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| Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. The purpose of this bill is to implement transitional provisions and consequential amendments to other Northern Territory legislation that are needed to fully implement the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme in the Northern Territory, and to maintain legislative functions that will remain the responsibility of the Northern Territory. Those functions are: the regulation of three health professions that will not immediately be covered by the national scheme; the regulation of pharmacy business and ownership which is outside the scope of the national scheme; and functions of the Health Professional Review Tribunal for health professions covered under the national scheme and the Northern Territory Health Practitioners Act. This bill focuses on addressing a range of legislative matters that will ensure the national scheme operates effectively and achieves its principal objective of protecting the public within the Northern Territory. The bill to adopt the national law to implement the national scheme in the Northern Territory was introduced in November 2009 and we will be considering it for passage by the Assembly in these sittings. The national scheme is set out in the Schedule to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009 (Qld) which became the national law when it was passed into an act by the Queensland parliament, and gained Royal Assent on 3 November 2009. The national scheme is to be fully implemented by all jurisdictions by 1 July 2010 as set out in the 2008 Intergovernmental Agreement for a National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the Health Professions, signed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) on 26 March 2008. Each jurisdiction is at various stages of introducing legislation to adopt the national law and to introduce the necessary transitional provisions and consequential amendments. The Australian government is also progressing amendments to its legislation in a Bill C to support implementation of the national scheme. However, the Australian government will not need to adopt or apply the national law. The National Partnership Agreement to Deliver a Seamless National Economy also commits jurisdictions to achieve key milestones in relation to the COAG agreement for the national scheme. To be eligible to receive its share of reward payments under the National Partnership Agreement, the Northern Territory must enact legislation to effect implementation of the national scheme by 1 July 2010. This bill is consistent with the National Partnership Agreement and the COAG agreement to enable the national scheme to be fully implemented on 1 July 2010. The proposals in this bill have been through a thorough public consultation process in the Northern Territory and are supported by local stakeholders. A preliminary regulation impact assessment has been completed by the Northern Territory Regulation Impact Committee. Based on the details of that analysis a certificate for exemption from the requirements for a full regulation impact statement has been issued. The national scheme will initially apply to 10 health professions, which are: the nine health professions registered in every state and territory – medical, nursing and midwifery, pharmacy, physiotherapy, dental (dentists, dental prosthetics, dental therapists, dental hygienists), psychology, optometry, osteopathy and chiropractic; and podiatry (registered in every jurisdiction except the Northern Territory, where there are currently insufficient numbers to make registration viable outside a national scheme). This bill will implement significant amendments to the Health Practitioners Act to remove references to these health professions, as they will now be covered by the national law from 1 July 2010. A large number of the amendments to the Health Practitioners Act are to remove terms relating to enrolled nurse; for example, where a provision applies to registration or enrolment. Registration will remain for three Northern Territory professions under the Health Practitioners Act, while the term ‘enrolment’ will no longer be relevant as it refers only to the nursing profession, and nursing will come under the national law. Provisions will be retained within the Health Practitioners Act for regulation of the remaining health professions which will continue to be the responsibility of the Northern Territory; namely, Aboriginal health workers, occupational therapists and radiographers. This bill proposes to repeal the Radiographers Act and transfer the continued regulation of radiographers to the Health Practitioners Act. This step will promote consistency amongst the health professions registered in the Northern Territory. This would synchronise registration cycles, implement best practice registration and complaints provisions for radiographers, and align their regulation with Aboriginal health workers and occupational therapists. A small number of provisions specific to radiographers would be transferred to the Health Practitioners Act. Local stakeholders, including the Radiographers Board and the Chief Health Officer, whose delegate is currently the mandated Chair of the Board, support the transfer. The national law provides for four more health professions to be included in the national scheme from 1 July 2012. They are: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice (known as Aboriginal Health Workers in the Northern Territory); Chinese medicine; medical radiation practice (including radiographers); and occupational therapy. When these professions join the national scheme on 1 July 2012, the Northern Territory will not be responsible for the regulation of any health professions. Any other professions seeking regulation in the future will be subject to the national scheme. A large number of consequential amendments to other Northern Territory legislation are proposed under the bill that are necessary to update terminology and references to professions that will be covered under the national law. These amendments have been discussed with representatives of the relevant agencies and will be further refined, where necessary. Essentially, these amendments change any reference in current Northern Territory legislation from the terms or definitions used in the Health Practitioners Act to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NT). This includes acts such as Health Practitioners Act, Evidence Act, Firearms Act, Health and Community Services Complaints Act, Interpretation Act, Meat Industries Act, Mental Health and Related Services Act, Poisons and Dangerous Drugs Act, Police Administration Act, Prisons (Correctional Services) Act, Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Act, Radiation Protection and Radiographers Amendment Act, and Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. This bill gives the Northern Territory the opportunity to participate in a major health workforce reform that is focused on providing quality health services and protecting the safety of the Northern Territory community and the Australian population. The Northern Territory is committed to upholding standards for health professions and protecting the safety and wellbeing of the community in the delivery of health services. The national scheme is a major step towards improving Australia’s health system. This bill references the national law and implements the necessary transitional provisions and consequential amendments to support full implementation of the national scheme in the Northern Territory by 1 July 2010. Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members, and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill. Debate adjourned. |