New South Wales Medical Professional Standards Committee

Almost all decisions of Professional Standards Committees are now made publicly available, however readers should be aware that there is a provision under both prior legislation (section 180(4) of the Medical Practice Act 1992) and current law (section 171E(5) of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) (National Law (NSW))) that allows a Professional Standards Committee to order that its decision is not to be made publicly available.

Readers should also be aware that decisions of a Professional Standards Committee may be subject to a non-publication direction which has the effect of suppressing any reference in the decision to specified evidence. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that published decisions comply with any operative non-publication direction/s, the onus remains on any person using material in the decisions to ensure that the intended use of that material does not breach any such direction.

Professional Standards Committees are constituted on a case by case basis to deal with complaints against individual medical practitioners prosecuted by the Health Care Complaints Commission. A Professional Standards Committee does not have the power to suspend or deregister a medical practitioner, but may make various orders, including imposing conditions on a practitioner's registration. (Any complaint that may, if substantiated, provide grounds for the suspension or deregistration of a registered medical practitioner, must be heard in the Medical Tribunal.)

Further information about procedures and processes commenced prior to 1 July 2010 under the Medical Practice Act 1992 and those subsequent to the operation of the National Law (NSW) from 1 July 2010 can be found on the Medical Council of NSW website.