Skip to content
Cart4 items Notification help

Core course for every profession

Fitness to Practise: Health, Conduct and Performance

How Concerns Are Assessed and How to Protect Your Registration

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

Written for

Topics

About this course

Most practitioners only learn how fitness to practise works when a letter from Ahpra arrives. By then, the stress of the situation makes it hard to understand the difference between a caution and a condition, why a health condition is not the same as impairment, what "unsatisfactory professional performance" actually means, or why the Board seems so interested in what has happened since the incident rather than the incident itself.

This course explains the system calmly and in advance. You will learn how the National Law defines health, conduct and performance concerns, who makes decisions in each state and territory including the co-regulatory systems in New South Wales and Queensland, how notifications are assessed on risk, when immediate action can be taken, and what each outcome means for your working life. Each stream is worked through with Australian examples, and the course closes with the everyday habits and first steps that protect your patients and your registration.

It is written for every registered profession and is equally useful to practitioners who simply want to understand their obligations, to supervisors and managers who support colleagues through regulatory processes, and to practitioners who want a clear grounding before they seek specific advice about a concern of their own.

Who this course is for

  • Any registered health practitioner who wants to understand how the regulator assesses concerns
  • Practitioners with a health condition who want to understand how impairment is defined and how to protect their registration
  • Supervisors, managers and clinical leads who support colleagues through notifications
  • Practitioners in solo or isolated practice who want to recognise performance risk factors
  • Early-career practitioners building professional habits from the start
  • Practitioners who have received a notification and want context alongside advice from their defence organisation

What you’ll learn

  • Understand the system

    Explain the protective purpose of the National Scheme, the three streams of concern, and the roles of Boards, panels, tribunals and co-regulatory bodies.

  • Know what triggers action

    Describe risk-based assessment, the threshold for immediate action and the full range of outcomes from no further action to cancellation.

  • Recognise your own risks

    Identify the health, conduct and performance risk factors in your own practice, including isolation, scope drift, fatigue and honesty pressures.

  • Protect your registration

    Adopt everyday habits and know the first steps to take, with advice, if a concern is ever raised about you.

Learning objectives

  • Explain the protective purpose of the National Scheme and the paramountcy of public protection.
  • Distinguish health, conduct and performance concerns using the National Law definitions.
  • Identify decision-makers, including panels, tribunals and co-regulatory bodies.
  • Describe how notifications are assessed and when immediate action may be taken.
  • Explain the range of regulatory outcomes and their practical effects.
  • Recognise risk factors for health, conduct and performance concerns in your own practice.
  • Adopt habits and first steps that protect patients and your registration.

Scenarios covered

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

  • The unrelated charge

    A physiotherapist is charged with a driving offence carrying a possible prison term. You will learn why it must be notified within seven days.

  • Stable bipolar disorder

    A doctor with a well-managed condition wonders whether she is impaired. You will apply the legal definition and see why seeking care protects registration.

  • Errors on no sleep

    A pharmacist makes several dispensing errors while caring for a sick parent. You will see how health, workload and performance interact.

  • Proposed immediate action

    A nurse receives notice that the Board proposes to restrict her access to medicines. You will work through what to do in the short submission window.

  • The late note

    A dentist adds a misleading note to a record after a complaint. You will see why the cover-up is often worse than the original problem.

  • The off-duty post

    A paramedic's abusive social media comments lead to a notification. You will explore when conduct outside practice matters.

Course contents

6 sections, 23 lessons, then the final assessment.

  1. Section 1: What Fitness to Practise Means in the National Scheme3 lessons
    • 1.1 A Protective, Not Punitive, System
    • 1.2 Health, Conduct and Performance
    • 1.3 Who Decides
  2. Section 2: How Concerns Are Assessed5 lessons
    • 2.1 Where Concerns Come From
    • 2.2 Risk-Based Assessment
    • 2.3 Immediate Action
    • 2.4 The Range of Outcomes
    • 2.5 Unfounded and Vexatious Notifications
  3. Section 3: Health Concerns3 lessons
    • 3.1 Health Is Not the Same as Impairment
    • 3.2 Health Assessments, Panels and Conditions
    • 3.3 Looking After Your Health and Seeking Support
  4. Section 4: Conduct Concerns4 lessons
    • 4.1 The Spectrum of Conduct
    • 4.2 Conduct Outside Practice
    • 4.3 Honesty and Integrity
    • 4.4 Complying With Conditions and Dealing With the Regulator
  5. Section 5: Performance Concerns4 lessons
    • 5.1 Unsatisfactory Professional Performance
    • 5.2 Performance Assessments and Panels
    • 5.3 Risk Factors for Performance Problems
    • 5.4 System Factors and Individual Accountability
  6. Section 6: Protecting Your Registration4 lessons
    • 6.1 What Regulatory Outcomes Mean in Practice
    • 6.2 Everyday Habits That Protect Your Registration
    • 6.3 If a Concern Is Raised About You
    • 6.4 Supporting a Colleague Through a Fitness to Practise Process
  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
  • Your written reflective account on the risks in your own practice and the habits you will adopt
  • A quick-reference guide to the health, conduct and performance streams
  • A personal checklist of first steps if a concern is raised, and a list of the events you must notify to your Board within seven days

How certificates and CPD records workVerify a certificate

Primary sources

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

Questions about this course

Does Ahpra accredit or approve this course?

No. This is independent education and it is not accredited, not approved and not endorsed by Ahpra, any National Board or any professional body. You decide whether it fits your CPD plan under your Board's standard and record the actual time you spend.

Will this course satisfy a condition or undertaking?

Completing it does not by itself satisfy any condition, undertaking or Board requirement. If you are subject to one, confirm with Ahpra or your Board, and your lawyer or medical defence organisation, whether a course is acceptable before you enrol.

Is having a mental health condition a fitness to practise issue?

Not in itself. The National Law is concerned with impairment, meaning a condition that detrimentally affects, or is likely to affect, your capacity to practise. Most practitioners with health conditions practise safely by managing them, and seeking care is encouraged.

What is the difference between unprofessional conduct and professional misconduct?

Unprofessional conduct is conduct below the standard reasonably expected by the public or peers. Professional misconduct is substantially below that standard, a pattern that together is substantially below it, or conduct inconsistent with being a fit and proper person. Only a tribunal can find professional misconduct.

Is this course about how to respond to a notification?

It explains the system and the first steps, but detailed guidance on writing a response and managing an investigation is covered in a separate course. Always seek advice from your defence organisation or insurer before responding.

Does it apply in New South Wales and Queensland?

Yes. The concepts of health, conduct and performance apply everywhere, and the course explains the co-regulatory arrangements in New South Wales and Queensland, where complaints are handled differently.

What happens to most notifications?

Most notifications are assessed and closed without regulatory action, often after the practitioner provides a short response. Ahpra takes a risk-based approach, so what matters most is whether there is an ongoing risk to the public. The course explains the factors that increase or reduce concern and why insight and early action matter.

How long does it take?

About 2 hours including reading, scenarios, a written reflection and a 15-question scenario-based assessment with an 80% pass mark.

Save with the program that includes this course