Letter to CEO of AHPRA: Critical Failures in AHPRA’s Registration Portal

1 September 2025

Dr Justin Untersteiner

Chief Executive Officer

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) 

Via Email Only: justin.untersteiner@ahpra.gov.au

RE: Critical Failures in AHPRA’s Registration Portal – Impact on Doctors and the Medical Workforce 

Dear Dr Untersteiner,

On behalf of the Australian Medical Professionals’ Society (AMPS), I am writing to express the serious and ongoing concerns of our members regarding the dysfunction of AHPRA’s new online registration portal.

As with the earlier crisis affecting nurses and midwives, the medical profession is now experiencing widespread frustration, stress, and delay due to unresolved issues with the 2025 registration system.

Despite AHPRA’s stated improvements following the nursing renewal period, we continue to receive reports of:

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) failures that lock practitioners out of their accounts
• Repetitive and uneditable fields requiring re-entry of immutable information (e.g., medical school details)
• Email communications from unmonitored “no-reply” addresses, with requests to respond to those very emails
• Phone support queues extending over 1–3 hours in direct contradiction to published claims
• Errors in payment processing and account resets without notice or transparency

These technical and communication failures are not just inconveniences. They are threatening the confidence, wellbeing, and participation of Australia’s medical workforce, particularly senior practitioners.

Several doctors have indicated they are reconsidering their decision to renew due to the convoluted and frustrating process. One prominent GP described the portal as a “bureaucratic double-talk” exercise that feels like a test of cognitive endurance, rather than a service-oriented licensing system. That doctors, especially older and rural practitioners are being disincentivised from renewing registration should be deeply alarming to your agency.

We recognise the need for strong cybersecurity protections and acknowledge the importance of MFA. However, system changes must not come at the cost of functionality, fairness, and frontline workforce morale.

We therefore request the following urgent guarantees to all medical practitioners: AMPS Urgently Calls on AHPRA to:

1. Immediately confirm that no doctor will be fined, suspended, disciplined or deregistered due to system or authentication failures outside their control, provided they attempt renewal in good faith by 30 September.
2. Waive all late fees and penalties associated with delayed or unsuccessful portal access, especially for those who have documented attempts or system-generated errors.
3. Provide a monitored and responsive escalation channel, particularly for doctors locked out of accounts, unable to complete payment, or requiring manual intervention.
4. Issue clear and direct communications, not from “donotreply” emails, regarding timelines, workarounds, and support resources.

This situation is not a matter of user error. It is a governance and systems design failure that must be met with accountability and reform.

We request a written response within five business days.

AHPRA must demonstrate it is acting in good faith to support, not frustrate, Australia’s medical workforce.

Sincerely

Dr Duncan Syme

President of the Australian Medical Professionals Society 

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