18,976 medical radiation practitioners
- Up 2.0% from 2021/22
- 2.2% of all registered health practitioners
1,146 first-time registrants
- 854 domestic (including new graduates)
- 292 international
0.6% identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
68.9% female; 31.1% male

Age

Figure showing age groups of medical radiation practitioners. The largest age group is 25 to 34 years, followed by 35 to 44 years.

Divisions

Bar graph showing the numbers of medical radiation practitioners in each division. Almost 80% are diagnostic radiographers. Almost all practitioners are registered in a single division.

Regulation

34 notifications lodged with Ahpra about 28 medical radiation practitioners
53 notifications about 43 medical radiation practitioners made Australia-wide, including HPCA and OHO data

0.2% of the profession Australia-wide

Sources of notifications

Pie chart showing that most notifications were raised by a patient, their relative or a member of the public.

Most common types of complaints

Pie chart showing that the two most common types of complaints were clinical care and offence against other law.

Notifications closed

Pie chart showing that 71% of the 35 notifications closed resulted in no further regulatory action. 11% resulted in conditions being imposed on registration.

3 immediate actions taken
7 mandatory notifications received
- 6 about impairment
- 1 about professional standards
17 practitioners monitored for health, performance and/or conduct during the year
5 criminal offence complaints made
No notifications finalised at tribunal
No matters decided by a panel
No appeals lodged

A report from the Chair

Issues this year

Following from the global effects of COVID-19 and its impacts on the global health workforce, the main focus for the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia was the availability of medical radiation practitioners and the pipeline for new registrants.

Accreditation

The Board worked with the Medical Radiation Practice Accreditation Committee on funding and fee structures, with the aim of balancing the costs of accreditation between education providers and practitioners.

Policy and project updates

Post-implementation review of professional capabilities

The revised Professional capabilities for medical radiation practice were published by the Board in November 2019. The Board started a post-implementation review to investigate any safety or unintended consequences arising from the professional capabilities. The report and outcomes from the review were published in June 2023. Interprofessional practice and workplace culture are now future focus points for the Board.

Supervised practice framework

Following a multiprofession review of supervised practice arrangements in 2020 and 2021, the Board agreed to recommend to health ministers that the Supervised practice registration standard be retired on 30 March 2023. The multiprofession Supervised practice framework for medical radiation practitioners came into effect on 1 April.

Statement on artificial intelligence

To support practitioners with the continual evolution of artificial intelligence (AI), the Board published a statement on the role of AI in medical radiation practice. The statement identified that patient safety was paramount when AI and related technologies are used in practice.

Facilitating research

Through its newsletter, the Board continued to support ethics-approved research in medical radiation practice. Recent research projects include attitudes to scheduled medicines, attitudes to evidence-based practice and work-related musculoskeletal issues.

Recognition of overseas qualifications

Since 2016, the Board has assessed and maintained an equivalent status for qualifications approved in a number of overseas jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and New Zealand. In October, the Board assessed qualifications approved by the Irish regulator for medical radiation practice as equivalent to Australian qualifications. The Board also accepts a number of examination results used as the basis of safe practice in overseas jurisdictions.

Stakeholder engagement

The Board continued to meet with national and international stakeholders including the New Zealand Medical Radiation Practice Board, the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists, Medical Radiations Australia, the Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMIRT), the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine (ANZSNM), the Australian Sonographers Association and others to discuss emerging issues in medical radiation practice, with a focus on workforce availability, educational pipelines and capabilities necessary for professional practice.

The Board has developed a closer working relationship with the NSW Medical Radiation Practice Council and looks forward to further collaboration on joint projects and presentations.
Representatives of the Board also attended the ASMIRT national conference in Sydney in April and the ANZSNM annual conference in Adelaide in May.

Ms Cara Miller, Chair

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