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 Chiropractic 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 chiropractors who will need to meet the obligations of the revised standard 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).

The key change in the revised PII arrangements registration standard is that the minimum amount of cover specified in the current standard ($20 million) 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 made have been to improve the clarity and workability of the standard, and understanding of the requirements and obligations of registrants. There have been some minor changes to the requirements relating to run-off and retroactive cover to avoid duplication and provide more clarity.

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 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.