MEDIA RELEASE
- Optometry Australia awarded major tender to accredit the optometry profession’s CPD
- Stricter governance on CPD service providers to be introduced
- Service providers to be charged a service management fee
Melbourne, 18 November 2014: Optometry Australia has been awarded the three year contract to accredit the optometry profession‟s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses.
CEO Genevieve Quilty said that Optometry Australia has undertaken CPD accreditation for many years and the organisation was delighted to be continuing in this role following a rigorous competitive tender process conducted by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
Ms Quilty announced that the accreditation program will be managed by Optometry Australia‟s new business arm, Eye on CPD.
She said that Optometry Australia applauded AHPRA‟s decision to implement a system of sustainable governance around the profession‟s CPD. “This contract will bring with it formal monitoring of approved providers of CPD services as well as a requirement to audit all CPD activities which we will do via an independent third party to eliminate any potential conflict of interest given our State Divisions‟ Approved Provider status”, Ms Quilty said.
Through Eye on CPD, Optometry Australia will also be required to process Approved Provider applications to forward to the Optometry Board of Australia (OBA) for decision as per the CPD Registration Standard and Guidelines.
Ms Quilty said that: “Whilst we have managed CPD accreditation for many years, the exponential increase in the volume of CPD on offer, coupled with our increased governance responsibilities, means that we can no longer support a “zero cost” model. As a result, we will be introducing a small levy on CPD service providers”.
Optometry Australia will charge a modest fee of $150 per three hour course or less and $750 per course exceeding three hours will be levied on all Non-Approved Providers. A $50 fee will be charged for each time the course is repeated by the non-approved service provider. These fees will also cover all auditing costs.
Approved Providers will pay an annual fee of $2,000 to assist with offsetting auditing and monitoring costs but will not be required to pay the course fees given these Providers self-audit their CPD activities.
Optometry Australia will continue to record CPD points for all its members whilst for the first time, opening up this service on a fee-to-manage basis to non-members.
All regulatory arrangements for CPD remain unchanged as set out by OBA.
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