Feedback Pathway — Notification Experience

Notification Experience

Record your experience as a practitioner who has received an AHPRA notification or been subject to a regulatory investigation or inquiry.

Organisational endorsement: To be determined

Anonymous submission — no email address is required. Please do not include your name, registration number, email address, or any information that could identify you, a patient, or a colleague in free-text responses. Your case number is a pseudonymous reference for returning to this submission — keep it safe.

Section 1

Notification Context

These questions help contextualise your notification. No identifying information is collected.

1. How long ago did you first receive the notification?

Within the past 6 months 6 to 12 months ago 1 to 2 years ago 2 to 5 years ago More than 5 years ago

2. Approximately when did the incident or events that led to the notification occur?

Within the past year 1 to 3 years before notification More than 3 years before No specific incident Unsure

3. Who made the notification?

Patient or former patient Patient's family member or carer Colleague or co-worker Employer or health service Mandatory notification (health practitioner) Coroner or court Other Unknown

4. What was your practice setting at the time?

4a. In which Australian state or territory were you primarily practising?

Section 2

Initial Notification Process

5. How long did it take AHPRA to acknowledge receipt of the notification and notify you?

Within 2 weeks 2 to 4 weeks 1 to 3 months More than 3 months Never formally notified Unsure

6. How clearly did the initial notification letter explain the nature of the concern and the process that would follow?

Very clearly Mostly clearly Poorly Very poorly

6a. Do you believe the notification was vexatious or made in bad faith?

Yes — clearly vexatious or in bad faith Possibly No Unsure

7. Were you clearly informed of your rights at the outset — including the right to seek legal or medico-legal advice?

Yes — clearly and promptly Partially No Unsure

8. Did you seek medico-legal advice?

Yes — from an MDO Yes — from an independent solicitor Yes — both MDO and solicitor No — but would have liked to No — not necessary

Section 3

Interim Restrictions & Early Process

9. Were any interim conditions or restrictions imposed on your practice during the investigation?

Yes — restrictions imposed Yes — suspension imposed No — practised without restriction No — contested proposed restrictions

9a. Were there aspects of the early process (before investigation concluded) that you found particularly problematic?

Yes — significant problems Some concerns, manageable No — early process was reasonable

Section 4

Investigation Duration & Communication

10. How long did the investigation (or overall notification process) take from notification to resolution?

Less than 3 months 3 to 6 months 6 to 12 months 1 to 2 years More than 2 years Still ongoing

11. How would you rate AHPRA's communication with you throughout the investigation?

Good — timely, clear, professional Adequate — some gaps Poor — significant delays or unclear Very poor

12. Was the investigator changed during the process?

Yes — once Yes — more than once No Unsure

Section 5

Support & Wellbeing

13. What support did you access or were offered during the process? (select all that apply)

MDO support Peer support Counselling / psychology Professional association Doctor health service No formal support Other

14. Did you find the support you accessed adequate?

Yes — adequate Partly — some gaps No — inadequate Did not access formal support

15. Would earlier access to support have made a meaningful difference?

Yes — significantly Probably yes Unsure No

15a. What is your view on the use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Claude) to help practitioners understand AHPRA correspondence? (select all that apply)

Already use AI tools for this Open to using them Would use if professionally endorsed Not comfortable with AI for this Privacy concerns

15b. If you have concerns about using AI tools for regulatory matters, what are they? (select all that apply)

Risk of inaccurate advice Privacy of entered information Lack of professional accountability No significant concerns Other

Section 6

Wellbeing Impact

Please rate the impact of the notification process on each of the following areas of your wellbeing and professional life. 1 = Minimal/none, 5 = Severe/significant.

Area	1 Min	2	3	4	5 Max
Anxiety and psychological distress
Sleep disturbance
Ability to work or concentration at work
Confidence in clinical practice
Risk of burnout or leaving the profession
Financial stress

17. As a direct result of this notification experience, have you seriously considered any of the following? (select all that apply)

Reducing hours or scope Early retirement or leaving Changing specialty or role Leaving Australia Avoiding higher-risk activities None of the above

Section 7

Fairness & Proportionality

18. Overall, do you feel you were treated fairly throughout the notification process?

Yes — fairly throughout Mostly — some exceptions No — significant fairness concerns No — fundamentally unfair

19. Was the process proportionate to the nature of the concern raised?

Yes — broadly proportionate Uncertain No — disproportionate No — significantly over-investigated

20. Was the process completed in a timely manner?

Yes — timely Mostly — minor delays No — significant delays No — unreasonably prolonged

20a. What process improvement would have made the biggest positive difference? (optional)

Please do not include identifying details.

Section 8

Outcome

21. What is the current status of your notification?

No further action — dismissed Caution or reprimand issued Conditions or undertakings Suspension or cancellation Referred to tribunal Still under investigation Prefer not to say

22. If resolved — was the outcome proportionate to the nature of the concern?

Yes — proportionate Uncertain No — disproportionately severe No — disproportionately lenient Not yet resolved

Section 9

Additional Comments & Contact Preference

23. Additional comments (optional)

Please do not include identifying details of patients, practitioners, institutions, or workplaces.

24. Contact preference

All submissions are anonymous and you do not need to provide an email address. If you are open to de-identified follow-up, you can indicate this here. Any follow-up would use the separate Secure Messages process, with a new reference and secure access code, and would not be automatically linked to your submission data.

Open to contact — will provide details separately May be open in future Prefer full anonymity

Submit Your Experience

Your anonymous submission will be stored securely and contribute to aggregate analysis. No identifying information is stored.

Before you submit: do not include names, email addresses, phone numbers, Medicare numbers, AHPRA registration numbers, workplace details, patient information, or other identifying material. The form can flag common patterns, but it cannot detect every identifier.

Security verification is required before sending.