Consultation on Additional disciplinary levy for the 2026/27 practising year
Consultation Releases: Wednesday 29 July 2026
Consultation Closes: Wednesday 2 September 2026
The Board is experiencing unexpected disciplinary cost pressures following a significant rise in professional conduct cases across the profession. The Board holds disciplinary reserves to fund Professional Conduct Committees (PCCs), which may then lay charges before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (HPDT). This year, seven cases are before the HPDT, compared with an average of 1.4 cases per year over the past five years. This illustrates the significant increase in disciplinary activity currently being managed by the Board.
As a result, the Board is consulting on a proposal to raise a one-off disciplinary levy for all registered psychologists under section 131 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (the Act). The Act allows the Board to raise additional levies where needed, recognising that the number, timing, and cost of disciplinary matters can vary significantly.
The increased cost pressures are due to a combination of factors, including:
- An increase in conduct cases, resulting in more HPDT hearings.
- Greater case complexity, resulting in higher independent legal costs and more time required for PCCs to consider matters before them.
- A significant increase in general costs associated with PCCs.
- Updates to HPDT processes to better manage proceedings and shorten timelines. This means that, when a PCC lays charges before the HPDT, proceedings may begin in the same financial year as the PCC process. Historically, this timeframe may have extended across two or more years, spreading costs over multiple budget cycles.
Together, these factors have resulted in a forecast deficit in the disciplinary reserve for the year ending 31 March 2027. This has made the proposal for the one-off disciplinary levy necessary.
The Board acknowledges that the proposed one-off disciplinary levy is unexpected for practitioners, and the proposal has not been made lightly. Further information is provided in the consultation document, and submissions are invited on the proposed one-off disciplinary levy of $247.83 (plus GST) by Wednesday 2 September 2026. A copy of the consultation document is available here.