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| Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. The Health Practitioner Regulation (National Uniform Legislation) Amendment Bill 2014 (Serial 67) was approved for drafting by Cabinet on 17 December 2013. This bill addresses the need to amend legislation to allow privately practising midwives to practise in the Northern Territory. At the time of the Northern Territory adopting the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act in 2010, midwives in the Northern Territory were required to hold professional indemnity insurance, regardless as to whether they were practising in the public or private sector, as no distinction was made between the two categories. Because of this requirement, an exemption under the National Law did not apply in the Northern Territory to privately practising midwives. Hence, an amendment to the Health Practitioner Regulation (National Uniform Legislation) is required to allow midwives to practise privately in the Northern Territory. Certain strict conditions will be in place in order to protect the public, including the requirement for the privately practising midwife to notify the mother they do not have professional indemnity insurance to cover intrapartum - or birthing - care in the home. The Office of Parliamentary Council has drafted an amendment which I will now present. This bill addresses the issue of inconsistency between Northern Territory legislation and other jurisdictions. The act amended is the Health Practitioner Regulation (National Uniform Legislation) Act. The amendment will allow midwives to practise as private midwives in the Northern Territory without contravening section 129.1 of the National Law which states all health practitioners must have professional indemnity insurance. The amendment will give privately practising midwives in the Northern Territory the coverage from section 284 of the national law. The effect of section 284 of the national law was that midwives for a nominated transition period only, currently up to June 2015, can practice private midwifery. This is defined as providing services to a mother to give birth at home or another’s home without appropriate professional indemnity insurance in place and in their private capacity, provided that the practice occurs in a jurisdiction where immediately prior to operation of section 284:
See section 284(1)(a). The amendment will mean that the previous impediment to practice has been removed. Midwives practicing in a private capacity will be expected to access professional indemnity insurance for antenatal and postnatal care. They must inform a woman wishing to have a homebirth that they do not have professional indemnity insurance for intra-partum care so that the woman can make an informed choice. The woman will be required to give informed consent to proceed with the homebirth, knowing the midwife does not have professional indemnity insurance. The amendment includes the requirement for midwives who intend to practice privately to notify the Chief Health Officer of their intention to do so. This must be done for the first time and then annually on or before 31 May each year. The midwife must give the Chief Health Officer a written report in relation to each private midwifery case attended, in accordance with the requirements of the Northern Territory Perinatal Data Collection through the midwives collection. This must be done within 20 days of each case and not longer than 60 days. These measures, in collaboration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board Safety and Quality Framework for Midwives, will provide protection for the public accessing this birthing choice. Failure to comply with these requirements would be reportable to the Nursing and Midwifery Board, under Part A of the national law performance and conduct. Amending the Health Practitioner Regulation (National Uniform Legislation) Act will address these issues, providing certainty and clarification for practitioners and others who are covered by the act and provide further birthing choices for Northern Territory women. I commend this bill to the honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement. Debate adjourned. |