Community protected: Misleading website off the air

17 Apr 2015

A potentially misleading website that republished information from AHPRA’s register of practitioners without consent is no longer published.

In a media statement in February 2015, AHPRA reassured the community and practitioners that the online register was the only accurate and up to date source of information about the registration status of Australia’s 620,000 registered health practitioners.

Some practitioners had raised concerns about the ‘doctor inspector’ website, which published selective information sourced from the register, without practitioners’ consent.

AHPRA had not given permission for the use of information from the public register by the website. Its operators appeared to have used technology known as screen scraping to automatically pull information from the public online register and republish it in a different context.

‘We are pleased that the doctor inspector website is not online,’ AHPRA CEO Martin Fletcher said.

‘The community can be confident that the best source of accurate and up to date information about registered health practitioners is AHPRA’s national register of practitioners,’ he said.

The unauthorised use of published information from the register never compromised the security and integrity of the confidential data held in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, Mr Fletcher said.

The online register is used by consumers to help make informed decisions about health practitioners, and by employers to check the registration status of health practitioners.

This week, AHPRA published Top tips for using the register, to remind practitioners and the community that if someone does not appear on the register, they are not registered to practise a health profession in Australia.

“The register should be the first port of call for anyone responsible for recruiting health practitioners, and for people keen to know more about the registration status of registered health practitioners,’ Mr Fletcher said.

‘It’s free to use, always accessible, and a great way the National Scheme supports patient safety,’ he said.

Media enquiries

Nicole Newton
(03) 8708 9200 

Download a PDF of this Media statement - Community protected - Misleading website off the air - 17 April 2015 (269 KB,PDF)