Complaints drop but referrals for misconduct reach 12-year high

There were 7039 Ahpra notifications against medical practitioners in 2025/26, down from 7562 in the previous year, data shows.

Overall, for all health professions, there were 12,698 Ahpra notifications nationally, down from 13,327 the previous year.

When including complaints from other regulators, including the Office of the Health Ombudsman (OHO) and Health Professional Councils Authority (HPCA), there a small increase in the number of complaints against medical practitioners – rising from 12,744 to 12,994 (2%)

All professions also saw a small increase from 22,658 in 2024/25 to 23,327 in 2025/26 – or 3%.

There was also an increase in the number of practitioners with notifications against them, rising 3% from 16,209 in 2024/25 to 16,717 in 2025/27.

Complaints about misconduct

Total complaints might be down, but notifications relating to misconduct increased.

The percentage of notifications where the primary concern related to a practitioner’s behaviour increased to 9.8% this year, from 6.9% last year, according to the report.

In the most serious matters, 295 practitioners were referred to a tribunal over concerns about their professional conduct, clinical performance and other issues – 53.6% more than the previous year and the most since 2013/14.

About 46% of all notifications received were categorised as lower risk and managed by an early determination process.

Ahpra completed 13,171 notifications last year – more than any year since the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme commenced in 2010, it said.

Ahpra chief executive Justin Untersteiner said a major focus over the past year was to ensure the National Scheme remains effective, trusted and fit for purpose.

“This year we completed more notifications than at any time in the National Scheme’s history, while reducing the number of long-running matters,” he said.

“That means earlier answers for patients and practitioners, and a regulatory system better able to focus on the risks that can cause the greatest harm.

“Healthcare is changing. This means regulation must become more preventive, more transparent and better able to identify risk before harm occurs.”

Most notifications (64%) were closed within six months of their receipt. The number of matters remaining open 12 months or more decreased by 21.2%.

The numbers in WA

Of the total number of notifications against medical practitioners, 1014 were from WA – the second highest number of Ahrpa complaints across all states and territories, behind only Victoria with 3100 notifications.

While WA has recorded one of the highest numbers of notifications, that number has reduced marginally since last year when 1082 notifications were recorded, a 6% drop.

In other states and territories some notifications are handled by other organisations, including the OHO and HPCA. A state-by-state breakdown of this data was not included in the report,

An expanding workforce

Across the nation the healthcare workforce grew by 4.1% to 999,105 practitioners in the last year.

There were 70,832 first-time registrants, including more than 23,000 internationally qualified practitioners, and more than 185,000 students were studying to become health practitioners.

Ahpra introduced new expedited pathways for international practitioners in a range of professions.

‘As we close in on the significant milestone of one million registered health practitioners, we will continue to streamline our registration systems and processes and ensuring a safe and sustainable workforce,’ Mr Untersteiner said.