Medical Board Code of Conduct Section 10 Update 2026

What Changed in the Medical Board Code of Conduct Section 10?

The Medical Board of Australia has introduced an entirely new Section 10 titled "Professional behaviour" to Good Medical Practice: A Code of Conduct for Doctors in Australia. This section establishes explicit standards for curriculum vitae accuracy (Section 10.10), cooperation with investigations (Section 10.11), and managing conflicts of interest (Section 10.12). These requirements were previously scattered throughout the Code or addressed only in general terms.

The update represents a significant expansion of the Code's scope beyond clinical practice standards into the administrative and professional conduct dimensions of medical practice. Section 10.1 provides an introduction to professional behaviour expectations, establishing the framework for the three specific subsections that follow.

Section 10.10 on curriculum vitae requirements addresses a longstanding enforcement priority for AHPRA. Medical practitioners must now ensure their CVs contain accurate, complete, and verifiable information about their qualifications, training history, employment, publications, and professional achievements. This directly responds to cases where practitioners have misrepresented their credentials in applications for positions, specialist recognition, or when advertising services to patients.

Section 10.11 establishes clear obligations for how doctors must cooperate with investigations conducted by AHPRA, the Medical Board, employers, or other regulatory bodies. This includes responding promptly to requests for information, attending interviews when required, and providing truthful, complete answers. The section clarifies that obstruction, delay, or providing misleading information during investigations may itself constitute professional misconduct.

Section 10.12 on conflicts of interest provides structured guidance on identifying, disclosing, and managing situations where a doctor's personal, financial, or professional interests may conflict with patient care or professional obligations. This includes financial interests in diagnostic services, relationships with pharmaceutical companies, and personal relationships with patients.

The update also restructured existing content. The previous Section 4.2 titled "Doctor-patient partnership" has been removed as a standalone subsection. This content has been integrated and distributed throughout other sections of the Code, reflecting the Board's view that partnership principles should inform all aspects of medical practice rather than existing as an isolated topic.

The updated Code of Conduct is now available on the Medical Board website, with improved navigation and links to supporting guidance documents including the updated advertising guidelines.

What Stayed the Same vs. What Changed?

The core clinical practice standards in Sections 1-9 of the Code remain substantively unchanged, including patient care obligations, communication standards, confidentiality requirements, and consent processes. The fundamental ethical framework governing doctor-patient relationships continues unchanged. The changes are additive—introducing new explicit standards for professional conduct areas that were previously addressed only indirectly or through enforcement actions.

The penalties for breaching the Code remain unchanged. Conduct that constitutes a departure from the standards outlined in the Code may be considered unprofessional conduct or professional misconduct under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law. This can result in conditions on registration, suspension, or cancellation of registration, depending on the severity of the breach.

Why Does Section 10 Matter for Medical Practitioners?

Section 10 codifies enforcement priorities that AHPRA and the Medical Board have been pursuing through individual disciplinary actions for years. By making these standards explicit in the Code, the Board has eliminated any ambiguity about expectations. Practitioners can no longer claim they were unaware that CV misrepresentations, investigation non-cooperation, or undisclosed conflicts of interest constitute professional misconduct.

The CV requirements in Section 10.10 have immediate practical implications for medical practitioners in several contexts. When applying for specialist recognition, hospital privileges, or employment positions, your CV is now explicitly governed by professional conduct standards, not just general honesty expectations. Embellishing qualifications, misrepresenting training duration, claiming authorship of publications you didn't write, or listing affiliations you don't hold are now clear Code breaches.

This directly impacts advertising compliance. Many medical practitioners include biographical information on practice websites, Google Business Profiles, and social media. Claims about "specialist" status, training, qualifications, or experience must be accurate and verifiable. The intersection of Section 10.10 with advertising obligations means your online presence must reflect your actual credentials exactly. For detailed guidance on protected title compliance in team bios and advertising, see our analysis of specialist claims in team bios.

Section 10.11 on investigation cooperation clarifies that your obligations don't end with clinical practice. When AHPRA, the Medical Board, or your employer initiates an investigation—whether related to a patient complaint, notification from another practitioner, or routine audit—you must respond promptly, completely, and truthfully. Attempting to delay, providing incomplete information, or being evasive in interviews may result in separate professional misconduct findings beyond the original investigation subject.

The conflicts of interest provisions in Section 10.12 require proactive disclosure and management systems. If you have a financial interest in a pathology service, imaging centre, or pharmacy to which you refer patients, you must disclose this and ensure the referral is clinically justified. If you receive payments, travel, or other benefits from pharmaceutical or device companies, these relationships must be disclosed when relevant to patient care decisions. If you're treating family members, colleagues, or others with whom you have personal relationships, you must recognise the inherent conflicts and manage them appropriately—often by referring to another practitioner.

What Do Medical Practitioners Need to Do Now?

All medical practitioners should conduct an immediate audit of their curriculum vitae, online profiles, practice website content, and conflict of interest management processes against the new Section 10 standards. This is not optional—the Code is now in effect and applies to all registered medical practitioners. Waiting until you're subject to an investigation or complaint is too late.

For practitioners who advertise cosmetic procedures, the intersection of Section 10 with the September 2025 cosmetic surgery advertising updates creates heightened compliance obligations. Your CV claims, specialist representations, and experience statements must be accurate under Section 10.10 while also meeting the enhanced disclosure requirements for higher-risk procedures. See our detailed analysis of the cosmetic surgery advertising guideline updates.

How Does Section 10 Intersect With Advertising Compliance?

Section 10.10's CV accuracy requirements directly govern what medical practitioners can claim in advertising about their qualifications, training, and experience. Any biographical content on your practice website, social media profiles, or marketing materials must meet both the advertising guidelines and the professional behaviour standards in Section 10. This creates dual compliance obligations for any public-facing content about your credentials.

The advertising guidelines prohibit misleading conduct and require that practitioners accurately represent their qualifications. Section 10.10 now establishes that your CV—which forms the basis for most advertising biographical content—must contain accurate, verifiable information. If your website claims you completed specialty training at a particular institution, that claim must be documented and verifiable. If you list yourself as having "extensive experience" in a particular procedure, you must be able to substantiate that characterisation with actual case numbers and outcomes.

Protected title violations under Sections 113-120 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law carry penalties up to $30,000 for individuals and $60,000 for corporations. Using "specialist" when you don't hold specialist AHPRA registration is both an advertising violation and, under the updated Code, a professional conduct breach under Section 10.10. This means a single misrepresentation can trigger multiple enforcement pathways.

For detailed guidance on ensuring team bios and practitioner profiles comply with protected title requirements, see our comprehensive guide on specialist claims in team bios. That analysis covers the intersection of advertising law and professional conduct standards that Section 10 now makes explicit.

The conflicts of interest provisions in Section 10.12 also affect advertising. If you have a financial interest in a compounding pharmacy, pathology service, or device supplier, and you advertise services that involve those products or services, the conflict may need to be disclosed in your advertising materials—not just during individual patient consultations. This is particularly relevant for practitioners advertising cosmetic procedures involving specific devices or products in which they have commercial interests.