Dear Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency,

I request a summary of costs incurred by AHPRA or its boards for dealing with complaints about practitioners, specifically for matters that get to the stage of Health or Performance assessments, Panel hearings, or Tribunal hearings, and specifically the costs incurred by those processes, over a recent reporting period (ie 23/24 or 24/25)

For example, legal costs in presenting a matter, remuneration for assessors, panel or tribunal members, costs for facilities in undertaking a hearing.

Please provide the requested information separated by profession, state and stage of matter.

Data could be given as an average, or total costs for the financial year. While seperated costs ( eg staffing, legal costs, facilities) would be appreciated, it is not required.

If the provision of this is overly onerous for all the sub boards, limiting it to Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Practitioners, and Dental would be acceptable

Yours faithfully,

Clancy

Dear AHPRA FOI Team,

Thank you for your notice under section 24AB of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) (the Act) regarding my request FOI54126.

I understand that my original request needed to be clearer in identifying specific documents, and I am revising it accordingly.

In line with section 15(2)(b) of the Act, which requires information reasonably necessary to identify documents, and acknowledging that the Act concerns access to documents, I wish to revise my request to seek access to the following:

1. Documents Containing Cost Records for Complaint Management Processes:
I request access to documents that contain records of costs incurred by AHPRA or its boards for dealing with complaints about practitioners, specifically for matters that progressed to Health or Performance assessments, Panel hearings, or Tribunal hearings.
• Reporting Period: These documents should cover the financial years 2023/24 and/or 2024/25.

• Cost Categories (Overall Aggregated Costs):
I am seeking documents that contain overall, consolidated records of the total costs incurred in these areas for the specified reporting period, rather than individual, itemised costs for each specific hearing or assessment. This includes documents detailing the total for the financial years 2023/24 and/or 2024/25, for but is not limited to:

◦ Legal costs in presenting a matter: Documents summarizing total expenditure on legal work (e.g., external legal services, internal legal staff time) related to Health/Performance assessments, Panel hearings, or Tribunal hearings. "Presenting a matter" refers to the actions undertaken by AHPRA's legal representatives or internal legal staff in relation to these processes.

◦ Remuneration for assessors, panel or tribunal members: Documents summarizing total remuneration paid to individuals serving as assessors, panel members, or tribunal members for their involvement in these specific stages.

◦ Costs for facilities in undertaking a hearing: Documents summarizing total expenditure on facility hire, equipment, or other direct facility costs for conducting Panel or Tribunal hearings.

• As stated in my original request and point 2 of this revision, data provided as averages or total costs for the financial year is acceptable, and while separated costs by specific categories (e.g., staffing, legal costs, facilities) would be appreciated, it is not strictly required if providing it in that granular detail is overly onerous.

2. Data Separation and Format:
Where such documents exist, I request them to be provided in a manner that allows for the separation of costs by profession (e.g., Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Practitioners, Dental) and state, where such distinctions are recorded within the documents.

I reiterate that data provided as averages or total costs for the financial year would be acceptable. While separated costs by specific categories (e.g., staffing, legal costs, facilities) would be appreciated for clarity, it is not strictly required if providing it in that granular detail is overly onerous.

3. Scope Limitation (if necessary):
If providing these documents for all sub-boards proves to be overly onerous (constituting a practical refusal reason under section 24AA(1)(a) of the Act), I would be willing to limit the request to the professions of Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Practitioners, and Dental.

4. Duty to Assist:
I draw your attention to section 17(1) of the Act, which provides that if the desired information is not available in discrete written form but can be produced using computer equipment to retrieve or collate stored information, the agency should deal with the request as if it were a request for access to such a document.

I look forward to working with you to process this revised request.

Yours sincerely,
Clancy