50 signatures reached
To: Justin Untersteiner, Chief Executive Officer of AHPRA
Australian healthcare workers will not be silenced!
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On the 17th June 2026, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) implemented the IHRA definition of antisemitism without warning or consultation with the workforce or their representative bodies.
Many healthcare workers object to this definition of antisemitism being used as a core reference tool for healthcare regulation as it may risk conflating legitimate criticism of the State of Israel and its government with antisemitism, creating a chilling effect on lawful advocacy by healthcare workers.
AHPRA regulates a broad range of health professions, overseeing more than 950,000 registered practitioners across Australia's health and caring sectors. Under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, registration with AHPRA is a legal requirement for anyone practicing in these professions.
We, the undersigned, are demanding that AHPRA:
Many healthcare workers object to this definition of antisemitism being used as a core reference tool for healthcare regulation as it may risk conflating legitimate criticism of the State of Israel and its government with antisemitism, creating a chilling effect on lawful advocacy by healthcare workers.
AHPRA regulates a broad range of health professions, overseeing more than 950,000 registered practitioners across Australia's health and caring sectors. Under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, registration with AHPRA is a legal requirement for anyone practicing in these professions.
We, the undersigned, are demanding that AHPRA:
- Reverse and halt this decision and its adoption of the IHRA definition; and in any event immediately pause any use of the definition in assessing complaints, pending genuine consultation with the workforce and its representative bodies;
- Guarantee in published guidance that lawful conflict will not expose practitioners to regulatory action;
- Ensure practitioner representation, including those who have faced vexatious complaints over such advocacy, on any related review or advisory panel; and
- Adopt an approach that combats antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia, and all forms of racism while protecting healthcare workers' professional independence, freedom of expression, and ethical duty to advocate for human rights, humanitarian protection, and the health impacts of conflict without fear of regulatory action.
We further call on Australia's Health Ministers, who oversee AHPRA, to direct that these steps be taken.
Why is this important?
As healthcare workers, we emphatically reject antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism, Islamaphobia, racism and all forms of discrimination and hatred. Every healthcare worker, patient, carer and community member deserve safety, dignity and equal access to treatment, care and support - Jewish people, Palestinian people and all communities affected by conflict, violence and war.
Antisemitism is real, harmful, and must be confronted wherever it occurs. That is not what this decision does. What it does instead is import a definition whose own illustrative examples concern the State of Israel and its policies, blurring the line between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of a government and its policies.
We state loudly and clearly that criticism of the State of Israel, its government, military actions against civilians, healthcare workers and healthcare facilities and speaking out on Palestine is not antisemitic.
We oppose any regulatory framework that could deter healthcare workers from engaging in lawful advocacy for human rights, humanitarian protection, civilian safety, or accountability under international law. Professional registration must never become a mechanism for political silence.
This decision is a dangerous and pernicious attempt to silence health professionals who speak out in support of a free Palestine. It sends a chilling message that doctors, nurses, midwives, occupational therapists, psychologists, pharmacists, paramedics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners, chiropractors, radiographers, dentists, optometrists, osteopaths, physiotherapists, and podiatrists' risk professional repercussions simply for advocating for Palestinian rights and justice.
The implications extend far beyond the health sector. This decision raises serious concerns for colleagues working across the disability, aged care, community services, and education sectors, who are increasingly worried that they too could face similar efforts to suppress advocacy and restrict freedom of expression within their professions.
We are healthcare workers. We have an ethical duty to speak on the health consequences of war, attacks on hospitals and clinics, and on the denial of care to civilians.
We will not surrender that duty, and we call on AHPRA and Australia's Health Ministers to ensure we are not punished for exercising it.
Antisemitism is real, harmful, and must be confronted wherever it occurs. That is not what this decision does. What it does instead is import a definition whose own illustrative examples concern the State of Israel and its policies, blurring the line between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of a government and its policies.
We state loudly and clearly that criticism of the State of Israel, its government, military actions against civilians, healthcare workers and healthcare facilities and speaking out on Palestine is not antisemitic.
We oppose any regulatory framework that could deter healthcare workers from engaging in lawful advocacy for human rights, humanitarian protection, civilian safety, or accountability under international law. Professional registration must never become a mechanism for political silence.
This decision is a dangerous and pernicious attempt to silence health professionals who speak out in support of a free Palestine. It sends a chilling message that doctors, nurses, midwives, occupational therapists, psychologists, pharmacists, paramedics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners, chiropractors, radiographers, dentists, optometrists, osteopaths, physiotherapists, and podiatrists' risk professional repercussions simply for advocating for Palestinian rights and justice.
The implications extend far beyond the health sector. This decision raises serious concerns for colleagues working across the disability, aged care, community services, and education sectors, who are increasingly worried that they too could face similar efforts to suppress advocacy and restrict freedom of expression within their professions.
We are healthcare workers. We have an ethical duty to speak on the health consequences of war, attacks on hospitals and clinics, and on the denial of care to civilians.
We will not surrender that duty, and we call on AHPRA and Australia's Health Ministers to ensure we are not punished for exercising it.
How it will be delivered
AHPRA Head Office, Melbourne.