory notifications were made about occupational therapists. All were about standards of care.
• Active monitoring cases as at 30 June 2017: 12 occupational therapists were monitored during the year for health, performance and/or conduct.

The 2016/17 annual report provides a nationwide snapshot of the work of AHPRA and the National Boards and highlights a multi-profession approach to risk-based regulation, with a clear focus on ensuring that the public are protected.

‘There are now almost 680,000 registered health practitioners across Australia,’ said AHPRA CEO Mr Martin Fletcher. ‘This Annual Report highlights our strong and shared commitment with the Board to ensure the public has access to a competent, qualified registered health workforce and to take decisive action when required to keep the community safe.’

To view the 2016/17 annual report, along with supplementary tables that segment data across categories such as registration, notifications, statutory offences, tribunals and appeals, and monitoring and compliance, see Annual Report microsite.

In the coming weeks, AHPRA and the National Boards will also publish summaries of our work regulating health practitioners in each of the 14 registered health professions. Jurisdictional reports, which present data on registered health practitioners in each state and territory will be published in December.

For more information

• Visit Annual Report microsite
• Lodge an online enquiry form
• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 9275 9009 (overseas callers)
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200