For students
Student years are a time to build solid foundations – not just in clinical knowledge but in delivering safe, ethical, patient-centred care and adopting good self-care.
As health regulators, our most important concern is protecting public safety. An important part of that is helping practitioners and students understand how to practise safely and ethically.
This keeps the health system accountable and maintains trust in the health professions, which benefits everyone.
Regulation for students – how it works in NSW
It’s compulsory for students in approved study programs for all registered health professions* to be registered and meet professional standards. Your education provider organises your registration and it’s free.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) oversees student and practitioner registration on behalf of the National Boards, who set professional practice standards and accredit training providers.
In NSW, the job of regulating the 15 registered health professions and their students sits with the health professional councils and the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC). We work closely together and we both handle complaints about practitioners and students. But we have different legal powers and responsibilities. Learn more about how the regulators work together
*Psychology, medical and pharmacy students have a different pathway to registration – they apply for provisional registration after completing their first 4 years of study.
How we work with you if there's a concern
It’s reassuring to know that the number of complaints against students is very low, although they do occur.
The best way to reduce your risk of a complaint is to be across policies and guidance relevant to your registration, know and follow your code of conduct and your legal obligations, and look after your health and wellbeing.
If someone raises a concern about your conduct or health and you’re studying in NSW, either your Council or the HCCC will manage it. Your education provider will handle any complaint about your performance.
It’s important to remember that Councils’ role is to protect the public, not to punish you.
We’ll look carefully at any complaint, and if we think there are changes you need to make, we’ll explain them clearly. We’ll work with you respectfully to help you meet the requirements we set.
We know it can be distressing to have a complaint made about you, and there are places you can go for support.
Common concerns
The complaints we receive about students often involve:
communication issues, like lacking empathy when speaking to a patient
lack of professionalism, such as disclosing confidential patient information
illicit drug use and self-administering prescription drugs
alcohol consumption while working with patients
allegations of family violence.
Misrepresentation on social media is also a common pitfall. An example would be stating you are a qualified practitioner when you haven’t qualified yet. Posting unprofessional comments that could lower public confidence in your profession can also lead to complaints.
Getting proactive can help you avoid a complaint. Becoming familiar with Ahpra’s guidance on how to meet your legal obligations while communicating on social media is good first step.
Complaints and public safety
Anyone can make a complaint to us about the conduct or health of a student. Under mandatory reporting laws, education providers and practitioners must notify us if a student in clinical training has an impairment or behaves in a way that could significantly impact public safety.
It’s important to know that having a health condition, including a mental health condition, doesn’t mean you will be referred to a Council. An appropriately managed health condition is unlikely to meet the legal definition of impairment.
Our processes for managing complaints about students and practitioners are similar. We do take complaints about students seriously. If we think there is an immediate risk to public safety, we have legal powers to take immediate interim action and place conditions on your registration.
If the complaint is very serious, the HCCC will consider whether to investigate or prosecute.
Students, like practitioners, have legal obligations to notify Ahpra or their National Board if they are charged with an offence that carries a penalty of 12 months imprisonment or more.
Positive beginnings
As the future bedrock of our health system, you have an important journey ahead. Taking care of yourself, understanding your scope of practice, being open to lifelong learning, putting patients first, and having good support networks around you will set you up for a rewarding career.