The first ever national data on podiatry is now available with the release of Podiatry Board of Australia information in the AHPRA and National Boards’ annual report
Most of Australia’s podiatrists are based in Victoria and are aged under 54 years, according to data now published in the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and National Boards’ annual report.
The release of the 2010-11 annual report gives an essential, first-ever insight into Australia’s 530,115 health practitioners across 10 professions regulated under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme). One in 44 Australians is a registered health practitioner.
As well as profiling the professions and practitioners, the report provides the first national data on notifications (complaints) involving health practitioners and the actions taken by national boards to protect public safety.
Chair of the Podiatry Board of Australia, Mr Jason Warnock, said the 2010-11 annual report demonstrated transparent and accountable reporting by AHPRA and the national board about their work in regulating the profession and protecting the public.
“The introduction of the National Scheme on 1 July 2010 represents an unparalleled reform of health practitioner regulation. This annual report provides comprehensive data about the first year of operation of the national scheme, across all areas of operation of AHPRA and the national boards,” Mr Warnock said.
”There is clear evidence that the national scheme is sound, robust and a great asset for the Australian community,” he said.
Important information about the podiatry profession published in the report includes:
– There were 3,461 podiatrists registered to practise in Australia on 30 June 2011
– About 27% of podiatrists are based in New South Wales (NSW) and 30% are based in Victoria
– There are 20 podiatrists with specialist registration as a podiatric surgeon There are 1,173 students of podiatry on the student register, which includes nearly 99,000 registered students across the 10 professions
– The largest group (670 or 19%) of podiatrists are aged between 25 and 29 years, and 72% are aged under 54 years
– Nearly 1,500 practitioners who have disclosed their gender to AHPRA are female and just more than 1,000 are male. Before the National Scheme many State and Territory boards did not collect data on the sex of registrants and there were nearly 1,000 podiatrists who have not yet provided this information
– There are 42 podiatrists in Australia whose registration is endorsed for scheduled medicines, most of these (26) in Western Australia
– There were 55 notifications lodged about registered podiatrists during the year (not including concerns about advertising); 1.4% of all registered podiatrists have been the subject of a notification (Table 14)
– The Podiatry Board of Australia and the Podiatry Council in NSW* took immediate action on the registration of five practitioners during the year; as a result imposing conditions on the registration of two practitioners, accepting an undertaking from one practitioner and suspending the registration of two practitioners
The annual report is an important source of information about the Board’s activities in 2010-11. Achievements for the Podiatry Board of Australia during the year included; a focus on promoting the profession’s understanding of the requirements of the National Scheme and awareness of the Board’s continuing professional development, recency of practice, professional indemnity insurance, English language skills and criminal history registration standards; working towards national consistency in the list of scheduled medicines in each jurisdiction; consultation on the Board’s review of the guidelines for endorsement for scheduled medicines, for podiatrists with blood borne infections and on clinical records; and working constructively with its stakeholders, including the Australia and New Zealand Podiatry Accreditation Council.
Mr Warnock encouraged podiatry practitioners, clients / patients, employers, educators and the Australian community to read the 2010-11 annual report, published at
www.ahpra.gov.au under Legislation and publications > AHPRA publications.
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