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On Monday 27 October, we celebrated World Occupational Therapy Day. This year’s theme was Occupational Therapy in Action, highlighting the incredible efforts of occupational therapists to empower people to live their best lives, every single day. Occupational therapists are problem-solvers and resilient, and it is a profession I am proud to be a part of.
Since our last newsletter in August, I have hosted webinars for graduating occupational therapy students who will soon register for the first time and for registered practitioners to provide an insight into regulatory issues in occupational therapy practice and update them on the Board’s work plan. You can find a recording of the practitioner webinar on the Board’s website.
This edition includes information about 2026 registration fees, and important changes to the National Law intended to protect the public. This month we have launched a new feature, ‘OT in action’, where we profile occupational therapists who are making a difference to the profession and the community. We invite you to meet Karina Lewis, an occupational therapist and accredited hand therapist from Queensland. Karina is implementing a novel approach to hand therapy intervention for injuries arising from the use of violence, exploring patient psychosocial needs and providing education on emotional regulation.
On behalf of the Board, best wishes for the holiday season and a wonderful start to 2026.
Rebecca Singh Chair, Occupational Therapy Board of Australia
CONTENT WARNING. This newsletter contains references to sexual misconduct that some readers might find distressing.
If you need help, support is available.
You can access 24-hour phone and online support services from the national sexual assault, family, and domestic violence helpline: 1800 Respect.
13YARN can provide crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Registered health practitioners who have had a concern raised about them are encouraged to contact their insurer, professional association or legal adviser for guidance and support. We publish information on general and profession specific support services on the Ahpra Support services page.
The Occupational Therapy Board and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) have announced the annual registration fee for occupational therapists for 2025/26.
From 18 September, the registration fee for occupational therapists will increase by 4.25 per cent to $132. This change is in line with indexation.
The fee covers the registration period from 1 December 2025 to 30 November 2026.
‘The Board understands the cost-of-living pressures felt by many practitioners. We’ve worked to keep fees as low possible; while ensuring we can continue our vital role to keep the public safe,’ Occupational Therapy Board Chair, Ms Rebecca Singh said.
Registration fees fund the work of National Boards and Ahpra to keep the public safe by:
The National Boards and Ahpra have also this year introduced a 30 per cent rebate on annual renewal fees for practitioners who have recently taken an extended period of parental leave, or certain other forms of leave such as disability and carer’s leave.
Recommendations from a wider review into pro-rata fees are expected in November with approved changes to come into effect from 1 July 2026.
In NSW, notifications (complaints) about registered health practitioners are managed by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission and the NSW Health Professional Councils and not by Ahpra. The registration fee for health practitioners whose principal place of practice (PPP) is NSW reflects this difference.
The fees schedule for each profession is published on National Board websites. Any variation to the fees payable by NSW-based practitioners is announced by each NSW Health Professional Council and detailed in the published fee schedules on National Board websites.
Read the media release from Ahpra and National Boards.
People who make a complaint against a health practitioner will be protected from reprisals or retaliation under increases to consumer protections coming into effect from 1 December 2025.
People who make a complaint in good faith are already protected from liability for information they provide to Ahpra and the National Boards. The changes will extend this protection, making it an offence for someone to threaten, intimidate or otherwise retaliate against a notifier for making a complaint.
The maximum penalty will be $60,000 for an individual or $120,000 for a body corporate.
It will also be illegal to enter into a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with a patient, unless it clearly states in writing that it does not limit a person from making a notification or providing assistance to regulators. Any NDAs that do seek to limit a person’s ability to make a complaint will be invalid.
The consumer protection changes are part of series of amendments to the National Law coming into effect over the coming months.
Information on the changes, how they will be implemented and what they mean for practitioners and the public is available in the full information guide.
The guide is available on the National Law amendments page on the Ahpra website which includes links to related topics and will be updated as our implementation activities progress.
Changes to the way sexual misconduct is reported on the public register of practitioners is coming in early 2026.
Practitioners who have a tribunal finding of professional misconduct involving sexual misconduct will have this information permanently published on the register. This change is retrospective, applying from the start of regulation of a profession in the National Scheme.
The information recorded on the register will include a statement that:
Health ministers decided on this change to protect public safety and ensure people are able to make an informed decision when choosing a health practitioner.
Ahpra and the National Boards are finalising guidance on sexual misconduct and the National Law following extensive consultation, and will release this guidance as soon as possible. We have also produced a guide to the overall suite of National Law changes which includes more detail on the sexual misconduct changes.
This change will be distressing for some practitioners. If you are contacted by Ahpra about additional information being put on your register entry, we encourage you to contact your insurer, professional association or legal adviser for guidance and support. We publish information on general and profession specific support services on Ahpra's Support services page.
The Occupational Therapy Board of Australia has introduced streamlined pathways for internationally qualified occupational therapists. This initiative follows recommendations from the Kruk review, which highlighted the need to remove barriers to registration for overseas practitioners. The new pathways include:
These changes represent an opportunity for some internationally qualified OTs holding limited registration who can now transition to general registration, and for others to apply directly for general registration.
Occupational therapy is the first of the allied professions to introduce streamlined pathways, similar initiatives for dental, medical radiation therapy, podiatry and psychology in 2026.
Visit Registration for internationally qualified occupational therapists to read more about the new pathways.
Karina Lewis is an occupational therapist and accredited hand therapist, and the dedicated research coordinator for occupational therapy at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH). She holds a Master of Philosophy (Research) and Master of Public Health and has a strong interest in health promotion and health service evaluation.
Her current research addresses hand injuries resulting from the use of violence, and the additional support and psychosocial needs individuals in this space may need: ‘People use violence for multiple reasons which can be influenced by impulse control, emotional regulation, alcohol and substance use, social and/or domestic and family violence factors,’ Karina shares.
‘The reasons people use violence can be intersectional and complex; however, it often suggests unmet psychosocial needs.’
To help address these unmet needs, the In Hand program was developed and included two components. The first was aimed at clinicians to improve knowledge and confidence in addressing the unmet psychosocial needs of patients presenting with injuries relating to the use of violence. The second component was an education resource for patients which aimed to improve health literacy regarding emotional regulation and where to seek further psychosocial support.
‘In the past, clinicians have focused on the physical hand injury, which can be the result of an altercation or punching a wall, for example,’ Karina explains.
‘This focus has been for multiple reasons, such as reduced awareness of the unmet psychosocial needs of patients with injuries related to the use of violence, lack of pathways to refer patients for psychosocial support and limited knowledge and/or confidence about how to sensitively enquire about the use of violence.’
This project was prompted by the increasing awareness of the unmet psychosocial needs of this patient group and the positive role that clinicians can have in addressing this issue with patients.
‘Our project team includes experienced clinicians in social work, psychology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and orthopaedic surgery, as well as consumer representatives, which has enabled a comprehensive and wholistic approach to this important topic.’
The In Hand program is currently being piloted within the occupational therapy and physiotherapy hand therapy and orthopaedic surgery teams at RBWH. The project is supported by a CAHRLI Domestic and Family Violence project grant.
Team L-R: Jelena Senic (social work), Matt Grundy (physiotherapy), Dr Andrew Mayo (orthopaedic surgery), Cherie Aceto (occupational therapy), Karina Lewis (project lead), Sue Laracy (Director of Occupational Therapy). Absent: Lynne Heyes (psychology), Jack Bryant, Curtis Rayment.
The project team is planning to roll out the In Hand program beyond RBWH throughout 2026. If you would like further information, feel free to contact [email protected].
Registration renewal for occupational therapists is now open. Make sure to renew your registration by 30 November 2025 to avoid paying a late fee.
If you don’t renew before 31 December 2025, your registration will lapse, you’ll be removed from the register of practitioners, and you won’t be able to use the protected title, occupational therapist.
Ahpra has a new online portal to manage all aspects of your registration, including multifactor authentication (MFA) to provide an extra layer of security protecting your data.
Read more and access online renewal at the Board website.
Before you renew, you will need to link an authenticator app to your portal. This app generates a one-time 6-digit code and is more secure than sending the code by SMS. Every time you log in, you’ll enter:
If you already know your username and password, you can log in now and link MFA. Your username will be sent to you via email before you need to renew. If you haven’t received this email, please contact us via an online enquiry or call 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 9125 3010 (overseas callers).
If you share your email account with someone else, such as your partner, or use a group email such as ‘[email protected]’ then you will need to change it to an email that is unique to you when you first log in. There’s information available on the Ahpra portal help centre on how to do this.
The first step in applying for registration is to create your Ahpra portal and link multifactor authentication. Your portal is where you will manage all aspects of your registration throughout your career as a registered occupational therapist.
We have an online portal help centre with step-by-step instructions and videos on how to create your portal and securely link your multifactor authentication app.
On the Graduate applications page of the Ahpra website, you will find helpful guides on completing your application for registration, tips for how to avoid delays, and information flyers you can download for working offline. There is also a page of frequently asked questions that go into more detail on a range of topics.
You may need to provide supporting documents with your application to prove that you meet the Board’s registration standards including meeting the English language skills requirements. Make sure you provide all the documents we need with your application so we can assess it quicker.
We can’t finalise your application until we receive your graduation results from your education provider.
If you’ve submitted everything needed to prove you’ve met the requirements for registration, we aim to finalise your application within two weeks of receiving your graduation results.
For more information, read the news item.
Receipts or tax invoices for registration payments made in the 2024–25 financial year will be emailed to you directly – they won’t be available in the Ahpra portal.
You’ll receive your receipt or tax invoice shortly after your payment via email.
We’ll email your receipt or tax invoice from mid-June 2025. Be sure to check both your inbox and spam/junk folder.
If you haven’t received it by mid-July, please submit an online enquiry and let us know you need a receipt or tax invoice for the 2024–25 financial year.
For payments made before July 2024, please submit an online enquiry and specify which financial year(s) you need. We’ll email the relevant documents once we receive your request.
The Board's quarterly registration data to 30 June 2025 is published on its website. At this date there were 34,423 registered occupational therapists, including 33,195 with general registration and 961 with non-practising registration.
There are 236 occupational therapists who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, or 0.7% of the profession.
For further details on registration by age, gender and principal place of practice, read the report on our Statistics page.
Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner called for renewed collaboration at the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme’s annual meeting in Melbourne, describing Ahpra as stewards of Australia’s health system.
Reflecting on four months of national stakeholder engagement, Justin acknowledged the opportunities and challenges ahead and discussed current priorities including improving notifications, preventing harm, ending racism in healthcare, and ensuring a responsive workforce.
Justin urged stakeholders to take a system-wide view and collaborate across Ahpra, boards, accreditors, and educators to better meet evolving workforce needs.
‘As stewards of the health system, we must all accept responsibility for the long-term integrity and sustainability of what has been entrusted to us,’ he said. ‘The nature of our roles – distinct but connected – obliges us to support a health workforce that can support Australia.’
Read the full speech.
Health ministers have released the final report of the Independent review of complexity in the National Scheme (the Dawson review) with a formal response to 26 recommended actions.
Ahpra welcomes this important milestone and commends independent reviewer Sue Dawson on the work she has carried out since being appointed to the role in April 2024.
Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said the agency was well-placed to respond to the report and looked forward to working with ministers, departments and other stakeholders on future reforms.
‘The National Scheme has been built on solid foundations but there is much more to do. We know that what got us here, won’t get us there.’
Co-convenor of the Forum of National Scheme Chairs, Rachel Phillips, welcomed the release of the Dawson review.
‘For Ahpra to be effective, there needs to be transparency around the scheme and the measures in place to support practitioners and protect the public,’ Ms Phillips said.
‘The Dawson review adds to the work already under way to improve the system and foster a level of collaboration among regulators and other stakeholders that will serve us well into the future.’
Read the full news article.
The guidance for telehealth and virtual care has been updated to ensure patients receive high-quality care – whether it be in person, over the phone or online.
It expands advice for telehealth prescribers, highlighting poor practice concerns around prescribing that relies on text, email or online questionnaires to assess a patients’ needs rather than a face-to-face, video or telephone consultation.
‘Telehealth has been great in making it easier for people to get the care they need. We just want to make sure that convenience doesn’t come at the cost of safety or quality,’ Ahpra Chief Executive Officer, Justin Untersteiner said.
The guidance reinforces to practitioners that any healthcare provided through telehealth is the practitioner’s responsibility and not the employers. Practitioners working in telehealth-only clinics, particularly those focused on non-medical prescribing such as assistive technology, are encouraged to review the clinical governance framework to ensure the care they provide isn’t compromised by commercial gain or convenience.
‘As a health practitioner, your duty of care to your patients should always come first. That responsibility sits with you – not your employer,’ Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Chair, Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey said.
Good telehealth practices include:
National Boards have also developed case studies for safe use of telehealth, identifying common mistakes like prescribing in an initial telehealth consultation or opting for telehealth when a face-to-face consultation is necessary.
Ahpra and the National Scheme have announced their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anti-Racism Policy, informed by extensive consultation and the expertise of Professor Yin Paradies, a leading scholar in racism and cultural safety.
This policy has been developed by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to create a safe, valued, and respectful environment within Ahpra and the National Boards.
It forms a critical step in enacting Ahpra and the National Scheme’s policy and legislative commitments to eliminating racism.
Racism towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is persistent, harmful, and structurally embedded. This policy acknowledges those realities and provides clear mechanisms for preventing, addressing, and eliminating racism within Ahpra, the National Boards and committees. It establishes stronger reporting pathways and introduces the Racism-related Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-only Special Issues Committee (RATSISIC) to ensure culturally informed responses to racism.
The policy reflects the hard work and leadership of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anti-Racism Policy Working Group, chaired by Professor Carmen Parter, whose contributions were vital to its development.
Download a copy of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anti-Racism Policy. On this page, you'll find this under 'Ahpra, Ahpra Board and National Boards information', click on the Ahpra tab.
Ahpra and the National Boards remain committed to the prevention of racism and discrimination in healthcare.
This includes the development of a culturally safe and respectful health workforce that contributes to the elimination of racism in the provision of health services.
As announced in September, health ministers have issued a policy direction around the practitioner response to racism and discrimination, including antisemitism.
Ministers highlighted the expertise and experience that Ahpra and the National Boards have in combating racism and discrimination. By way of example, ministers cited the strength of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Cultural Safety Strategy.
Under the direction, Ahpra and the National Boards will ensure health practitioners are completing sufficient education and training to help promote a culture of anti-racism and anti-discrimination and Ahpra will review notifications and complaints processes on racism and discrimination. Ahpra will also work with accreditation authorities to ensure that programs of study equip practitioners to address racism and discrimination.
