Access an advance copy of Ahpra's revised Criminal History Registration Standard before it takes effect from mid-July.
Health ministers approved the revised Criminal History Registration Standard for all National Scheme professions following two public consultations and completion of a scheduled review.
Updates to the common standard include:
- A clear statement that a practitioner cannot have a criminal history incompatible with registration.
- A new factor that considers the impacts that racism and systemic inequity have on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and the implications of this on an individual’s criminal history.
- An explanation of the purpose and requirements of the criminal history standard and how a registered health practitioner or individual applicant may ‘meet’ the requirements of the standard.
- Separate considerations of the nature of the criminal offence and the gravity of the criminal offence, recognising that the criminal justice system may classify some offences as ‘minor’, but the nature of the offences may be directly relevant when considered in the context of healthcare.
- A reference to the guide to the application of the criminal history registration standard – which is additional explanatory material drafted to support the standard and has also been published today.
- Other minor improvements are editorial and structural and include clarifying scope (e.g. how it applies to students, that serious juvenile offending may be relevant, and how decriminalised offences are considered) and adding a definition section.
The revised standard will take effect 15 July 2026. You can access an advance copy here.
