Stephanie McLean Doctors, lawyers, politicians, and other advocates, from all around Australia gathered in Sydney to challenge AHPRA’s unchecked power, calling out a broken system that punishes health care practitioners (HCPs) while failing to protect patients.
The Australian medical industry is at a critical crossroads. In a landmark event titled “The Misdeeds of AHPRA”, healthcare professionals, legal experts, policymakers, whistleblowers, and patient advocates came together to address growing concerns about the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
Convened by Dr Niro Sivathasan under the Australian Medical Professionals’ Society (AMPS), with support from the Australian Doctors’ Federation (ADF) and endorsement from MPs and senators across the political spectrum, the conference served as a powerful platform demanding accountability and transparency from the regulator.
The conference explored a wide range of topics, exposing systemic failures within Australia’s current regulatory framework for health practitioners. Presentations ranged from personal stories of injustice and loss to sharp critiques of AHPRA’s tactics, bureaucracy, and perceived lack of accountability. Speakers addressed how government entities have attempted to silence whistleblowers, the dangers of politicised regulation, and the blurred lines between evidence-based and marketing-driven medicine. Titles such as “Unaccountable Authority,” “Guilty Until Proven Innocent,” and “AHPRA: Asset or Liability” reflected a shared concern that the current system is not only failing to protect the public but actively harming clinicians through flawed processes, fear-based oversight, and unchecked power.
This sentiment was echoed throughout the day, as speaker after speaker described a system that has shifted away from protecting public safety and toward enforcing bureaucracy for its own sake, often at the expense of logic, clinical autonomy, and practitioners’ mental health. The overarching message was clear, AHPRA’s processes are no longer fit for purpose, and in many cases, they’re actively damaging the very people the system is meant to support.
Among the most compelling voices was Dr Peter Callan, former President of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and a specialist plastic surgeon with over 30 years of experience. “I now work in terror of the regulator,” he admitted, highlighting the emotional burden many clinicians now carry. He described an environment fuelled by suspicion, vague language, and shifting compliance standards, one that leaves even the most experienced practitioners exposed, regardless of whether any harm has occurred.
Addressing the stigma surrounding aesthetic medicine, Callan spoke candidly. “To many, we’re seen as pariahs of the industry. It’s an easy place for the regulator to assert power, because, frankly, we’re disliked.” Despite this perception, he emphasised the essential role aesthetic practitioners play in improving quality of life. “We are the canary in the coal mine,” he warned. “For the first time, the regulator is prosecuting, suspending, and imposing conditions on practitioners without any patient harm, or even a formal complaint.”
The stories shared throughout the day were nothing short of staggering. Clinicians spoke of being investigated for using everyday language in patient communications, while others faced website suspensions over minor administrative errors. In some cases, practitioners were instructed to complete education programs that didn’t yet exist, programs they were expected to create themselves, then asked to submit reflective essays as proof of compliance.
One speaker hypothesised that, in many cases, AHPRA’s process had effectively become the punishment. Investigations extended for months, sometimes years, with minimal transparency, no clear resolution pathway, and a troubling lack of accountability. Rather than safeguarding the system, these drawn-out processes created ongoing uncertainty, emotional strain, and professional vulnerability. For many clinicians, the ordeal itself caused more damage than the original concern ever could.
Even more confronting were the accounts of lives irreversibly altered by AHPRA’s actions. One of the most powerful moments came from the wife of the late Dr Yen-Yung Yap, a respected obstetrician and gynaecologist, who bravely spoke about her husband’s death by suicide, a tragedy she directly linked to the psychological toll of an unforgiving regulatory process that, in the end, found no fault. Despite her repeated and desperate pleas for support, AHPRA offered neither emotional assistance nor meaningful accountability. Her testimony was met with a standing ovation, a moment that captured both the room’s shared grief and a collective demand for systemic change.
Criticism at the conference wasn’t limited to emotion, it was also grounded in law. Legal experts, including lawyer Katie Ashby-Kohen, raised serious concerns about due process and the absence of independent oversight within AHPRA’s framework. Others questioned the escalating costs of mandatory insurance and regulatory fees, asking pointedly, “What exactly are we paying for?”.
Frustration also deepened toward national representative bodies like the Australian Medical Association (AMA), which many felt had remained conspicuously silent despite growing concern from its members. Dr Chris Neil, now a Senate candidate, called for urgent reform, including decentralising AHPRA’s authority and returning regulatory control to the state level.
Throughout the day, the discussion kept circling back to a critical question “Who is AHPRA really protecting?” The prevailing consensus? Not the healthcare professionals. Not the patients. But perhaps its own image, after years of media scrutiny and a failure to rein in rogue operators.
And yet, the event didn’t close in despair, it closed with determination. Advocates such as Dr Brian Walker MP and grassroots organiser Wayne Duffy pledged to keep pushing for reform, with meetings already underway at both state and federal levels. As one speaker declared, “This is medicine. It demands integrity, transparency, and accountability. We will not be silenced.”
AHPRA declined to attend the conference and has yet to formally respond to the serious allegations raised. But one thing is undeniable: Australia’s medical professionals are no longer willing to remain quiet. The very body that was created to protect them may now be their greatest liability, and they are ready to fight back.
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