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As dental practitioners, many of us balance the demands of clinical care and technological advancement with the realities of running a business. Healthcare is evolving more rapidly than ever before, and regulation must keep pace. So, it’s incumbent on us all to assess the opportunities contemporary healthcare offers through the lens of ethical patient care. The Board is here to support you in doing so, both safely and ethically. In this edition, we share resources and guidance to help you meet your CPD obligations, advertise responsibly and understand recent changes to the National Law. There is also an important update on registration fee relief for those taking protected leave. Recently, I spoke on a podcast covering the topic of compassionate release of superannuation, which you can listen to on the Dental Board’s website. Thank you for your ongoing professionalism and dedication to the communities you serve. The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members. – Coretta Scott King
Dr Simon Shanahan Chair, Dental Board of Australia
When it comes time to renew, things will look different this year. Ahpra has a new online portal with multifactor authentication (MFA) to manage all aspects of your registration.
Multifactor authentication is an extra layer of security used to protect your data.
Before you renew, you will need to link an authenticator app to your portal. This app generates a one-time 6-digit code and is more secure than sending the code by SMS. Every time you log in, you’ll enter:
If you already know your username and password, you can log in now and link MFA. If you’re not sure what your username is, you can wait. We send an email with your username before you need to renew. If you share your email account with someone else, such as your partner, or use a group email such as ‘[email protected]’ then you will need to change it to an email that is unique to you when you first log in. There’s information available on the Ahpra portal help centre on how to do this.
Here is where you can find more help about logging in to your portal and linking MFA:
If you get stuck, try the troubleshooting tips, or use the portal help centre chatbot. You can also contact Ahpra’s Customer Service team.
A 30 per cent rebate on annual renewal fees is now available for health practitioners who take parental leave and other forms of protected leave, while a wider review of fee policies continues.
This action aims to provide financial relief for practitioners taking parental leave and other forms of protected leave such as disability and carer’s leave.
It is one step in a range of measures Ahpra and the National Boards are introducing to make registration fees more equitable, flexible and responsive.
The rebate applies to practitioners who take leave for at least six continuous months on the grounds of a protected attribute. A practitioner can claim the rebate at the next renewal after the six-month period of leave ends. Practitioners cannot apply for this rebate before the six-month period has started, or before it ends.
A wider review is currently looking at how a pro rata approach to fees can be implemented. It is expected to report by November 2025 with recommendations aimed at coming into effect by 1 July 2026.
Visit the Fee relief for parental leave and other types of leave webpage for more information and to read the full policy.
Earlier this year, the Chair of the Dental Board of Australia, Dr Simon Shanahan, and Australian Taxation Office Deputy Commissioner, Superannuation and Employer Obligations, Ms Emma Rosenzweig, recorded a podcast episode for dental practitioners.
The episode explores the regulatory and ethical considerations for compassionate release of superannuation for dental treatment and gives tips on common pitfalls to avoid.
Listen to the episode on the Board’s website.
Continuing professional development (CPD) is how you maintain, improve and broaden your knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities you need throughout your professional life.
The current three-year CPD cycle ends on 30 November 2025, and the next CPD cycle starts on 1 December 2025. All registered dental practitioners, including those who work part-time, must complete a minimum of 60 hours of CPD activities over a three-year CPD cycle to comply with the Board’s Continuing professional development registration standard. This does not apply to anyone holding non-practising registration, limited registration in the public interest, limited registration to sit an examination, or student registration.
The Board has developed a reflective practice tool to help you reflect on your individual knowledge and skills and how they relate to your current practice. We recommend you use this tool regularly to reflect on your current practice and set your CPD goals. Time spent completing the tool may be claimed as CPD.
The Board expects you to complete a variety of CPD activities to meet your learning needs. Within a three-year CPD cycle, you must complete a minimum of 48 hours (80 per cent) of CPD that is clinically or scientifically based, and you may spend up to 12 hours (20 per cent) on non-scientific activities.
Clinically or scientifically based CPD activities should meet your learning needs, and may include activities such as study groups, conferences, lectures, webinars, workshops, self-reflective practice, and reading journal articles.
Non-scientific activities are those that are indirectly related to but supportive of dental care, such as activities to build your skills in cultural safety, practice management, marketing, practitioner wellbeing, financial management, and patient communication.
Professional associations such as the Australian Dental Association, Oral Health Association of Australia, Indigenous Dental Association Australia and Australian Dental Prosthetists Association, as well as other organisations, provide CPD a range of formats. The Board recognises that study groups, practice-based clinical reviews and other small group activities may count toward a practitioner’s CPD requirement. For example, IDAA has established online yarns which support and cultivate sharing and learning of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge in dental practice members; these sessions can count towards your CPD.
The Guidelines on CPD provide more information on what types of activities you can do, how to choose CPD activities and how to keep a record of them.
The Board has published advance copies of Guidelines for practitioners who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures and Guidelines for practitioners who advertise higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures, which come into effect on 2 September 2025.
Read more in our news item, and familiarise yourself with the guidelines on Ahpra’s website via the links above.
Responsible advertising helps to keep the public safe from false or misleading claims and supports them to make informed choices about their healthcare.
When you renew your registration, you must declare that any advertising you have for your services meets the requirements of the National Law.
You cannot call yourself a specialist, or claim to specialise in a specific field or service, unless you hold specialist registration in the relevant specialty.
The following would be considered false and misleading:
Using words such as ‘substantial experience in’ or ‘working primarily in’ to describe your work in your advertising is less likely to be misleading.
We know you want to do the right thing and advertise responsibly. We encourage you to use the self-assessment tool on Ahpra’s advertising hub to make sure your advertising complies with the National Law. The Board’s Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service and Guidelines for advertising higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures can also help you understand your obligations when advertising.
Quarterly registration data to 31 March 2025 shows that at this date, there were 28,291 registered dental practitioners in Australia:
Two practitioners had both general and non-practising registration.
There are 157 dental practitioners who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, or 0.6 per cent of the profession.
Visit our Statistics page for more data, including registrant numbers by division of dental practice, age, gender and principal place of practice.
Receipts or tax invoices for payments made in the 2024–25 financial year will be emailed to you directly – they won’t be available in the Ahpra portal.
You’ll receive your receipt or tax invoice shortly after your payment via email.
We’ll email your receipt or tax invoice from mid-June 2025. Be sure to check both your inbox and spam/junk folder.
If you haven’t received it by mid-July, please submit an online enquiry, and let us know you need a receipt or tax invoice for the 2024–25 financial year.
For payments made before July 2024, please submit an online enquiry and specify which financial year(s) you need. We’ll email the relevant documents once we receive your request.
New resources are now available to help practitioners understand and adapt to changes to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, which will come into effect over the next 12 months.
Information on the changes, how they will be implemented and what they mean for practitioners and the public is available in the full information guide, while the two-page short guide provides a high-level snapshot of the changes.
Both guides are available on the National Law amendments page on the Ahpra website which includes links to related topics and will be updated as our implementation activities progress.
The changes to the National Law were passed earlier this year, focusing on:
Ahpra welcomed the release of the Independent review of complexity in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (Dawson review) second consultation paper and thanked the reviewer Ms Sue Dawson and her team for their comprehensive work.
Ahpra supports in principle the review’s recommendations, many of which are in lockstep with Ahpra’s current reform agenda.
The reforms centre around:
Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said the review presents an exciting opportunity for the next chapter in regulation.
‘The National Scheme is facing challenges it has not previously encountered,’ he said.
‘The time is right to take the National Scheme forward to meet the evolving needs of contemporary regulation. I look forward to working with stakeholders to bring the recommendations of the review to life.’
Read the full media release.
Ahpra and the National Scheme have announced their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anti-Racism Policy, informed by extensive consultation and the expertise of Professor Yin Paradies, a leading scholar in racism and cultural safety.
This policy has been developed by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to create a safe, valued, and respectful environment within Ahpra and the National Boards.
It forms a critical step in enacting Ahpra and the National Scheme’s policy and legislative commitments to eliminating racism.
Racism towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples is persistent, harmful, and structurally embedded. This policy acknowledges those realities and provides clear mechanisms for preventing, addressing, and eliminating racism within Ahpra, the National Boards and committees. It establishes stronger reporting pathways and introduces the Racism-related Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-only Special Issues Committee (RATSISIC) to ensure culturally informed responses to racism.
The policy reflects the hard work and leadership of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anti-Racism Policy Working Group, chaired by Professor Carmen Parter, whose contributions were vital to its development.
Download a copy of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anti-Racism Policy. You'll find this under 'Ahpra, Ahpra Board and National Boards information', click on the Ahpra tab.
As always, we encourage you to regularly check the Dental Board website for information and updates relating to the dental profession.
