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

Open Disclosure in Healthcare Practice

Saying Sorry, Explaining What Happened and Supporting Patients After Harm

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

About this course

Telling a patient that something has gone wrong in their care is one of the hardest conversations in health care, and one of the most important. This course explains the Australian Open Disclosure Framework, as revised in June 2026, and how to plan and hold a disclosure conversation well.

The course explains what open disclosure means, the Australian Framework and its June 2026 revision, open disclosure in your Board's code and why openness benefits patients and practitioners. It then covers apology laws across Australia, Victoria's statutory duty of candour, insurers, employers and incident systems, and what open disclosure is not.

Planning lessons cover the range from near miss to serious harm, the first hours after harm, preparing for a formal conversation and complex situations. The conversation itself is broken into opening and saying sorry, explaining what happened, listening to the patient's experience and agreeing next steps.

Later sections cover documenting disclosure, follow-up and closing the process, when disclosure goes badly, turning events into learning, the impact on clinicians, open disclosure in small practices and building a culture of openness.

What you will learn

  • Explain what open disclosure is and what changed when the Framework was revised in June 2026
  • Find what your own Board's code says about being open when care goes wrong
  • Use apology laws, and in Victoria the statutory duty of candour, to guide your words
  • Scale your response from a quick conversation after a near miss to a formal process after serious harm
  • Prepare for and lead a conversation that includes a sincere apology, an explanation and real listening
  • Record what was said and go back to the patient with the findings of any review
  • Recover the relationship when a disclosure conversation goes badly
  • Look after yourself after an adverse event and help your team become more open

Who this course is for

  • Practitioners in hospitals, day procedure services and community care
  • Practitioners in private and small practices
  • Senior clinicians who lead formal open disclosure
  • Quality and safety staff
  • Practitioners recovering from an adverse event

How the course works

  1. After checkout the course is added to My Courses in your account, so you can start straight away on any device with a modern browser.

  2. Move through 6 sections (23 lessons in total) in your own time; lessons open in sequence and the player remembers where you stopped on that device.

  3. Each section ends with key points and prompts for reflection. Your notes can be downloaded as a Word course pack or printed for your portfolio.

  4. Sit the 15-question assessment at the end. Score 80% or more (12 of 15) to pass; answer options are reshuffled if you retake.

  5. Complete the reflective account and feedback to finish. Your certificate of completion shows the estimated learning time (about 2 hours), and you record the time you actually spend in your CPD log.

Course content

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

1Open Disclosure in Australian Healthcare4 lessons
  • What Open Disclosure Means
  • The Australian Framework and Its 2026 Revision
  • Open Disclosure in Your National Board's Code
  • Why Openness Benefits Patients and Practitioners
2The Legal and Regulatory Landscape4 lessons
  • Apology Laws Across Australia
  • Victoria's Statutory Duty of Candour
  • Insurers, Employers and Incident Systems
  • What Open Disclosure Is Not
3Recognising the Need and Planning the Response4 lessons
  • From Near Miss to Serious Harm
  • The First Hours After Harm
  • Preparing for a Formal Conversation
  • Complex Situations
4Having the Conversation4 lessons
  • Opening the Conversation and Saying Sorry
  • Explaining What Happened
  • Listening to the Patient's Experience
  • Agreeing What Happens Next
5Follow-Up, Documentation and Learning4 lessons
  • Documenting Open Disclosure
  • Follow-Up and Closing the Process
  • When Disclosure Goes Badly
  • Turning Events into Learning
6Supporting Clinicians and Building an Open Culture3 lessons
  • The Impact on Clinicians
  • Open Disclosure in Small Practices
  • Building a Culture of Openness
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

Does saying sorry amount to an admission of liability?

Apology laws in every Australian state and territory provide that an apology is generally not an admission of liability, although the protection varies. The course explains what you can safely say.

What changed in the 2026 revision of the Framework?

The revised Australian Open Disclosure Framework, published in June 2026, distinguishes initial disclosure from formal open disclosure. The course explains what this means in practice.

Is there a legal duty of candour outside Victoria?

Victoria has a statutory duty of candour for health service entities. Other jurisdictions rely on the Framework, policy and professional codes. The course explains the differences.

Is open disclosure relevant to small practices?

Yes. A lesson covers how to apply the principles in private and small practices without a hospital's support structure.

What evidence do I get when I finish?

You receive a certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time, and you can download a course pack holding your learning record, a revision sheet and your own reflections. Your CPD log should show the time you actually spend.

Does completing the course satisfy a condition or undertaking?

Not automatically. Where a Board has set education as a condition or undertaking, the course usually has to be nominated and accepted first, so check with Ahpra or the Board, and your legal adviser or defence organisation, before you enrol.

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