Options for guidance for podiatrists working with podiatric assistants

05 Dec 2024

The Podiatry Board of Australia (Board) is consulting on proposed options for providing guidance to podiatrists working with assistants in their practice.

The Board published Guidelines for podiatrists working with podiatric assistants in podiatry practice (the guidelines) in 2010, which sets out the obligations of podiatrists when working with assistants and provides information about what they must do in this specific area of practice. Since their publication, National Boards have taken a less prescriptive approach to providing guidance to their professions and the Board is consulting on two proposed options which are: 

• retain the guidelines with revisions, making them more contemporary, or
• retire the guidelines and replace them with a high level guidance document and supporting materials that explain how the Code of conduct and professional capabilities apply when working with an assistant.

The Board prefers to retire the guidelines and replace them with the proposed Guidance for working with assistants in podiatry practice and supporting materials such as case studies. 

By retiring the guidelines and relying on the robust framework of the Code of conduct and professional capabilities, the Board hopes to provide more flexibility to reflect evolving practice settings, reduce barriers, and enable podiatrists and assistants to work to their full scope while maintaining safety for the public. 

The Board seeks your feedback on the best option, as well as the proposed Guidance for working with assistants in podiatry practice.

Be sure to provide your response before consultation closes on 14 February 2025.