We will continue to work on improvements to the vexatious notifications framework in 2025.
The review into Ahpra's vexatious notifications framework has identified issues with the processes, transparency and application of the framework. The review was conducted by the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman (NHPO) and released earlier this week. The AMA has raised the issue of vexatious complaints on many occasions and intends to discuss the findings of the review directly with Ahpra in the near future.
The vexatious notifications framework was introduced in 2021 after years of strong AMA advocacy . Our submission to the Inquiry into the complaints mechanism administered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law was central to the establishment of the framework which is intended to identify vexatious notifications and minimise the impact these notifications have on a practitioner's life.
While we are disappointed with the findings of the review, we are pleased to see our feedback and recommendations acknowledged in the report. The AMA's submission to the review in 2022 advocated for further steps to be undertaken once the framework had been established, including:
- the transparent publishing of vexatious notifications and their handling, recognised by recommendation 11 in the final report
- vexatious notifications to be dismissed as early in the process as possible, recognised by recommendations 8 and 9 in the final report.
Key findings of the report included poor management of notifications in cases involving domestic and family violence allegations and unreasonably persistent notifiers, and that vexatious notifications are not recorded differently from other notifications in Ahpra's case management system. The report also identified only 17 vexatious notifications between 1 January 2021 and 30 April 2022, a number we believe to be far below the actual figure.
