Update on Mandatory Reporting

After months of negotiation, health ministers have reached a provisional agreement to change mandatory reporting laws that force doctors to alert AHPRA when they treat impaired colleagues.

The medical profession has been pushing hard for a change to the laws, which were introduced in every state except WA in 2010.

They have been widely described as detrimental and even dangerous to doctors’ health because they discourage those in distress from seeking help.

Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt, who announced the new agreement at a meeting on doctors’ health in Melbourne a fortnight ago, said he was confident of a breakthrough — although ministers were still in talks about the final version of the reform.

He said the agreement would see mandatory reporting laws on treating doctors lifted, except in cases where they were treating doctors involved in sexual misconduct.

Source: Australian Doctor