EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Health Insurance Act 1973
Health Insurance (Quality Assurance Activity – Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) – Peer Review Groups (PRGs)) Declaration 2026
Purpose and operation
Part VC of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) creates a scheme to encourage efficient quality assurance activities in connection with the provision of health services. Those activities help to ensure the quality of health services that are funded by the Government, including through Medicare benefits and public hospital services. The scheme encourages participation in such activities by protecting certain information from disclosure, and by providing some protection from civil liability to certain persons engaged in those activities in good faith.
The purpose of the Health Insurance (Quality Assurance Activity – Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) – Peer Review Groups (PRGs)) Declaration 2026 (the Declaration) is to declare the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) – Peer Review Groups (PRGs)) (the Activity) to be a quality assurance activity to which Part VC of the Act applies.
The Activity is undertaken by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP). The Activity applies only to health services provided in Australia. The Activity provides regular peer review opportunities for psychiatrists as and other health practitioners including psychologists and mental health nurses. PRG members review and assess their practice, receive confidential feedback, and identify improvements to enhance health service delivery and patient outcomes.
Authority
Subsection 124X(1) of the Act provides that the Minister may, by legislative instrument, declare a quality assurance activity described in a declaration to be a quality assurance activity to which Part VC of the Act applies. The Declaration declares the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) – Peer Review Groups (PRGs)) (the Activity), to be a quality assurance activity to which Part VC of the Act applies.
Commencement
This Declaration commences on the day after registration of the instrument on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Consultation
RANZCP, as the applicant for declaring the activity, was consulted in relation to the content of the Declaration. No concerns were raised with the proposed content. Wider consultation was not considered necessary as the quality assurance activity only relates to the gathering of information for the Activity, as conducted by the RANZCP. The declaration of the Activity will not result in any direct or substantial indirect effect on business.
General
This Declaration is a disallowable legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
Details of the Declaration are set out in Attachment A.
The Declaration is compatible with the rights and freedoms recognised or declared under section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. A full statement of compatibility with human rights is set out in Attachment B.
ATTACHMENT A
Health Insurance (Quality Assurance Activity – Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) – Peer Review Groups (PRGs)) Declaration 2026
Part 1—Preliminary
Section 1 – Name
This section provides that the name of the Declaration is the Health Insurance (Quality Assurance Activity – Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) – Peer Review Groups (PRGs)) Declaration 2026.
Section 2 – Commencement
This section provides that the Declaration commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Section 3 – Authority
This section provides that the Declaration is made under subsection 124X(1) of the Health Insurance Act 1973.
Section 4 – Repeal
This section provides that the Declaration will be repealed when it ceases to be in force in accordance with subsection 124X(4) of the Health Insurance Act 1973.
Subsection 124X(4) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 provides that a declaration of a quality assurance activity ceases to be in force at the end of 5 years after it is signed, unless sooner revoked.
Section 5 – Schedule
This section provides that the Activity described in the Schedule is declared to be a quality assurance activity to which Part VC of the Health Insurance Act 1973 applies.
Schedule 1 – Description of quality assurance activity
Item 1 – Name of activity
Item 1 provides that the name of the Activity is ‘Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) – Peer Review Groups (PRGs)) Declaration 2026’.
Item 2 – Description of activity
This declaration applies to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) Peer Review Groups (PRGs). PRGs comprise Fellows, Affiliates, Associates of the RANZCP, as well as other medical practitioners, psychologists, and mental health nurses. Participants meet in small, self-selected peer groups to review and assess their professional practice and to receive confidential feedback to support improvement. Activities may be adapted to accommodate different clinical contexts and patient populations. Groups may operate within or across employer boundaries and are often organised by specialty including, child and adolescent psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, and leadership and management. The purpose of PRGs is to improve the quality of medical practice, health services, and patient outcomes.
The objectives of PRGs are to:
- promote evidence-based practice by enabling psychiatrists to undertake structured quality improvement activities across clinical care, service systems, and procedures.
- support continuous professional development through opportunities for self-review and constructive feedback to enhance patient outcomes.
- foster a safe and open environment for psychiatrists to discuss work-related challenges and share solutions.
- encourage peer collaboration by facilitating advice, knowledge exchange, and joint efforts to improve practice and consumer outcomes.
The activity is delivered by the RANZCP, which is the organisation responsible for training, educating, and representing psychiatrists in Australia and New Zealand. It collates de-identified information from PRG surveys to identify trends, recurring themes, and the impact on clinical practice. RANZCP publicly reports aggregated findings and recommendations at RANZCP meetings to inform changes to psychiatric practice and assess effectiveness.
ATTACHMENT B
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Health Insurance (Quality Assurance Activity – Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) – Peer Review Groups (PRGs)) Declaration 2026.
This Declaration is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the legislative instrument
The Health Insurance (Quality Assurance Activity – Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) – Peer Review Groups (PRGs)) Declaration 2026. (the Declaration) declares the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) – Peer Review Groups (PRGs)) (the Activity), conducted by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) to be a quality assurance activity to which Part VC of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) applies. Information known solely as the result of the Activity, or documents created solely for the purposes of the activity, will be covered by qualified privilege.
Human rights implications
This Declaration engages with the right to health as set out in Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by assisting with the progressive realisation by all appropriate means of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
The Qualified Privilege Scheme established by Part VC of the Act is aimed at encouraging participation in quality assurance activities that help to ensure that the highest possible health care standards are maintained. The quality assurance activity described in this Declaration will provide participants with a greater degree of confidence and security that their participation is solely for the benefit of improving the quality of medical practice, health services, and patient outcomes.
This Declaration also engages, but does not limit, the right to privacy as contained in Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Activity does not involve the collection, storage, security, use, disclosure or publication of personal information.
Conclusion
This Declaration is compatible with human rights as it promotes the right to health and does not limit the right to privacy.
Professor Michael Kidd AO
Chief Medical Officer
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing