With thanks to Associate Professor Tina Cockburn for drawing attention to the following.
The Medical and Midwife Indemnity Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 (the Bill) has been introduced into the House of Representatives.
The purpose of the Bill is to ensure that claims made against all privately practising midwives are eligible under the Commonwealth’s medical and midwife indemnity schemes if a medical indemnity claim is made.
The Bill amends the Medical Indemnity Act 2002 to ensure that claims made against midwives in private practice whose registration is not endorsed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia to prescribe scheduled medicines (registered only midwives) are eligible under the Allied Health High Cost Claims Scheme and the Allied Health Exceptional Claims Scheme where the claim relates to incidents that occurred on or from 1 July 2020.
Previously, claims against some registered only midwives were not eligible for the Allied Health Schemes based on whether the midwife could be expected to be covered by an employer’s indemnity arrangements.
The second reading speech for Bill is available online.