Over the past decade, substantial changes in Australia’s healthcare and social assistance sectors have significantly altered workforce demands, role expectations and skill requirements, rendering current health administration and practice management qualifications outdated.
Swipe or Click across the tabs to view active and completed project stages.
Undertaking a comprehensive national review of qualifications and skill set in health administration and general practice will ensure they are aligned with current industry needs, regulatory requirements and evolving patient-care methodologies. We will also create clear and sustainable career pathways to support existing and future growth in the industry.
Key objectives
- Align qualifications with contemporary workforce demands, regulatory requirements, technological advancements and patient management practices.
- Improve workforce capability to ensure that graduates meet current industry expectations and are job-ready.
- Enhance training pathways to support clear career progression and increase workforce attraction and retention in health administration and medical practice management roles.
Project scope
We will review 4 qualifications, 1 skill set and 11 units of competency which support training for a range of job roles including:
- health administrators
- health practice managers
- medical practice assistants
- medical receptionists / secretary.
The project will consider job tasks, performance expectations, assessment conditions and the incorporation of new tools and techniques shaping the future of dentistry.
Qualifications and units of competency
Qualifications
- HLT37315 Certificate III in Health Administration: reflects the role of administrative workers in the health industry. These workers follow known routines and procedures, taking responsibility for their own work under general supervision. They combine communication, customer service and technical skills and use discretion and judgement to adapt and transfer their skills to different situations.
- HLT47321 Certificate IV in Health Administration: reflects the roles of individuals who work in operational or team leading roles in health administration. The skills in this qualification must be applied in accordance with federal, state or territory legislation, Australian standards and industry codes of practice.
- HLT47715 Certificate IV in Medical Practice Assisting: prepares individuals for operational support roles such as medical practice assistant, medical receptionist and medical secretary. These roles are crucial in managing daily patient interactions, administrative tasks, patient coordination and frontline services essential to practice efficiency.
- HLT57715 Diploma of Practice Management: equips health practice managers for overall practice management including financial management, risk management, compliance adherence, human resources management and strategic operational oversight. This qualification underpins effective management of increasingly complex healthcare practices.
Skill set
Units of competency
How to get involved
There are a number of ways you can get involved in this project.
1. Register to receive information on project developments and consultation activities.
Project updates
2. Submit an expression of interest to become part of the Technical Committee. The Technical Committee members provide technical, specialist and/or industry sector knowledge to assist with the training package development. Members are appointed on the basis of their expertise and experience, not as representatives of their organisations. If you would like to be considered, please complete this form or forward a covering letter and CV that illustrates your expertise to [email protected] by Friday 5 September 2025.
3. Complete our survey on the skills and knowledge associated with dental assistants, dental technicians and dental prosthetists. We'd love your insights which will help us from your experience, helping us capture a diverse range of perspectives. These insights will complement other research activities, e.g. functional analysis. The survey closes on Friday 26 September 2025.
Complete survey
Contact details
To contact the project team, please email [email protected].