RACGP AI Scribe Guidelines: What Every Clinician Needs to Know
The RACGP published its first formal guidance on AI scribes in October 2025. Here's what Australian GPs and clinicians need to understand before using one in practice.
In October 2025, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) published its first formal position on the use of artificial intelligence scribes in clinical practice. It was a significant moment — not because AI scribes were new, but because Australian GPs finally had a professional framework to guide their use.
If you've been using an AI scribe, thinking about trying one, or simply wondering what the rules are, this guide breaks down what the RACGP guidance means for your day-to-day practice.
What Are AI Scribes?
An AI scribe is a software tool that listens to a clinical consultation — either in person or via telehealth — and automatically generates structured clinical documentation. This typically includes SOAP notes, consultation summaries, referral letters, and follow-up plans.
Unlike traditional dictation software, modern AI scribes understand clinical context. They can distinguish between a patient's reported symptoms (subjective) and a clinician's findings (objective), and produce notes in formats that match a practice's existing templates.
For busy GPs in Australia, that can translate to two or more hours saved per day — time that can go back to patients, family, or simply finishing on time.
What the RACGP Guidelines Say
The RACGP's guidance is grounded in three core principles: patient consent, clinician responsibility, and data privacy. Here is what each means in practice.
1. Patient Consent Is Non-Negotiable
Before using an AI scribe in any consultation, the RACGP is clear: patients must be informed and must consent. This means telling the patient that an AI tool will be listening to or processing the consultation, explaining how their data will be used and stored, giving them the right to decline without affecting the quality of their care, and documenting that consent was given.
In practice, most clinicians handle this with a brief verbal explanation at the start of the appointment, supported by a consent note in the patient record. Some practices include an opt-in statement in their intake forms.
The key is that consent must be genuine and informed — not buried in fine print or assumed.
2. The Clinician Remains Responsible for Every Note
This is perhaps the most important point in the RACGP guidance, and one that sometimes surprises clinicians who are new to AI tools: the AI does not take clinical responsibility. You do.
Every note generated by an AI scribe must be reviewed, edited if necessary, and approved by the treating clinician before it becomes part of the medical record. The RACGP explicitly warns against treating AI-generated notes as final without review, copy-pasting AI output without checking it for clinical accuracy, and assuming the AI captured the full clinical picture.
This is not a criticism of AI tools — it is simply a recognition that AI makes mistakes, particularly with complex clinical scenarios, ambiguous language, or unusual presentations. A clinician's judgment is irreplaceable.
3. Data Privacy and Security Must Be Verified
Patient data is sensitive, and the RACGP guidelines reflect the expectations already set by the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). When selecting an AI scribe, clinicians should confirm where patient data is stored — ideally within Australia, that the platform is compliant with the APPs and, where applicable, HIPAA-aligned standards, that audio or transcription data is not retained beyond what is necessary, and that the provider has undergone independent security auditing such as SOC 2 Type 1 certification.
Clinicians bear responsibility not just for their own actions, but for the tools they choose to use. Selecting a platform that cuts corners on security is not just a technology risk — it is a professional one.
What the Guidelines Do Not Say
It is worth addressing a common misconception: the RACGP guidelines do not prohibit AI scribes. They do not recommend against them. In fact, the guidance acknowledges the very real benefits these tools can deliver — reduced administrative burden, improved note quality, and better clinician wellbeing.
What the RACGP is doing is setting a floor, not a ceiling. Clinicians who use compliant tools responsibly, obtain proper consent, and review their notes are operating well within the guidance.
Practical Steps for GPs Using AI Scribes
If you are using an AI scribe or planning to start, here is a practical checklist aligned with the RACGP guidelines.
Before each consultation, inform the patient that an AI tool will assist with documentation, confirm their consent verbally and note it in the record, and ensure your AI scribe platform is running and connected.
During the consultation, speak naturally — you do not need to change how you communicate with patients. If you notice the AI has missed something important, make a mental note to correct it during review.
After the consultation, review the AI-generated note carefully, correct any errors in clinical terminology or detail, add anything the AI missed, and only then approve the note for the patient record.
At the practice level, document your AI scribe consent process in your practice policies, train all clinicians on the tool and the review requirement, and audit your AI scribe vendor's data handling practices at least annually.
Choosing a Compliant AI Scribe for Australian Practice
Not all AI scribes are equal — and the RACGP guidance implicitly raises the bar for what a responsible platform looks like. When evaluating an AI scribe for your practice, look for Australian Privacy Act and APP compliance as a baseline, SOC 2 Type 1 or equivalent independent security certification, clear data residency commitments (ideally Australian servers), no use of patient data for model training without explicit anonymisation and consent, and a transparent privacy policy written in plain language.
NirvaScribe was built with these requirements in mind. Patient audio is not stored on our servers. Data is processed and stored in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act. We hold SOC 2 Type 1 certification, and our privacy policy is written to be understood — not to obscure.
The Bigger Picture
The RACGP's guidance on AI scribes is part of a broader shift in how Australian healthcare is approaching artificial intelligence. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) published guidance on AI as a medical device in early 2026. Professional bodies across allied health are developing their own frameworks.
This is not a landscape to fear — it is one to navigate with good information. Clinicians who engage with these guidelines, choose compliant tools, and maintain their professional judgment will be well positioned to benefit from what AI has to offer without taking on unnecessary risk.
If you are ready to try an AI scribe that was built for Australian clinical practice, you can start a free trial of NirvaScribe at www.nirvascribe.com. No credit card required.
