The Department of Health and Ageing has pulled out of appearing before the Senate inquiry into the administration of health practitioner registration by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) with no explanation.
“This important inquiry is being held today and tomorrow and the Department of Health and Ageing was due to appear but has chosen not to,” said Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Shadow Minister for Ageing and Shadow Minister for Mental Health.
“The Senate’s Finance and Public Administration References Committee has not been given any formal explanation why the Department appeared on a draft program but has dropped off the official program.
“Given the undertakings made by the Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, when she introduced the legislation to create the agency, it is imperative that the Department appears.
“This inquiry was called to try to get to the bottom of the debacle that has seen thousands of general practitioners, nurses and other health professionals working without current registration and the distress this has caused to their patients.”