Tuesday, 1 September 2026
Tasmania’s National Code of Conduct: Understanding the new enforcement powers
The National Code of Conduct for unregistered health care workers has now been in place in Tasmania for two months, following its commencement on 24 June 2026. The Code applies to sonographers and provides minimum professional and ethical standards, alongside a complaints process and powers to address potential breaches. Read more about how the Code is intended to work.
Enforcement powers under Tasmania’s National Code
The Tasmanian Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC) has a range of powers to respond to concerns about the conduct of health care workers covered by the National Code of Conduct.
During an investigation, the Commissioner may make an interim prohibition order to prohibit a health care worker from providing all or part of the health service being investigated or impose conditions on the services they provide.
At the conclusion of an investigation, a prohibition order may prohibit a health care worker from providing all or part of the relevant health service for a specified period or indefinitely or impose conditions on the services provided.
Interim and prohibition orders may also be made where a health care worker has been convicted or found guilty of a prescribed offence.
The Commissioner may also issue a public warning statement where they reasonably believe a person has suffered, or is likely to suffer, detriment as a result of health services provided by a health care worker. The Commissioner must be satisfied that the action is necessary to avoid an immediate risk to a person’s or the public’s life, health, safety or welfare. Appeal processes apply.
Publication of orders – National portal still needed
The National Code is intended to operate across jurisdictions, with participating states and territories recognising prohibition orders made in other jurisdictions. Prohibition orders and public warning statements are currently published by each individual state or territory’s relevant health complaints body. There is not yet a single Australia-wide, searchable portal.
The ASA considers that, for the system to operate as a truly national scheme, a single, searchable national database of prohibition orders and warning should be established. A national database would make it easier for regulators, employers and the public to identify whether a health care worker has been subject to a prohibition order in another jurisdiction, reducing the risk that a practitioner could move between jurisdictions without relevant regulatory history being readily apparent.
A national database is consistent with the national framework agreed by the COAG Health Council in April 2015, which envisaged a common web portal to support the National Code and a nationally consistent approach to data collection and reporting.
The ASA supports the implementation of the Code in Tasmania as an important step towards consistent protections for the public, while continuing to advocate for a genuinely national regulatory framework.
Tasmania is the second-last Australian jurisdiction to implement the National Code, with the Northern Territory yet to introduce the scheme.
Read our previous article on this topic:
National Code of Conduct for Health Care Workers commences in Tasmania
Other resources:
Guidance from the Tasmanian Health Complaints Commissioner
How to lodge a complaint with the Tasmanian Health Care Commissioner
Code of Conduct for Sonographers (2025)