Ethics and professionalism CPD for health practitioners in Australia [email protected]
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Online course · Australia

Fitness to Practise: Health, Conduct and Performance

How Concerns Are Assessed and How to Protect Your Registration

  • About 2 hours
  • 15 scenario questions
  • Reflective account
  • Certificate of completion
  • Online, self-paced

About this course

In Australia, fitness to practise concerns fall into three streams: health, conduct and performance, and each is handled differently. This course explains how the National Scheme assesses them and the habits that protect patients and your registration.

The course explains the protective purpose of the National Scheme, health, conduct and performance as distinct streams and who decides. It then covers where concerns come from, risk-based assessment, immediate action, the range of outcomes and unfounded or vexatious notifications.

Health concerns are explained carefully, including the difference between health and impairment, health assessments, panels and conditions, and seeking support. Conduct lessons cover the spectrum of conduct, conduct outside practice, honesty and compliance. Performance lessons cover unsatisfactory professional performance, assessments, risk factors and system factors.

The final section deals with what outcomes mean in practice, everyday habits that protect your registration, what to do if a concern is raised and how to support a colleague.

What you will learn

  • Explain why the National Scheme protects the public rather than punishing practitioners
  • Sort a concern into the health, conduct or performance stream using the National Law definitions
  • Know which body decides a matter: a Board, a panel, a tribunal or a co-regulator
  • Describe how concerns are risk-assessed and when immediate action may follow
  • Explain the range of outcomes and what each means day to day
  • Recognise the risk factors for each kind of concern in your own practice
  • Adopt simple routines that keep patients safe and your registration secure

Who this course is for

  • Practitioners in every registered profession
  • Practitioners with a current notification
  • Practitioners managing a health condition
  • Supervisors and employers
  • Practitioners new to Australian regulation

How the course works

  1. Enrol online and the course appears under My Courses in your Probity Courses account, ready to open on a computer, tablet or phone.

  2. Work through 6 sections and 23 short lessons in order, at your own pace. Your place is saved in the browser you use, so you can stop and come back.

  3. Use the key points, scenarios and reflection prompts in each section, and write your own notes as you go; they stay with your course pack.

  4. Finish with a 15-question final assessment. You need 12 correct answers (80%) to pass, and you can retake it after a short pause if needed.

  5. Write your reflective account, submit the short feedback form and your completion is recorded. Download a certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time (about 2 hours); record the time you actually spend.

Course content

7 sections · About 2 hours · 15-question final assessment

1What Fitness to Practise Means in the National Scheme3 lessons
  • A Protective, Not Punitive, System
  • Health, Conduct and Performance
  • Who Decides
2How Concerns Are Assessed5 lessons
  • Where Concerns Come From
  • Risk-Based Assessment
  • Immediate Action
  • The Range of Outcomes
  • Unfounded and Vexatious Notifications
3Health Concerns3 lessons
  • Health Is Not the Same as Impairment
  • Health Assessments, Panels and Conditions
  • Looking After Your Health and Seeking Support
4Conduct Concerns4 lessons
  • The Spectrum of Conduct
  • Conduct Outside Practice
  • Honesty and Integrity
  • Complying With Conditions and Dealing With the Regulator
5Performance Concerns4 lessons
  • Unsatisfactory Professional Performance
  • Performance Assessments and Panels
  • Risk Factors for Performance Problems
  • System Factors and Individual Accountability
6Protecting Your Registration4 lessons
  • What Regulatory Outcomes Mean in Practice
  • Everyday Habits That Protect Your Registration
  • If a Concern Is Raised About You
  • Supporting a Colleague Through a Fitness to Practise Process
7Conclusion, Final Assessment and Reflection4 lessons
  • Conclusion and key points
  • References and quick-reference guide
  • Final assessment (15 questions, 80% pass mark)
  • Your reflective account

Assessment and certificate

  • Certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time (about 2 hours); record the time you actually spend.
  • A written reflective account you can keep with your CPD records.

Questions about this course

Is having a health condition a fitness to practise issue?

Not in itself. Regulators are concerned with impairment that detrimentally affects, or is likely to affect, practice. Many practitioners with health conditions practise safely.

What is immediate action?

A power that lets a Board suspend or restrict registration urgently, before an investigation is finished, when it reasonably believes the practitioner poses a serious risk and swift action is needed to protect public health or safety, or is otherwise in the public interest. The course explains the threshold and process.

Is fitness to practise the same in NSW and Queensland?

The principles are similar, but NSW and Queensland have co-regulatory systems with different bodies involved. The course explains how they differ.

Who is this course for if I have no current concern?

Any practitioner who wants to understand how the system works and reduce their own risk.

Can I count this course towards my CPD?

That is your call under your Board's CPD standard: you choose activities that match your scope and the learning needs in your plan. If this course fits, file the certificate of completion, record the time you actually spend and note one change you will make in practice.

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