HEALTH INSURANCE (VOCATIONAL REGISTRATION OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 350

HEALTH INSURANCE (VOCATIONAL REGISTRATION OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 350

STATUTORY RULES 1994 No. 350

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Human Services and Health

Health Insurance Act 1973

Health Insurance (Vocational Registration of General Practitioners) Regulations (Amendment)

The Health Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) provides for payments by way of medicare benefits, payments for hospital services and payments for matters concerning related committees and tribunals.

Section 133 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

Section 3F of the Act provides for the registration of certain medical practitioners as vocationally registered general practitioners and for the entry of the names of medical practitioners in the Vocational Register of General Practitioners. Subsection 3F(6) outlines the requirements that applicants for vocational registration must meet in order to be entered on the Register, which includes a provision that the applicant is eligible for registration, in accordance with the Regulations.

The Regulations [the Health Insurance (Vocational Registration of General Practitioners) Regulations] refer to criteria which must be considered before a medical practitioner is either eligible for registration or removed from the Register (Regulation 7). These criteria are the "Criteria for Vocational Registration of General Practitioners" and are developed and published by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).

Regulation 2 of of the Health Insurance (Vocational Registration of General Practitioners) Regulations (Amendment) (the amending Regulations) changes the date of publication of the RACGP's "Criteria for Vocational. Registration" which is referred to in subregulation 2(2) of the Regulations as one of the three defining characteristics of the document in which the RACGP publishes the criteria.

The definitions are amended to reflect the publication of revised criteria for vocational registration by the RACGP on 20 September 1994. The criteria for vocational registration have been revised by the RACGP to allow applicants to have their applications reconsidered under the 1989 grandparent arrangements. The grandparent arrangements, which end on 30 December 1994, provide, inter alia, for eligibility on the basis of general practice experience alone. From 1 January 1995 eligibility will require a Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners or equivalent.

The amending Regulations commenced on gazettal.