Instead of separate nursing and midwifery regulatory authorities in each State and Territory in Australia, from 1 July 2010 all active members of the nursing and midwifery professions across Australia will have to meet the same requirements to be registered and, our registration will be recognised in all States and Territories. 

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (the Board) was established towards the end of 2009 under the Health Practitioner Regulation (administrative arrangements) Act, 2009. From 1 July 2010 the Board will take up its full range of functions under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009 (the Act) where it has been adopted by the States and Territories.

Currently, a number of States and Territories have already passed the necessary legislation in that State or Territory to enable this to happen.  For the others, the legislation is going through the parliamentary processes to enable this to occur before 1 July.

Go online and see what is happening.  The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s website is at:  www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au.  The Board has been developing registration standards, some of which have already been approved by the Ministerial Council (made up of all the health ministers from the Australian Government and the States and Territories).  Plus there is lots of other information about what is happening in this very busy space.

We do need to be aware of the implications for each of us, though, as things are changing. All registered nurses and midwives must comply with the registration standards when they take effect on 1 July 2010.  The registration standards that have been approved relate to:

• Continuing professional development (CPD) requirements
• Recency of practice requirements
• Professional indemnity requirements
• Assessment of criminal history
• English language skills
• Endorsement as a nurse practitioner
• Endorsement for scheduled medicines registered nurses (rural and isolated practice).

A registration standard for endorsement as an ‘eligible midwife’ is currently under development.

It is worth having a look at these registration standards as they may not be the same requirements that we have been used to in the past.  So, even if your current registration does not expire for some months after 1 July, there is an expectation that we will meet each of the standards.