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Independent ethics and professionalism CPD for Australian health practitioners

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Professions

Ethics and professionalism courses by profession

Every profession regulated under the National Law has its own Board, its own CPD standard and its own pressure points. Start with the page written for yours.

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Key facts

  • Written for the National SchemePlain-English, Australian context
  • Certificate on completionKeep it with your CPD records
  • Self-paced onlineStudy around clinical work

Why your profession matters when choosing a course

All registered health practitioners in Australia work under the same Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, and many principles, such as honesty, consent, confidentiality and respect, are common to every profession. But the detail differs in ways that matter. Each profession is regulated by its own National Board, which sets its own registration standards for CPD and recency of practice, and the documents your conduct is measured against are not the same for everyone.

Twelve National Boards share a single Code of conduct, which came into effect on 29 June 2022. The Medical Board has its own code, Good medical practice. The Nursing and Midwifery Board has separate codes of conduct for nurses and for midwives. The Psychology Board has its own Code of conduct, in effect from 1 December 2025. CPD requirements range from 20 hours a year for nurses and midwives to 50 hours a year for doctors and 60 hours over a three-year cycle for dental practitioners.

The situations that lead to complaints also differ. A paramedic's hardest decisions often involve refusals of care and drug registers; a dental practitioner's may involve scope, sterilisation and treatment plans shaped by targets; a psychologist's often involve dual relationships in small communities. Each profession page below brings together the right Board documents, the CPD rules and the courses that fit.

Choose your profession

Each page sets out your Board's standards, CPD and recency requirements, common concern areas, scenarios and the courses we recommend.

  • Doctors

    Medical Board of Australia. Good medical practice applied to certificates, family prescribing, confidentiality, conflicts of interest and Medicare billing, with the Board's 50-hour CPD year in mind.

  • Nurses and midwives

    Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. The NMBA's own codes of conduct, the ICN and ICM codes of ethics, standards for practice and the decision-making framework, applied to medicines, delegation and recency.

  • Dental practitioners

    Dental Board of Australia. For all five divisions: scope of practice, infection prevention and control, honest records, fees and financial consent, and advertising under commercial pressure.

  • Pharmacists

    Pharmacy Board of Australia. Refusing unsafe supply, conscientious objection, sales targets, closed-loop prescriptions and honest advice at the counter.

  • Psychologists

    Psychology Board of Australia. The Board's own Code of conduct, in effect from 1 December 2025, applied to dual relationships, gifts, former clients, social media and small-town practice.

  • Physiotherapists

    Physiotherapy Board of Australia. The shared Code and the 2024 practice thresholds applied to scope, consent, boundaries, records, reports and advertising.

  • Occupational therapists

    Occupational Therapy Board of Australia. NDIS reports, dignity of risk, consent, conflicts of interest, restrictive practices and boundaries on home visits.

  • Podiatrists

    Podiatry Board of Australia. Infection control and records guidance, consent for nail surgery, orthoses billing and the shared Code.

  • Optometrists

    Optometry Board of Australia. Red-flag referrals, scheduled medicines, prescription release, sales targets and conflicts of interest.

  • Chiropractors

    Chiropractic Board of Australia. Paediatric care, X-ray justification, treatment plans, testimonial-free advertising, consent and boundaries.

  • Osteopaths

    Osteopathy Board of Australia. Valid consent for manipulation, draping and boundaries, paediatric care, advertising rules and records.

  • Chinese medicine practitioners

    Chinese Medicine Board of Australia. Herbal medicine safety, acupuncture, consent, advertising and records, for practitioners, acupuncturists and dispensers.

  • Medical radiation practitioners

    Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia. Consent, communicating findings, privacy and radiation safety for radiographers, radiation therapists and nuclear medicine technologists.

  • Paramedics

    Paramedicine Board of Australia. Refusals of care, capacity, Schedule 8 registers and wastage, private-work drug authorities and patient care records.

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia. Treating kin, gifts, scope, medicines law and confidentiality in community-controlled and remote clinics.

How to choose the right courses

  1. Start with your profession course

    Most professions have a dedicated ethics and professionalism course written for their Board's code and standards. Doctors, nurses and midwives, dental practitioners and pharmacists have two: one on ethics and one on professional standards.

  2. Add the topics your setting raises

    Look at what you actually do. Prescribers should consider the medicines courses; anyone who advertises should read the advertising course; practitioners doing intimate or close-contact care should consider the boundaries and chaperone courses.

  3. Match a concern if you have one

    If a specific issue has been raised, such as records, boundaries or communication, the concern pages group the most relevant courses and explain how the National Law treats that area.

  4. Consider a program for structured learning

    Programs combine related courses in a logical order. They suit practitioners who want depth on a theme or who need to show a structured approach to learning after a notification.

  5. Record what you actually do

    Log the time you genuinely spend and keep your certificate and reflection together. Your Board's CPD standard, or your CPD home for doctors, decides how activities count.

Not sure which courses fit?

The course finder asks three questions, about your profession, your situation and what concerns you, and suggests a short list of courses or a program.

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A note on how our courses relate to your Board

Practitioner Ethics is an independent education provider. We are not affiliated with Ahpra or any National Board, and our courses are not accredited by Ahpra or any Board. National Boards do not run an accreditation scheme for individual CPD courses. Our courses are written to help you understand and apply your Board's standards, and you decide whether each one meets a learning need in your CPD plan. If you are dealing with a notification, read our notification guide and speak to your indemnity insurer or lawyer before relying on any course.

Related courses

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Calm first steps: who to call first, what not to do and where education fits in your response.

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Find the right course

Three quick questions to a short list of courses for your profession and situation.

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