April 2026

Contents

• Chair's message
• Board news
  • RN prescribing: updated regulatory documents
  • The professional indemnity insurance exemption for privately practising midwives providing homebirth services is ending
  • Quarterly registration data released
• Renewal
  • It's time to renew your registration
• Spotlight
  • Sexual misconduct findings permanently published on register
  • New five-year strategy highlights Ahpra's ambitious reform agenda
  • Cosmetic injecting nurse banned
• Have your say
  • Review of the Registration standard: Endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives
  • Review of the Safety and quality guidelines for privately practising midwives
• Keep in touch with the NMBA

Chair's message

Registration renewal is now open, and I encourage you to log in to the Ahpra portal and renew. During the renewals period, our Customer Service team is busier than usual. We encourage anyone that is experiencing any issues to visit the Ahpra portal help centre for information on how to use our online services.

In March, we brought together leaders from across the nursing and midwifery regulatory community for the NMBA National Conference to reflect on progress and consider what lies ahead. Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner shared his reflections on 2025 and spoke to the emerging priorities shaping the new National Scheme Strategy.

Next month we’ll be celebrating both the International Day for Midwives and International Nurses Day. I’d like to thank every one of you for the work that you do to keep the public safe and healthy.

Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey
Chair, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

Board news

RN prescribing: updated regulatory documents

The NMBA has updated key regulatory documents relating to the Endorsement for scheduled medicines – designated registered nurse prescriber.

Minor editorial changes have been made to the Guidelines for registered nurses applying for and with the endorsement for scheduled medicines – designated registered nurse prescriber to improve clarity and consistency.

The Fact sheet: Registration standard: Endorsement for scheduled medicines– designated registered nurse prescriber has been updated to include information about NMBA approved units of study and applications for endorsement.

The updated documents can be found on our website.

The professional indemnity insurance exemption for privately practising midwives providing homebirth services is ending 

From 1 January 2027, privately practising midwives providing intrapartum care in a homebirth setting (including midwives practising as the second health practitioner), must hold appropriate professional indemnity insurance (PII) for all aspects of their practice. This will strengthen public safety and align PII requirements for midwives with all other registered health professions.  

Further details about the changes are available in the updated Fact sheet: Professional indemnity insurance arrangements.

Quarterly registration data released

The National Board has released its quarterly registration data. Read the latest report and other statistics on our Statistics page.  

Renewal

It's time to renew your registration

It’s time to renew your registration and this year, why not get it done sooner rather than later? If you renew now, your work won’t get disrupted and all those pesky email reminders will stop. And if you have any problems with your multifactor authentication, you’ll be first in line for help from Ahpra’s Customer Service team. The later you leave it, the busier it gets and the longer you might have to wait to talk to someone. 

Renew all your registrations and endorsements

If you hold dual registration and you plan to continue being registered as both a nurse and a midwife, make sure you renew both this year. Anyone holding endorsements will also need to make sure they are renewed. You can double-check you’ve completed your renewal correctly by searching the Register of practitioners. If you miss renewing an endorsement or division, you will need to contact Ahpra’s Customer Service team for assistance. 

First time renewing

While it might feel like only yesterday that you graduated and applied for registration, you still need to renew your registration, regardless of how long you were registered for during the previous 12 months. Check the Register of practitioners if you are not sure when your registration is due for renewal.

If you've changed device or deleted your multifactor authentication app

If you’ve changed phones in the past 12 months, upgraded your device, changed or deleted your multifactor authentication (MFA) app, you will need to re-link your portal and device before you can log in.  

If you don’t want to call the Ahpra Customer Service team, you can submit a web enquiry requesting a disconnection of your multifactor authenticator app. The team will need to verify your identity before they can disconnect your app, so make sure you include at least four points of identity in the request: full name, date of birth, mobile number, email address, residential address. 

Spotlight

Sexual misconduct findings now permanently published on register

Practitioners who have a tribunal finding of professional misconduct with a basis of sexual misconduct will now have this information permanently added to the public register. 

This will include a statement that the practitioner has a finding of sexual misconduct, along with any related tribunal decisions and conditions or restrictions that were applied.  

Ahpra is contacting practitioners with relevant findings and providing them with he opportunity to respond before any additional information is added to the register. We encourage affected practitioners to contact their professional association, indemnity insurer and other support services for assistance. 

A guide to the changes for practitioners is now available on the National Law Amendments webpage. 

You can also find more information about how National Boards will decide if findings are added to the register is available in the Guidance: Sexual misconduct and the National Law and the accompanying Short Guide. 

Read more in the news item. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency - Health practitioner register updated under landmark reforms.

New five-year strategy highlights Ahpra's ambitious reform agenda

Ahpra is committing to further protecting the public and improving access to, and trust in, health practitioners with the launch of a new five-year strategy for the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme. 

The National Scheme Strategy 2031 outlines an ambitious five-year reform agenda to strengthen public protection and support a rapidly evolving health system. The Strategy has three priorities: effective harm prevention, a culturally safe health system for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and a sustainable health workforce. It also elevates community voices and commits to improving people’s experience of the National Scheme through interactions that are timely, transparent and empathetic. 

Strong governance and collaborative leadership will guide National Scheme partners as they deliver effective, future-focused regulation. 

Cosmetic injecting nurse banned

A Queensland nurse who unlawfully and inappropriately injected a formulation of botulinum toxin into a patient without consulting a doctor or obtaining a prescription has been banned from nursing for two years. 

Ahpra investigations revealed that Thia Sullivan also created false records about the services she provided and discouraged patients from co-operating with a police investigation 

The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal imposed the penalty after Ms Sullivan continued to work with cosmetic injectables despite being suspended by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia in February 2020.  

Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said this was a significant decision by the Tribunal and a good example of why Ahpra and the National Boards recently introduced tough new guidelines to clean up the cosmetic injectables industry.

Have your say

Review of the Registration standard: Endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives

The NMBA is reviewing the Registration standard: Endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives and newly proposed Guidelines: Endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives, and your feedback is important to us. 

 Key proposed changes to the registration standard include:  

• removal of the requirement for 5,000 hours of clinical practice 
• removal of an identified context of practice 
• new requirement for applications for endorsement to be submitted within 12-months of completing an endorsement qualification, and 
• minor changes to the wording that appears on the public register.  

Review of the Safety and quality guidelines for privately practising midwives  

The NMBA is reviewing the Safety and quality guidelines for privately practising midwives to reflect the ending PII exemption for privately practising midwives and ensure they remain current, evidence-based and fit for purpose, and we want to hear from you.

Visit our open consultations webpage to have your say.

Keep in touch with the NMBA

• Visit the NMBA website for registration standards, codes, guidelines and FAQs.
• Lodge an online enquiry form.
• For registration enquiries, call 1300 419 495 (from within Australia) or +61 3 9285 3010 (for overseas callers).
• Address mail correspondence to: Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey AM, Chair, Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, GPO Box 9958, Melbourne, VIC 3001.