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Conduct, conditions and hearings

Unprofessional Conduct: Understanding the Standard and Avoiding It

How the National Law Defines Unprofessional Conduct and What Boards Look For

  • 2 CPD hoursEstimated learning time
  • 15-question assessmentPass mark 80%
  • Online, self-pacedStart any time
  • CertificateFor your CPD records

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About this course

Unprofessional conduct is the finding most registered health practitioners will encounter if a concern about them goes further, and it is far broader than most people assume. You do not need to be dishonest, harm a patient or intend anything improper. Under the National Law, it is enough that your professional conduct fell below what the public or your professional peers would reasonably expect. A careless certificate, an undisclosed financial interest in a referral, a lapsed registration or a pattern of curt communication can all meet the definition.

This course takes the statutory definition apart, phrase by phrase, and shows how Boards, performance and professional standards panels and tribunals actually apply it. It works through each of the eight kinds of conduct the National Law expressly includes, from breaches of the Law and conditions to overservicing, referral rewards and pecuniary interests, and explains how the New South Wales and Queensland co-regulatory systems differ.

Most importantly, it gives you practical tools to stay well clear: a two-perspective test you can use in any grey area, disclosure scripts, documentation habits that show care was necessary, a compliance checklist and a personal conduct standard you can review each year as part of your CPD.

Who this course is for

  • Registered health practitioners in any of the regulated professions who want a clear, practical understanding of what unprofessional conduct means
  • Practice owners and managers who set targets, business arrangements and referral relationships
  • Practitioners with financial interests in clinics, products or services they recommend
  • Supervisors and senior clinicians who influence the conduct of junior colleagues
  • Practitioners who have received a caution or who want to understand the standard they are measured against
  • New graduates and practitioners new to Australia who want to understand the National Law's conduct categories
  • Anyone recording CPD on ethics, professionalism or regulatory compliance

What you’ll learn

  • Apply the legal definition

    Explain what unprofessional conduct means under the National Law, including its two reference groups and eight listed inclusions, and how it differs from performance concerns and professional misconduct.

  • Understand the decision-making

    Describe what evidence Boards and panels use, how codes and guidelines are treated as evidence, which outcomes are available and what appears on the public register.

  • Manage money and influence

    Identify overservicing, referral benefits, improper influence and undisclosed financial interests in your own practice and fix them.

  • Build protective habits

    Use a two-perspective test, a compliance checklist and a written personal conduct standard to keep your conduct clearly above the line.

Learning objectives

  • Explain the National Law definition of unprofessional conduct and its place among the categories of concern.
  • Describe the eight kinds of conduct the definition expressly includes and give an example of each.
  • Explain how Boards, panels and tribunals establish the expected standard, including the evidentiary role of codes and guidelines.
  • Distinguish unprofessional conduct from unsatisfactory professional performance and professional misconduct.
  • Describe the outcomes available and what is published on the public register.
  • Identify how the NSW and Queensland co-regulatory systems differ.
  • Recognise and correct overservicing, referral benefits, improper influence and undisclosed financial interests.
  • Apply practical habits, including a two-perspective test and a personal conduct standard, to avoid unprofessional conduct.

Scenarios covered

Practice situations you reason through, step by step, in the course.

  • The certificate written as a favour

    A GP certifies staff as unfit for work on a manager's phone call, because it is what everyone in town does. You will see why local habits do not lower the objective standard.

  • The lapsed registration

    A podiatrist practises for five weeks after his registration lapses during a house move. The course shows how contraventions of the National Law become conduct matters and what early, honest action looks like.

  • The referral fee dressed as marketing

    A dentist receives a monthly percentage of fees from a specialist practice he refers to. You will work through why paragraphs (f) and (g) catch both sides of such arrangements.

  • The clinic downstairs

    A physiotherapist part-owns the practice she recommends. You will learn what timely, specific and recorded disclosure looks like, with a script you can adapt.

  • The follow-up target

    A practice owner sets a minimum number of review appointments for every new patient. The course explains why this can be improper influence on other practitioners and overservicing at once.

  • The colleague moved to nights

    A senior clinician tries to punish a nurse who raised concerns. You will see how workplace retaliation is treated and why reprisals linked to notifications are now offences.

Course contents

6 sections, 23 lessons, then the final assessment.

  1. Section 1: The Legal Definition of Unprofessional Conduct4 lessons
    • 1.1 Why the National Law Defines Conduct Categories
    • 1.2 Reading the Definition Closely
    • 1.3 The Eight Listed Inclusions
    • 1.4 Variations in New South Wales and Queensland
  2. Section 2: How Boards, Panels and Tribunals Decide4 lessons
    • 2.1 The Evidence Decision-Makers Use
    • 2.2 Seriousness, Context and the Threshold
    • 2.3 Who Decides: Boards, Panels and Tribunals
    • 2.4 Outcomes and the Public Register
  3. Section 3: Breaches of the Law, Conditions and Convictions3 lessons
    • 3.1 Contraventions of the National Law
    • 3.2 Breaching Conditions and Undertakings
    • 3.3 Convictions and Conduct Outside Practice
  4. Section 4: Overservicing, Influence and Referral Benefits4 lessons
    • 4.1 Excessive or Unnecessary Services
    • 4.2 Influencing Another Practitioner
    • 4.3 Referral Inducements and Rewards
    • 4.4 Pecuniary Interests and Disclosure
  5. Section 5: Everyday Conduct That Leads to Findings4 lessons
    • 5.1 Communication, Respect and Courtesy
    • 5.2 Certificates, Reports and Records
    • 5.3 Boundaries, Privacy and Online Conduct
    • 5.4 Workplace Conduct and Dealing With the Regulator
  6. Section 6: Avoiding Unprofessional Conduct in Practice4 lessons
    • 6.1 A Daily Test: The Reasonable Peer and the Reasonable Patient
    • 6.2 High-Risk Moments and Warning Signs
    • 6.3 When You Realise You Have Fallen Short
    • 6.4 Your Personal Conduct Standard
  7. Final assessment and written reflection15 questions

Assessment and certificate

  1. Work through the course

    Study each section at your own pace, including the case illustrations and apply-it questions.

  2. Pass the assessment

    15 scenario-based questions. You need 12 correct (80%) to pass.

  3. Write your reflection

    A short written reflection on how the learning applies to your own practice.

  4. Download your certificate

    Shows your name, the course, the date and 2 CPD hours. Anyone can check it on our verification page.

What you keep for your CPD records

  • A certificate of completion recording approximately 2 CPD hours of learning
  • A written reflective account on your own conduct risks and the changes you will make
  • A ten-point conduct check and a personal conduct standard template for your CPD portfolio
  • Disclosure and response scripts you can adapt for your own practice

How certificates and CPD records workVerify a certificate

Primary sources

The course is built on these official documents. Check them for the current version.

  • Ahpra: Possible outcomes

    What cautions, undertakings, conditions, reprimands and other outcomes mean, and what is published on the register.

    ahpra.gov.au
  • Ahpra: Panel hearings

    How performance and professional standards panels are composed, what they can find and when they must refer to a tribunal.

    ahpra.gov.au
  • Ahpra: Tribunal hearings

    When matters go to a tribunal and the findings and outcomes tribunals can make.

    ahpra.gov.au
  • Ahpra: Court and tribunal decisions

    Published tribunal decisions and panel summaries showing how the definitions are applied.

    ahpra.gov.au

Questions about this course

What is unprofessional conduct under the National Law?

It is professional conduct of a lesser standard than might reasonably be expected of the practitioner by the public or by their professional peers. The definition expressly includes breaches of the National Law, breaches of conditions or undertakings, convictions that may affect suitability to practise, unnecessary services, improper influence on other practitioners, giving or receiving benefits for referrals, and referring or recommending where you have an undisclosed financial interest.

How is unprofessional conduct different from professional misconduct?

Professional misconduct is more serious. It involves conduct substantially below the expected standard, repeated unprofessional conduct that together reaches that level, or conduct inconsistent with being a fit and proper person. Only a tribunal can find professional misconduct, while a performance and professional standards panel can find unprofessional conduct.

Can I be found to have engaged in unprofessional conduct if no patient was harmed?

Yes. The National Scheme is protective, and the test is whether your conduct fell below the expected standard. Harm or risk of harm is relevant to how seriously the conduct is viewed, but it is not a requirement.

What happens after a finding of unprofessional conduct?

A panel can impose conditions, caution or reprimand you, and a tribunal has wider powers. Reprimands and conditions that restrict practice are published on the public register. Boards can also caution, accept undertakings or impose conditions after an investigation without a formal finding.

Is it unprofessional to have a financial interest in a service I recommend?

Not in itself. The National Law requires you to disclose the nature of the interest to the person before or at the time of the referral or recommendation. Disclosure does not make an unnecessary or unsuitable recommendation acceptable, and giving or receiving benefits for referrals is a separate concern.

Are the rules different in New South Wales or Queensland?

The standards in your Board's code apply nationally, but complaint handling differs. NSW uses a co-regulatory system with the Health Care Complaints Commission and professional councils and the term unsatisfactory professional conduct. In Queensland, complaints start with the Office of the Health Ombudsman. The course explains both.

Does Ahpra or a National Board accredit this course?

No. This course is not accredited by Ahpra, not approved by any National Board and not endorsed by any professional body. It is independent education. Record the actual time you spend against your CPD plan and decide whether it fits your learning needs. If you hold a Board condition or undertaking, confirm with Ahpra or your Board, and your lawyer or MDO, whether any course is acceptable.

How long does the course take?

It is designed for approximately 2 hours of learning, including reading, reflection points, a written reflective account and a 15-question assessment. Record the time you actually spend.

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