Graduating soon? What you need to know for graduate registration as a health practitioner

14 Sep 2020

In your final year of an approved program of study and excited about starting work as a health practitioner?

Online registration for graduate applications is open from mid-September and you can submit your application up to three months before you expect to complete your course.

Not sure how to apply?

Check out our new video and accompanying information flyers all designed to help you when applying for registration.

You’ll find advice on how to apply as well as tips for avoiding common causes of delay on the Graduate applications page on the Ahpra website.

Registration standards

When you apply for registration, your application is carefully assessed against your National Board’s requirements for registration (the ‘registration standards’). The registration standards are to prove you’re suitably trained, qualified and safe to practise the profession.

What registration standards do I need to meet?

You’ll need to prove you’ve met the standards for:

• English language skills, and
• professional indemnity insurance.

We will also ask you to disclose any criminal history and to declare whether you have any health impairments that may affect your ability to practise.

Some professions have additional standards (check their website to find out).

To prove you’ve met the registration standards for your profession, you may need to provide supporting documentation. Make sure you’ve provided all the documentation you need to when you submit your application because if we need to go back to you for more information, it might cause delay.

We can’t register you until we are satisfied that you meet your Board’s standards for registration.

Photo ID

It’s important that you provide correctly certified photo ID documents with your application. We need to meet the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s requirements for photo ID checks.

The wording they require is very specific and may look different to wording you’ve seen before, so double check you’ve got the wording right before submitting your application. Incorrectly certified documents will cause delay.

How can I make sure my Photo ID documents are certified correctly?

Get your photographic identity documents signed by an authorised offer and make sure they use the correct wording:

‘I certify that this is a true copy of the original and the photograph is a true likeness of the person presenting the document as sighted by me.’

To get it right the first time download the guide Certifying Documents: Instructions for applicants and authorised officers from our website and take it with you to the authorised officer.

The guide includes a full list of professionals in addition to JPs, that are authorised to certify photographic ID documents. These include various registered health professions, public servants, teachers, lecturers and members of the legal profession.

How long does it take to assess my application?

We can’t finalise your application until we receive your graduate results from your education provider.

If you’ve submitted everything you need to prove you’ve met the requirements for registration, we aim to finalise your application within two weeks of receiving your graduate results.

We recommend that you submit your application before you graduate so that it’s ready to finalise when we receive your results.

Want more profession specific information?

Check out your profession’s National Board website:

For more information

For registration enquiries, difficulties in accessing the online application form or if you are experiencing financial hardship: 1300 419 495 (within Australia)

For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200