Since November 2023, MAPW has been urging the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) to swiftly resolve to threats and vexatious claims against health practitioners engaged in advocacy for Gaza, and to urge Ahpra to give guidance, clarification and reassurance about health practitioners’ rights and responsibilities when conducting health advocacy.
MAPW representatives met with Ahpra officials in January 2024, and in a follow-up letter expressed our disappointment at Ahpra’s failure, in that meeting, to undertake any actions such as supplementing or annotating the existing code of conduct in order to provide clear guidance for health practitioners on the right to advocate for the protection of healthcare. We were also disappointed that Ahpra had deemed as confidential its response to a demand for information made by Senator Anne Ruston in Senate Estimates on 26 October 2023. (This information was partially provided in March 2024.)
In February 2024, MAPW welcomed news that Ahpra had updated social media guidelines to clarify that “Advocating for a peaceful resolution of a war or conflict”, “Urging for protection of health workers and health facilities who may be caught in a conflict or war” and “Calling for accuracy, truth and impartiality in reporting on a conflict or war” on social media would be considered “activities… unlikely to warrant investigation.”
However we remained concerned that vexatious notifications were continuing – sometimes as a result of coordinated efforts to monitor and report health practitioners – with no action from Ahpra to deter or censure malicious reports. At least one account on Instagram monitors and catalogues health practitioners’ social media activity, publishes names and workplaces, and encourages followers to harass health practitioners and to report them to their employers and to Ahpra. In a February letter to Ahpra, we also raised concerns about the definition of anti-semitism applied by Ahpra, and the support provided to practitioners facing investigation,
In follow-up letters in March and May 2024, we continued to push for information about Ahpra’s actions to deter and punish vexatious notifications – as it is empowered to do – and to encourage Ahpra to make a public position statement.
We continue to receive reports of vexatious notifications against practitioners advocating for Gaza and we will continue to raise the issue with Ahpra.
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