Podiatrists and podiatric surgeons · Podiatry Board of Australia
Nail surgery, diabetic foot care, scheduled medicines, orthotics sold from your own rooms: podiatry combines procedural risk with commercial decisions in a way few professions do. These courses take the shared Code of conduct into that territory, for general podiatrists, those prescribing scheduled medicines and podiatric surgeons.
CPD registration standard
The Podiatry Board's CPD standard has applied since 1 December 2015, with the detail set out in its CPD guidance.
Source: Podiatry Board CPD guidance and FAQ. Comment on a cross-Board review of CPD standards closed in July 2026, but nothing has changed yet: keep meeting today's rules.
Watch
Podiatry Board, 2024/25
Clinical care makes up close to a third of podiatry concerns, and when matters close, conditions or an undertaking follow more often (17.9%) than they did for physiotherapists or occupational therapists in the same year. Procedural work explains part of that: a nail avulsion, a wound that deteriorates or a missed sign of ischaemia in a diabetic foot can cause lasting harm.
The behaviour and documentation figures are just as telling. Records that do not show neurovascular checks, the advice given about post-procedure care or the reasoning for a prescription leave a podiatrist with little to point to when outcomes are poor. And 7.1% of concerns involved an offence under another law, a reminder that the Board's interest does not stop at the clinic door.
Scenarios
Composites written for teaching; none is a real case.
A patient agrees to a partial nail avulsion on the day of the first appointment. Nobody mentions regrowth or the chance of infection. Six weeks later the toe is still painful and the patient says they were rushed into it.
A diabetic patient with reduced sensation is seen for routine care. The podiatrist checks pulses but writes nothing down. Months later an ulcer develops and the record cannot show that the foot was assessed.
A long-standing patient phones asking for 'the same antibiotics as last time' for a red toe. The podiatrist, who holds prescribing rights, writes the script without examining the foot. It works, but the decision cannot be defended if it had not.
A clinic owner encourages staff to recommend custom orthotics at most new consultations, with a bonus tied to orthotic sales. A patient later questions whether she ever needed them.
Written for podiatrists
Begin with the two courses written for podiatrists. The third is a three-hour course on ethics and professionalism across podiatry practice, including procedures and prescribing.
Ethical reasoning for podiatrists: consent to procedures, honest prognosis, fees and fairness.
Professional standards in podiatry: scope, records, prescribing responsibilities and teamwork.
A longer course on ethics and professionalism across general, high-risk foot and surgical practice.
Prescribing standards for practitioners with scheduled medicines rights.
Recognising risk early and practising safely within scope.
Recording assessments, advice and reasoning.
Consent to procedures and to their costs.
Talking honestly with a patient when a procedure goes badly.
Product sales, incentives and honest billing.
Program
Because clinical care tops the podiatry figures and many podiatrists prescribe, this is the program most relevant to the profession.
Includes 5 courses
A$1,065 is the sum of the five course prices. No discount is applied.
Consent or explanation complaints
Communication, consent, disclosure and dignity.
Program total A$876
Sales, billing or records
Financial integrity, documentation and privacy.
Program total A$996
A notification is open
From the process to rebuilding trust.
Program total A$1,323
Showing what has changed
Four courses for a credible account.
Program total A$756
Your code and endorsements
Podiatrists share their Code of conduct with eleven other professions; the current version dates from mid-2022. Its principles on consent, records, conflicts of interest and working within your competence apply to every podiatrist.
Extra obligations come with extra scope. Prescribing rights bring 10 more CPD hours a year and a duty to follow the Board's scheduled medicines guidelines. Specialist registration as a podiatric surgeon brings 20 more hours and advanced life support. Looking ahead, the Board's 2024/25 annual summary flags a revised specialist standard under which all podiatric surgeons will need the scheduled medicines endorsement.
After a notification
Ahpra, the Podiatry Council of NSW or, in Queensland, the Office of the Health Ombudsman.
Before you reply, and before you offer the patient a refund.
Clinical notes, photographs, consent forms and invoices, all left exactly as they were.
Write three distinct parts: the events, your learning, and the changes already made.
The free course is a calm place to start
Ahpra Notifications in 15 Minutes explains the process, the usual requests and the first steps worth taking. It costs nothing and helps you plan before choosing further learning.
Start the free courseFurther reading
Twenty hours from at least two of the Board's categories, including 5 or more interactive hours, plus current CPR training. Prescribing podiatrists add 10 hours and podiatric surgeons add 20.
No, because you complete it alone. Count it among your other hours, and organise group learning such as peer review or a live webinar for the interactive part.
The common code shared across twelve Boards, read together with the Podiatry Board's own guidelines on matters such as scheduled medicines.
The prescribing standards course, and the high-risk medicines course if you prescribe medicines with misuse potential. Both relate directly to the extra 10 hours.
Not in itself, but recommendations must be driven by clinical need, any financial interest should be disclosed and incentives must not override patients' interests. The probity course covers this.
Yes, as ethics and professionalism learning. Surgical scope hours should relate to your surgical practice, so check how a course fits your plan.
No course can promise an outcome. Relevant learning, honest reflection and evidence of change can contribute to showing insight.
The Podiatry Council of NSW with the Health Care Complaints Commission. Ahpra still manages your registration.
Yes. Use the multi-course page or contact us to set up a team order.
How we write
Each podiatry course is written by the Probity Courses editorial team from the shared code and the Podiatry Board's registration standards and guidelines, including those for scheduled medicines, and is reviewed when those documents change. Courses are self-paced and online. The certificate of completion states the estimated learning time; record the time you actually spend.
Podiatrists and podiatric surgeons are regulated by the Podiatry Board of Australia, supported by Ahpra.
Start with the two core courses, then add the topics that match your scope.