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It’s been a challenging time for the profession given the restrictions that practitioners have had to adapt to. The Occupational Therapy Board of Australia supported practitioners in continuing to provide safe care in changing work environments.
The Board developed and published case studies to help practitioners understand how the Australian occupational therapy competency standards can be applied in practice. The Board started engagement work with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Occupational Therapy Network to better understand how it can promote improved culturally safe occupational therapy practice with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
The Board participated in a joint review of the Code of conduct shared with 11 other National Boards. The Board also contributed to the scheduled review of the Registration standard: English language skills and to the development of a revised Supervised practice framework.
The Board approved one program of study. There are now 44 occupational therapy programs of study delivered across 22 education providers.
The Board held regular meetings with Occupational Therapy Australia (the national professional association) and the Occupational Therapy Council of Australia Limited. These meetings also provided the opportunity to discuss the impact of the pandemic, and to better understand how the Board could respond to emerging issues.
The Board held a webinar in August on the registration standards for continuing professional development, recency of practice and professional indemnity insurance arrangements. The webinar outlined the changes in the standards and how these will affect the profession. The webinar was attended by almost 800 practitioners and included a live Q&A session with Board members.
In September, the Board held its fifth successful webinar for new and soon-to-be graduates to help them understand their obligations on becoming a registered occupational therapist. The webinar was attended by almost 400 students and provided a valuable opportunity to answer questions about the registration process.
The Board commissioned Ahpra to conduct a review of notifications about occupational therapists received and closed between 2012 and 2019. The final report, considered by the Board in December, provided some invaluable findings about the main drivers of notifications that may be amenable to regulatory response. The Board is now considering how best to communicate the findings.
The Board supports the National Scheme’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and cultural safety strategy 2020–2025. Members are participating in the Moong-moong-gak cultural safety training program.
Ms Julie Brayshaw