Regulation, Ethics and Standards
The Occupational Therapy Board of Australia is the governing body that oversees standards, codes and guidelines for the Occupational Therapy profession.
The Board has developed a series of codes and guidelines to guide the expectations on professional conduct and practice and has adopted the Code of Conduct for registered health professionals. All occupational therapists (including students) are bound by these standards and codes.
Education and Training
Occupational Therapy of Australia Ltd (OTC) is the accreditation authority responsible for accrediting education providers and degrees for the occupational therapy profession, and the Australian Occupational Therapy Competency Standards outline professional behaviours all occupational therapists should demonstrate to practise safely and ethically. The Occupational Therapy Board of Australia have a set of guidelines for supervision across all levels of practice and experience including examples of a supervision agreement, supervised practice plan and supervisor’s report template.
Useful Resources
- Student Assessment - The Spef-R© is the nationally recognised assessment tool for Occupational Therapy clinical placements. It is a licensed tool, although all Universities organising student placements will provide access and an online learning module to assist with implementing the Spef-R©.
- The Occupational Therapy Practice Education Collaborative - Queensland (OTPEC-Q) provides a suite of resources outlining all of the needs for an occupational therapy placement, including preparing for placement and orientation, evaluation of placements, clinical educator resources, trouble shooting, and different occupational therapy placement contexts such as private practice.
- This link provides information on the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia Competency Standards. Below are some other areas identified as a potential start point by Occupational Therapy Clinical Educators to assist their students with placement.
- Occupational Therapy – Student Tips Starter information suggested by Occupational Therapy practitioners to guide students. These could be used as an introduction to the placement, during orientation or throughout the placement as learning tools for your student supervision sessions
