Advance copy of revised Criminal history registration standard now available

01 May 2026

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and National Boards have published an advance copy of the updated Criminal history registration standard (the standard). 

The advance copy will give practitioners and registration applicants an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the changes before they come into effect on 15 July 2026.

The standard guides the Boards as they assess how a person’s criminal history is relevant to their suitability for registration as a health practitioner.

The changes to the standard focus on improvement through alignment with available evidence, clearer processes, reduced duplication, streamlining and removing unnecessary information and addressing gaps in content.

The standard also includes a new factor that considers the impacts that racism and systemic inequity have on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and the implications of this on an individual’s criminal history.

The revised standard has been informed by two wide-ranging public consultations undertaken by National Boards in 2023 and 2024.

The review of the criminal history standard was a key part of the February 2023 action plan to improve public safety in health regulation. This work included a range of reforms to better protect patients from serious misconduct, including sexual misconduct by registered health practitioners.

Registered practitioners, students and applicants are encouraged to familiarise themselves the revised standard before it comes into effect from July 2026.

Read the advance copy of the standard now.