Revised standards for PII arrangements published today

10 Dec 2015

A revised registration standard for Professional indemnity insurance (PII) arrangements has today been published by the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia.

The revised standard will come into effect on 1 July 2016 and will replace the standard that is currently in place. This standard will apply to all medical radiation practitioners who will need to meet the obligations of the revised standards either:

• by the time they next renew their PII arrangements policy, or
• by their next renewal of registration after 1 October 2016, whichever is sooner.

This registration standard does not apply to the current cycle of renewals (that is, it does not apply to late applications for renewal received in December).

Registration standard

The key change in the revised PII arrangements registration standard is that the minimum amount of cover specified in the current standard ($10 million for a single claim) has been removed from the standard.

The revised standard aims to take a more contemporary and flexible approach, and requires registrants who are taking out their own insurance to do an objective self-assessment, informed by policies provided by insurance providers, to ensure they have adequate and appropriate insurance arrangements or professional indemnity cover for their practice.

Further changes include requirements for:

• civil liability cover 
• retroactive cover, and 
• automatic reinstatement

In addition the Board has removed the requirement for run-off cover to be unlimited, instead recognising the usual statutory arrangements that exist to provide adequate avenues for patient compensation.

As with the current standard, practitioners employed in public health facilities around Australia will meet the new standard by virtue of the indemnity arrangements that exist for the public sector employees.

National Boards will shortly publish more information about the revised PII arrangements registration standard which explains the requirements and what is expected of practitioners, in addition to some common FAQs. The Board has also published Guidelines: Professional Indemnity Insurance arrangements, which provides further information for practitioners and insurance providers about the requirements for professional indemnity insurance arrangements.

The revised standard was approved by the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council on 27 August 2015 and was reviewed as part of a scheduled review of standards. A public consultation was held as part of the review, and the submissions to public consultation are published on the Board’s website. A brief consultation report which outlines the public consultation, rationale for any changes and proposed way forward (including areas where further work is planned) has also previously been published by National Boards.

More information about the revised PII arrangements standard, including a brief consultation report and FAQs, can be found on the Professional indemnity insurance arrangements page of the AHPRA website.