There is growing consensus across Australia that ADHD care must become more consistent, safer and better integrated.
Last week, AADPA had the opportunity to brief the National Legislation Harmonisation Advisory Group, where several key themes were emerging clearly. There is a growing recognition at all levels that we need national consistency in ADHD care.
There were numerous questions about training, scope of practice and regulatory settings. A clear recognition emerged that the quality and safety of ADHD service reform will depend not simply on expanding access, but on how that access is structured, governed and evaluated.
From AADPA’s perspective, this conversation was timely in light of recent media coverage of rising ADHD prescribing and flawed narratives like an “ADHD Explosion”.
Figures quoting rising prescriptions, on their own, do not tell the full story. Greater awareness, better recognition of ADHD across the lifespan, and long-overdue access to assessment and treatment are all part of this picture.
AADPA’s Position: Coherence, Evidence and Safety
AADPA’s position is clear. We are advocating for a nationally coherent and consistent approach that is built on evidence, competency and patient safety.
That means starting with the clinical foundations that already exist, including our Australian Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline for ADHD and the practice resources developed to support implementation.
It means recognising that reform should be anchored in consistent standards, not shaped by slogans, political pressure, or ad hoc responses to local problems.
Standards Must Come Before Slogans or Politics
Reform should be anchored in consistent standards — not shaped by slogans, political pressure or ad hoc responses to local problems.
Policy announcements and guideline publications alone do not drive reform. Without appropriate governance, implementation and evaluation frameworks, even well?intentioned changes can introduce risk and variability into care.
AADPA is also advocating for training that is rigorous, practical and benchmarked. Expanding clinical roles without appropriate education, supervision and governance is not reform — it is risk.
But scrutiny must not fall on GPs alone.
The uncomfortable reality is that some of our colleagues in psychiatry and paediatrics have also had limited access to quality ADHD training and support throughout their careers. This is not a criticism; it reflects longstanding gaps in workforce preparation and service design.
If Australia is serious about improving care, expectations around competency, quality and ongoing education must apply across the board.
Nor is it enough to focus solely on prescribing. Good ADHD care requires careful assessment, psychoeducation, shared care arrangements, and meaningful integration of the broader multidisciplinary workforce.
Allied health professionals play a critical role in supporting functional outcomes over time, and their contribution must be fully embedded into models of care across the lifespan.
AADPA is therefore calling for national leadership in three areas.
01. Consistent standards across professions
Including clearer expectations around training, competency and quality assurance.
02. Proper Implementation Infrastructure
Curriculum development, clinical governance, workforce support and evaluation, because guidelines and policy.
03. A More Balanced Understanding of Good Care
One that encompasses accurate assessment, safe treatment, psychoeducation and ongoing multidisciplinary support across the lifespan, not prescribing alone.
A Moment That Should Not Be Missed
The Federal Government now has an important— and likely final — opportunity to bring coherence to ADHD care reform in Australia. A nationally consistent, standards-based approach is achievable, but only if reform is guided by evidence, competency and patient safety, rather than allowed to fragment further through delay or inaction.
