The Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (Ahpra) shared Code of conduct (the code) describes the professional behaviour expected of registered health practitioners by the National Boards of 12 health professions, and is used to evaluate the professional standards and conduct of dental practitioners.
Dental practitioners have a responsibility to be familiar with and apply the code which comprises the overarching principles to guide behaviour. Underpinning the code is the expectation that practitioners will use their professional judgement to achieve the best possible outcomes in practise. The public can use the code to understand what levels of behaviour they can expect from their health professional.
The Ahpra website contains resources to help practitioners and the public understand and apply the code.
Information on the shared Code of conduct principles, FAQs and case studies can be found here:
 https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Resources/Code-of-conduct/Shared-Code-of-conduct.aspx
https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Resources/Code-of-conduct/Resources-to-help-health-practitioners.aspx
Infection Prevention and Control Resources
The Dental Board of Australia (DBA) expects practitioners to exercise their professional judgment to ensure that the guidance followed and the processes used are evidence-based, safe and relevant to individual practice settings. Practitioners must comply with the code and the DBA provides the following additional supporting resources effective from 1 July 2022:
- Infection prevention and control – FAQs for practitioners
- Factsheet: Guidance for registered dental practitioners – infection prevention and control
- A self-reflective tool for infection prevention and control
Guidelines and resources provided by the DBA on infection control can be found here:
Dental Records Resources
Ahpra defines the guiding principles that must be applied to Health records (the Standard) in Section 8.3 of the Code of conduct. The DBA provides the following additional supporting resources:
- Factsheet: Maintaining your patient records
- A self-reflective tool – Good record keeping
Guidelines and resources provided by the dental board on record keeping can be found here:
https://www.dentalboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines/Dental-records.aspx
ADA NSW Resources
Additional comprehensive resources on Infection Prevention Control and Dental Records can be found at: Infection Prevention and Control and Dental Records.
Disclaimer:Â This is one of a series of Advisory Services information sheets created by ADA NSW. They are intended as general guides that highlight key pieces of information frequently requested. They do not set out to provide comprehensive information about a topic and they are not legal advice. Please be mindful that information provided in these resources can change after the publication date.
