The Australian Dental Council is pleased to announce the opening of the consultation period for the proposed changes to the ADC/Dental Council (New Zealand) (DC(NZ)) Accreditation standards for dental practitioner programs (the Standards).
The consultation will run from Tuesday 18 February until 5pm AEST Monday 20 April 2020.
Work to review the Standards started in 2019. This review aims to ensure the Standards remain in-line with contemporary benchmarks and expectations, while maintaining a focus on public safety. To assist with the process, external influences and stakeholder feedback were used to identify key focus areas to help guide the review. These focus areas are:
- Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pacific Peoples health outcomes;
- consumer involvement;
- inter-professional learning and practice; and
- assessment.
The ADC/DC(NZ) Accreditation Standards for Dental Practitioner Programs (Revised draft for consultation – February 2020) (the draft Standards) proposes amendments to the Standards in each of the key focus areas. The changes aim to bring the Standards in-line with the current regulatory environment. The Standards ensure education and training providers produce graduates who demonstrate the skills, knowledge and professional competencies needed to register as a dental practitioner in Australia.
The ADC is now inviting anyone with an interest to provide feedback on the draft Standards. Information collected during this time will be considered by the ADC and used to refine the amendments to the Standards.
The revised Standards will then be considered for endorsement by the ADC before being submitted to the Dental Board of Australia (DBA) for approval.
The new Standards are expected to be released in mid-2020 and, pending approval timelines, anticipated to come into force from 1 January 2021.
The ADC is committed to keeping stakeholders informed of the work completed throughout the accreditation standards review and will provide updates on the process as information is available.
More information regarding the consultation process, including the consultation documents, is available here.
