New South Wales fees

New South Wales fees

For practitioners with a principal place of practice in New South Wales (NSW), the registration renewal fee has two components.

The first component relates to the registration and accreditation functions which is the same for all practitioners across Australia. This is calculated by Ahpra.

The second component relates to the notifications function. This is calculated by the NSW Health Professional Councils Authority (HPCA) and is specific to NSW practitioners. Part 8 (notifications) of the National Law in NSW is undertaken by the Health Professional Councils in NSW working with the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) in a co-regulatory partnership. Neither National Boards nor Ahpra manage notifications which arise in NSW.

Where the fee charged to regulate notifications in NSW varies to the national fee charged for notifications, the difference is labelled as either a ‘surcharge’ or ‘rebate’.

Registration and accreditation costs for NSW practitioners

While NSW practitioners pay a NSW-specific cost for notifications, they pay the same costs for registration and accreditation as other practitioners in their profession across Australia. The 2009 Ministerial policy direction requires Ahpra and the National Boards to assess the registration and accreditation elements of the fee for NSW practitioners so that it is clear that NSW practitioners are not contributing to the cost of notifications management outside NSW.

The registration and accreditation costs include:

• the cost of managing applications for registration, including complex internationally qualified practitioners
• maintaining the public register
• the auditing of practitioners for compliance with registration standards and the National Law
• criminal prosecutions for breaches in advertising and use of title
• funding of practitioner health services
• funding the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman
• funding of registration elements of reviews such as the Cosmetic surgery review; and
• funding accreditation services and in the case of medicine, contributing to the funding of accreditation of intern training positions.

The policy direction can be accessed on the Ministerial directives and communiques page. A fundamental principle is that there should be no cross-subsidisation across professions or jurisdictions.

How registration and accreditation costs are calculated

The national registration and accreditation component of the fee operates on a cost-recovery basis with each National Board meeting the full costs for the professions they regulate.

In 2022/23 a new model for allocating costs which considers the complexity, volume, and time to manage the regulatory activity for each profession was introduced. The model reflects access to more detailed data and is designed to ensure costs for regulating each profession are appropriately recovered, target equity levels are maintained, and the risk of cross-subsidisation minimised.

Where our cost allocation work shows that we will be under-recovering or over-recovering the costs of registration and accreditation for practitioners with a principal place of practice in NSW, Ahpra will adjust the fee. Ahpra must comply with the policy direction and correct this component of the fee for NSW.

How fees are collected

The agreed registration fee is collected as part of the annual registration renewal process administered nationally by Ahpra. The notifications component is remitted to the HPCA, monthly, for practitioners with a principal place of practice in NSW, plus approximately 28% of practitioners who do not register a principal place of practice. 

Financial and Performance Data

Audited financial statements are published in the Ahpra annual report which is published every November on Ahpra’s website.

Ahpra’s data on registration and accreditation performance can be accessed on the statistics page on Ahpra’s website.

Overview of the National general registration fees for 2023/24