Occupational Therapy Week 2019 - This is OT

21 Oct 2019

Today the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia (the Board) joins over 22,000 registered occupational therapists in celebrating Occupational Therapy Week.

This year’s national theme, ‘This is OT’, is an opportunity to acknowledge the significant work of occupational therapists in different areas while being committed to safety and quality in healthcare.

This is also an opportunity to highlight some facts about the occupational therapy profession:

• the profession has significantly grown since entering the National Scheme with 15,101 registered occupational therapists in 2012/13 to 22,412 in 2018/19
• it is one of the youngest registered health professions within the National Scheme with 41.3% of occupational therapists aged between 25 and 34 and 26.7% aged between 35 and 44, and
• 0.5% of the profession identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

To provide for the protection of the public, the Board develops and reviews standards, codes and guidelines for occupational therapists to comply with. Occupational therapists are reminded to comply with these regulatory tools, including:

• the Australian occupational therapy competency standards which have been in effect since 1 January 2019
• the registration standards with the revised registration standards on continuing professional development, recency of practice and professional indemnity insurance arrangements coming into effect on 1 December 2019, and
• the Code of Conduct (currently under review).

For more information visit the Board’s website.