Senate backs scrapping mandatory reporting of doctors seeking mental health help

Mandatory reporting is currently required in all jurisdictions except West Australia and is a major barrier to doctors seeking help for their mental health.  

AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid said the AMA welcomed the work of the Community Affairs References Committee on the administration of registration and notifications by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and related entities under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law. 

 “The AMA has been advocating to remove the current mandatory reporting requirements and align the approach with the proven Western Australian model,” Dr Khorshid said.  

“Australia’s medical practitioners desperately need legislation that does not actively discourage them from seeking medical treatment when they need it. Practitioners are also patients and should have equal rights to access confidential high-quality medical treatment as their own patients and all other Australians. 

“When doctors and medical students find themselves needing professional help when they are unwell, often caused by the stressful work they are doing, they can be deterred by national laws that compel their treating doctor to report them to authorities as ‘impaired’. 

“The AMA has gone to great lengths on this issue, we provided advice on this in 2018, including an address to health ministers at the COAG Health Council, this followed on from advice we provided in 2017.  

 “We have appeared at consultations, written numerous submissions, talked to governments over many years to highlight how this policy doesn’t work, and why it needs to change.  

 “The AMA has, however, been continuously disappointed with the response from health ministers to the issue of mandatory reporting laws for doctors treating other medical professionals for mental health issues,” Dr Khorshid said.  

Dr Khorshid said this advice has been echoed by medical defence organisations, other medical groups, and other health professions. Moving to the WA model was also a key recommendation of the 2015 Independent Review of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme.  

“In 2019 reforms raised the bar making it easier for doctors to seek the health they need however the AMA still believes that the law in WA model works best to protect patients and save doctors.” 

Dr Khorshid said the AMA also supports the work done by the Senate Committee in recognising the impact that the notification process has on doctors around Australia.  

 “AMA members often report just how hard they find the notifications process. The vast majority of them, describe it as the worst experience of their life, equal with the loss of a loved one or the loss of a marriage. It is the worst thing that they experience. 

 “We call on the Government to accept and implement the Committee’s recommendations that aim to improve this process, especially those that relate to the length of time doctors are subject to this impactful and fraught process,” Dr Khorshid said.