Mandatory Reporting: RACGP Moves to Clarify Rules and Ease GP Anxiety
28 Nov 2025
Despite improvements to regulations in recent years, the process is still widely misunderstood and often creates fear among doctors and their treating practitioners. To address this, the RACGP is working to simplify the guidance and reassure clinicians about when a report is actually required.
The rules outline when a health practitioner must notify the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) about another practitioner’s conduct or impairment. While these obligations apply nationally, significant differences exist. Western Australia completely exempts treating doctors from mandatory reporting, a model the RACGP has urged other states and territories to adopt.
In the rest of Australia, treating practitioners must only report a doctor-patient in situations involving serious public risk or sexual misconduct. According to medico-legal experts, however, this threshold is deliberately high, and most managed physical or mental health conditions do not meet it.
Avant legal and policy advisor Tracy Pickett said many doctors delay seeking help due to misplaced fears about repercussions, despite the law being designed to allow practitioners to access treatment safely.
She said treating doctors are expected to assess several factors, including the severity of the impairment, the patient’s willingness to seek care, and how effectively treatment controls the condition.
“In the vast majority of cases, support, time away from work or adjustments to duties are enough to protect both the doctor and their patients,” she said.
AHPRA also reassures practitioners that mandatory notifications are rarely required for doctor-patients who are engaging with treatment, taking leave when unwell or actively managing a health issue. Only when behaviour or impairment poses a “substantial risk of harm” should a report be considered.
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright highlighted the ongoing pressure GPs face—professionally and personally—and said systems must support doctors to seek healthcare without fear.
The college continues to advocate for national alignment, particularly pushing for treating-practitioner exemptions similar to those in Western Australia. Progress has been made in recent years, including reforms in 2020 that strengthened protections for practitioner-patients and AHPRA’s steps to make its complaints process less distressing. AHPRA recently reported a 94% decrease in immediate regulatory actions relating solely to a practitioner’s health between 2021–22 and 2023–24.
GPs seeking more information can access detailed guidance from AHPRA and resources provided by Avant on mandatory notification responsibilities.
Source
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) – Mandatory Reporting Guidance
RACGP / newsGP coverage and Avant medico-legal commentary
