{"id":281846,"date":"2025-06-08T16:47:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T16:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/in-conversation-with-ahpra-ceo-justin-untersteiner\/"},"modified":"2025-06-08T16:47:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T16:47:55","slug":"in-conversation-with-ahpra-ceo-justin-untersteiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=281846","title":{"rendered":"In Conversation with Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n\"In<\/p>\n

Hospital + Healthcare <\/em>speaks with Justin Untersteiner, the new Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency<\/a> CEO. Three months into the role, already Untersteiner has grand plans for Ahpra \u2014 but what specific regulatory developments can we expect under his leadership?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Untersteiner, the former Australian Financial Complaints Authority<\/a> COO, brings decades of regulatory experience to his current role as Ahpra CEO, and knows a thing or two about industry oversight \u2014 but says there is no sector where it matters more than in health.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve travelled the world and seen what it looks like when a health system isn\u2019t working as it should. There aren\u2019t many \u2014 if any \u2014 essential services that are as important. So I feel privileged to now be at the helm of a regulator in this industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Succeeding a 15-year tenure from Ahpra\u2019s former \u2014 and inaugural \u2014 CEO, Martin Fletcher, Untersteiner also said his appointment was a \u201cwonderful opportunity\u201d to refresh practices.<\/p>\n

While Ahpra\u2019s primary responsibility remains public safety, Untersteiner wants to ensure a better experience for all people who deal with Ahpra, including practitioners.<\/p>\n

But what might this mean in practice, and what specific regulatory developments could we expect under his leadership?<\/p>\n

A more equitable notification process<\/h4>\n

Untersteiner has been listening and taking notes from his community \u2014 and while the feedback has mostly been positive, he understands the need for a faster, more equitable notification process.<\/p>\n

During a notification process, some practitioners are forced to pause their practice and can incur significant reputational damage, even if a court outcome ends up in their favour.<\/p>\n

Untersteiner says drawn out reviews can harm wellbeing on both sides, and are not always justified. He also says they erode community trust in the regulator.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been getting out there and meeting with many people, to understand what\u2019s working, what\u2019s not, and where there\u2019s opportunity. From doing so, I understand the impact the notifications process can have \u2014 and it\u2019s something I am looking to address as soon as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a practitioner is being dragged through an extended notification process, it can really impact their mental health and devastate their reputation. It can also be harmful to the notifier, if they have a serious issue at hand and they\u2019re not seeing an outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see how this might lead to confidence issues with the regulator. So we want to shorten the process and ensure it is carried out with empathy towards all parties involved,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Empathy in the notification process can take many forms, but at a minimum should involve transparency, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to ensure high levels of communication with all people involved. Ultimately, people need to feel heard when bringing forward their views, experiences and issues, and have a strong sense of procedural fairness at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proactive regulation<\/h4>\n

Untersteiner is also looking to build a more proactive regulatory posture, in which action invariably precedes harm.<\/p>\n

He said Ahpra will be keeping a close eye on emerging healthcare practices and business models that have the potential to cause patient harm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be right on the front end \u2014 leading across all regulators \u2014 to identify these practices and models.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs other industry peers before me have said, it\u2019s better to build fences at the top of the cliff than place ambulances at the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proactively stomping out institutional racism is also high on his priority list, with statistics painting a grim picture of cultural safety in health care, particularly for First Nations people.<\/p>\n

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 22% of First Nations adults claim to have experienced racial discrimination from a doctor, nurse or medical staff member \u2014 either themselves or with a family member.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something that should not be happening in this day and age, and we will be putting in the necessary regulatory rigour to tackle the issue, with the urgency it deserves,\u201d Untersteiner said.<\/p>\n

Measures to address workforce shortages<\/h4>\n

In a similar vein, Ahpra is also seeking to address the shortage of healthcare practitioners in rural, regional and remote areas, as well as major cities.<\/p>\n

He acknowledges the industry\u2019s existing response, including expedited practitioner pathways, claiming they have made a \u201creally positive impact\u201d. However, he says more is needed to drive improvements in this space.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot more to be done. It\u2019s a complex area and we are very keen to partner with the jurisdictions, government and practitioners to look for further solutions, and ensure we\u2019re making an impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m blessed to have a really committed team \u2014 many of whom are practitioners themselves \u2014 that genuinely cares about the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

A promising start<\/h4>\n

In our conversation, Untersteiner\u2019s position seemed to spell promising news for both patients and practitioners, who will be treated with greater empathy throughout their Ahpra dealings \u2014 and with the proactive regulatory posture, it seems likely these dealings will dwindle in number.<\/p>\n

*Amy Sarcevic is a freelance science and technical writer who regularly writes for <\/em>Hospital + Healthcare. She has an academic background in psychology.<\/em><\/h8><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hospital + Healthcare speaks with Justin Untersteiner, the new Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency CEO. Three months into the role, already Untersteiner has grand plans for Ahpra \u2014 but what specific regulatory developments can we expect under his leadership? Untersteiner, the former Australian Financial Complaints Authority COO, brings decades of regulatory experience to his current […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":281847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[111247,111248,111249,111246,11527,12822,111245,16796,111244,111250],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-281846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ahpra","tag-ahpra-ceo","tag-australian-financial-complaints-authority","tag-australian-health-practitioner-regulation-agency","tag-ceo","tag-conversation","tag-in-conversation","tag-justin","tag-justin-untersteiner","tag-untersteiner"],"yoast_head":"\nIn Conversation with Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=281846\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Conversation with Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hospital + Healthcare speaks with Justin Untersteiner, the new Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency CEO. 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