An independent review of the AHPRA system will attempt to streamline the complaints process, including the involvement of tribunals, by culling “unproductive” and “unnecessary” parts of the system. 

The executives of state, territory and federal health departments have jointly launched the so-called “Complexity Review”, which is scheduled to report before the end of the year. 

Its goal is to “identify areas of unproductive and unnecessary complexity and recommend changes to improve regulatory outcomes” in health practitioner regulation.

This may include cutting down the number of agencies or panels that make decisions on complaints about health practitioners, although the fact that NSW and Queensland have their own state regulators that work alongside AHPRA has been deemed outside the scope of the review.