National registration legislative proposals need more work and more time.

The release for public consultation of the draft Health Practitioner Regulation National Law 2009 represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure best practice in medical regulation. The draft law fails to build on the best aspects of existing state and territory legislation, particularly in regard to how allegations of misconduct, poor performance or impairment are to be handled. If adopted, this legislation has the potential to set back important improvements to professional regulation that have been implemented in Australia in the past 20 years. There are also legitimate concerns about mandatory reporting provisions and the likely increased cost of regulation. More time and more work are needed to get this new scheme right.