Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) is a cross-jurisdictional statutory authority responsible for the regulation of 16 common health professions in Australia. While legislated responsibility for regulation sits with 15 independent, profession-specific National Boards (Medical Board of Australia, etc.), Ahpra provides day-to-day services such as managing the registration of health practitioners and notifications (complaints) against practitioners on behalf of the National Boards. Ahpra and the National Board's primary purpose is to protect the health and safety of the Australian public through the registration and regulation of health practitioners, including delegating accreditation of education programs and maintaining the National Register of Health Practitioners.

According to a 2011 publication, "Australia [is] the first country in the world to have a national registration and accreditation scheme regulating health practitioners."

At the end of June 2024, there were 920,535 Ahpra-registered health practitioners, representing approximately 3.2% of the Australian population. In the 2023-24 financial year, Ahpra responded to 11,200 notifications about health practitioners, of which 2% resulted in practitioner de-registration and 10.9% resulted in other regulatory action.