Wednesday, 22 January 2025
ASA Policy and Advocacy Work in Australia and New Zealand
In Australia and New Zealand, the healthcare landscape is constantly evolving with technological advancements, changes in patient needs, and policy shifts.
On behalf of its members, the ASA engages in extensive policy and advocacy work to shape and influence healthcare policy and standards to benefit the sonography profession and improve sonographer professional recognition and autonomy. Effective policy and advocacy not only benefits sonographers but enhances patient care, ensuring that patients receive care from skilled practitioners who adhere to the highest ethical and professional standards.
The ASA’s policy and advocacy work takes several forms, including engaging with sector stakeholders, responding to policy reviews and consultations, undertaking research, and proactively advocating our ideas to help ensure that the profession evolves in a way that continues to meet the needs of both sonographers and patients.
Our work covers a wide range of topics. Some recent examples include:
Australian Government Scope of Practice Review
The ASA prepared a submission highlighting the important role of sonographers in the primary health care system and current systemic barriers to enable them to work to their full scope of practice and advocate for more flexible policies.
Australian and New Zealand Classification of Occupations
In direct response to ASA advocacy, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has revised its classification of occupations to list sonography as a separate health profession rather than classification as a ‘medical radiation practitioner’. The ASA argued for sonography to be recognised as a separate occupation, emphasising the unique skills and scope of practice of sonographers. The current situation has hampered
"Effective policy and advocacy not only benefits sonographers but enhances patient care"
NZ MRTB Practitioner Naming Policy
The NZ MRTB recently released proposed changes to its naming policy for practitioners in the event of a board order or direction resulting from an investigation under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act. ASA indicated a balanced approach between public safety and practitioner reputation and privacy is required.
NZ MRTB Competence Standards
The ASA provided feedback on changes to new additions to the MRTB Competence Standards, which included a new standard on ‘informed consent’ and the need to consider Māori practices when providing health services.
My Health Record
Proposed changes to the My Health Record system will require health practitioners to share diagnostic imaging reports ‘by default’ with patients via My Health Record. Patients will also have access to information uploaded to their My Health records in real time rather than waiting seven days. ASA’s submission recommended clarifying roles and responsibilities for diagnostic imaging information sharing, support for education and training, and mechanisms to resolve interoperability issues.
Point of care ultrasound position statement
The ASA updated its position statement on point of care ultrasound to highlight the risks involved in POCUS as well as the risks associated with overconfident and underqualified practitioners.
Parliament of South Australia Select Committee on Endometriosis
This submission emphasises the role of sonographers in diagnosing and managing endometriosis, advocating for better access to ultrasound services to support patients and improve outcomes and the need for upskilling sonographers for those patients who have endometriosis.
AHPRA Consultation on Clinical Placements
The ASA provided feedback on AHPRA’s views on embedding good practice in clinical placements, simulation-based learning and virtual care in initial student health practitioner education.
Consumer fact sheet on nonmedical use of ultrasound
The Australian Commission on Quality and Safety in Health Care invited the ASA to provide comment on its draft consumer fact sheet on the non-medical use of obstetric ultrasound following consumer complaints received by the Commission.
Sector engagement
Another important element of ASA’s policy and advocacy is collective advocacy with key sector stakeholders. For instance, the ASA – together with the Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registry –recently wrote to the Ministers for Health and Education asking for the Australian 2024–25 Budget initiative Prac Payment Scheme to be extended to sonography students in recognition of the reality that sonography students often experience ‘placement poverty’ and live away from home for extended periods to obtain the necessary clinical hours to become qualified sonographers.
The ASA is also focused on ensuring that the sonography perspective is considered in broader health policy. In New Zealand, the ASA contributed to the Hauora Haumi Allied Health Report 2024 through the Ministry of Health’s Sonography Sector Reference Group. In Australia, the ASA has been meeting with Services Australia to enable sonographers to be eligible to obtain healthcare identifiers under Australian legislation. Individual healthcare identifiers are a prerequisite for clinicians to access My Health Record, upload or share information on their patients or obtain a Medicare number.
"By actively participating in policy consultations, surveys and research, ASA members enable the policy team to identify issues of importance."
The ASA also represents members on the Department of Health and Aged Care Diagnostic Services Imaging Committee and the Peak Imaging Coalition, which is comprised of diagnostic imaging bodies from Australia and New Zealand. We also regularly engage with health policy work undertaken by the National Rural Health Alliance and the Allied Health Professions Association, strengthening our ability to represent sonographers in broader healthcare policy discussions.
Member involvement
Pivotal to the ASA’s advocacy work is member input. By actively participating in policy consultations, surveys and research, ASA members enable the policy team to
identify issues of importance and relevance to the sonography profession, provide valuable insights that inform the ASA’s policy positions, and provide members with a voice in decisions that impact their profession. The ASA receives advice on policy and advocacy matters from the Sonography Policy Advisory Committee and the New Zealand Sonography Advisory Group. Members are invited to nominate for these groups through an annual expression of interest process.
All ASA members are also regularly invited to participate in policy work and consultations through opportunities in the fortnightly Cross Section newsletter. We also use these communication channels to keep members updated about our policy work.
If you have any questions about policy or have an interest in contributing to a particular area, please email policy@sonographers.org