AFMW calls for urgent clarity from AHPRA and AMA on doctors’ right to lawful advocacy

The Australian Federation of Medical Women is calling on AHPRA and the Australian Medical Association to urgently clarify how doctors’ lawful advocacy and professional speech will be protected following AHPRA’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism as a regulatory reference tool.

AFMW unequivocally condemns antisemitism. Jewish patients, doctors, medical students and healthcare workers must be safe from racism, harassment and discrimination in all healthcare settings.

AFMW also condemns racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism, anti-Arab racism and all other forms of racism, hatred and discrimination. In the Australian context, racism against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is foundational, ongoing and central to any credible anti-racism framework in healthcare.

AFMW believes that no form of discrimination is acceptable in healthcare. While specific forms of racism and discrimination must be recognised and addressed, this must occur within a broader, consistent anti-racism framework. When one form of discrimination is addressed in isolation, without equivalent clarity across other forms of racism and discrimination, there is a risk that the broader obligation to protect all patients, practitioners and communities is weakened.

AFMW is concerned that AHPRA’s use of a contested definition in a regulatory context may create uncertainty for doctors speaking lawfully about human rights, humanitarian crises, war, racism, civilian harm and the actions of governments or states.

No doctor should face regulatory action simply for engaging in lawful humanitarian advocacy, academic debate, evidence-based public commentary or professional speech.

Women doctors, doctors of colour and minority doctors are often already at greater risk of being targeted or silenced when they speak publicly. AHPRA must provide clarity, safeguards and meaningful consultation.

AFMW is calling on AHPRA to:

• clarify how the IHRA Working Definition will be applied in regulatory decision-making;
• confirm that lawful advocacy and public commentary will not, of themselves, attract regulatory action.
• strengthen safeguards against vexatious, bad-faith or politically motivated notifications.
• consult meaningfully with health practitioners, professional bodies, unions, anti-racism experts, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health leaders, Jewish organisations, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim organisations, civil liberties advocates and human rights experts.
• ensure all forms of racism and discrimination are addressed consistently and equitably across healthcare.

AFMW is also calling on AMA, as the national peak medical body, to fulfil its responsibility by actively defending doctors’ professional speech, challenging regulatory overreach, and seeking urgent assurances from AHPRA that lawful humanitarian advocacy, academic debate and evidence-based public commentary will not be treated as professional
misconduct.

Doctors must be able to speak safely, lawfully and ethically about matters affecting health, human rights and patient care. Protecting practitioners from racism and protecting doctors’ lawful professional voice are not competing aims. Both are essential to a fair, ethical and trusted health system.