When should I apply?
We recommend getting your application in early, up to 90 days before the time you expect to complete all your course requirements, which includes any placements.
You don’t need to wait until you’ve completed your course or graduated, to apply.
If you’ve already completed your course, you can apply now.
Pharmacy and psychology graduates have additional requirements and should apply once your supervised practice arrangements are signed off.
How do I create my Ahpra portal?
Click ‘Ahpra portal’ on the top right of this page and you will be taken to the portal login page.
Before you start, check out the information on how to create your account and set up your Ahpra portal and if setting up multifactor authentication with an authenticator app is new to you, please learn how to set up multifactor authentication.
Or you can jump straight in by clicking ‘Ahpra portal’.
If you run into any issues, find help on the troubleshooting tips page.
Choosing an email for your portal log in
- Use an email address that is unique to you.
- Don’t use an email address that is shared with or accessible by anyone else.
- Avoid using your education provider email as you may not be able to access it after you graduate.
- Avoid using a work email as you may lose access if you change employers.
We will also use this email address to contact you if we need more information.
What information do I need to provide?
When you apply, you need to demonstrate that you meet the requirements for registration (registration standards), confirm your identity and pay the relevant fee.
As well as the completed application form, your application must include:
- payment of the relevant fee
- all other required information such as evidence to support your English language declaration, and, if relevant, information about your criminal history, or evidence from your treating practitioner about any health impairments.
Once you’ve submitted your application, you’ll be required to complete an identity check with InstaID+.
It’s important you provide as much information as you can when you submit your application. If we need to contact you for more information, your application may be delayed.
The online application form will prompt you for relevant documents that you will need to scan and upload before you can submit your application.
English language skills
The National Boards have set requirements for English language skills (ELS) to make sure you can communicate effectively with patients, clients, consumers and their relatives and carers, collaborate with other colleagues and keep clear and accurate health records.
You must meet the ELS registration standard for your profession, regardless of whether you are Australian-trained or qualified overseas. It is one of the five core registration standards and is required by every National Board.
There are different English language requirements for different professions.
In the common ELS registration standard (for 13 professions except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice, nursing and midwifery), there are four pathways that you can use to demonstrate that you are competent in English language and meet the English language skills standard. The pathways are:
- the combined education pathway
- the school education pathway
- the advanced education pathway, and
- the test pathway.
Visit ‘English language skills’ for more information on the National Boards’ ELS requirements, and to use the English language skills pathway selection tool to find out how you can mee the standard and what information you’ll need to provide when applying for registration.
If you are applying for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, you must meet their ELS registration standard.
For graduates applying to be an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner, your English language proficiency can be demonstrated through the completion of the Certificate IV in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care (Practice) or a qualification considered by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia to be equivalent. More information is available on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner Board's website.
Health impairments
When we say ‘health impairment’ we mean any serious physical or mental impairment, disability, condition or disorder (including substance abuse or dependence) which could negatively affect your ability to practise safely.
Most health issues are not impairments.
You do not need to declare well-managed health conditions that do not affect your ability to practise safely. For example, you don’t need to tell us about needing prescription glasses, wearing hearing aids, having diabetes or taking time off work for a short-term illness or injury.
Having an impairment doesn't mean you'll be prevented from gaining registration. But we need to know what you are doing to manage that impairment.
We may require current documentation about your diagnosis and/or treatment plan and a report from your treating health practitioner providing information about your impairment and confirming your current fitness to practise.
It's important that you provide as much information as you can about health issues that could negatively affect your ability to practise safely when you submit your application. If we need to contact you for more information, the assessment of your application may be delayed.
Criminal history
In your application, you need to tell us about any criminal history.
Criminal history includes every:
- conviction for an offence
- plea of guilty or finding of guilt by a court for an offence, whether or not a conviction is recorded for the offence
- every charge for an offence, even those resolved without a conviction or finding of guilt.
Even though you should tell us about every offence, not every offence will be relevant to your application. Your National Board will decide whether your criminal history is relevant to the practise of the profession. For further information on the factors the Board will consider in making this decision, see the Criminal history registration standard.
We cannot register you until we have received the results of your criminal history check/s.
Australian criminal history check
We conduct an Australian criminal history check on every applicant. This cost is covered in your application fee.
You need to supply a complete criminal history with your application irrespective of the time that has lapsed since the charge was laid or whether a finding of guilt was made. This is because under the National Law, spent convictions legislation does not apply to criminal history disclosure requirements.
If you do not supply your full criminal history, your application may be delayed or refused.
International criminal history check
If you have lived overseas for a period of six consecutive months or as an adult you will also need to complete an international criminal history check. It is your responsibility to request and pay for your international criminal history check through an Ahpra-approved supplier. The results will be passed to us directly.
How do I get my identity checked?
Everyone applying for registration must go through an identity check. We do this using InstaID+, a secure, independent provider.
After you submit your application, InstaID+ will email you a secure link (within 48 hours) to complete your proof of identity check online.
When you get the link, you have 30 days to complete your identity check. If you don't complete it within 30 days, we will withdraw your application and refund your registration fee. If this happens and you still want to apply, you’ll have to start a new application and pay the application and registration fee again.
Read more about the identity check process including which documents you’ll need to provide InstaID+.
How do I upload documents?
As you progress through the online application form, you will be prompted to upload documents, if relevant to the question being asked.
Uploading your documents in the application form is the easiest, quickest and most secure way to provide them to us.
We recommend that you:
- review the information that you need to provide
- save and pause your application
- gather the information in the format that we need, and
- resume your application when you’re ready to upload your documents.
All documents must:
- be clear and legible
- less than 10MB, and
- in one of the following formats: .JPG, .JPEG, .GIF, .PNG, .PDF, .TIF, .TIFF.
How long does it take to assess my application?
Once we’ve received your complete application, we will wait for graduate results from your education provider. Once your education provider shares the graduate results with us, we aim to finalise your application within two weeks.
It may take longer to assess your application if:
- you have not provided all the information required of you by the application form, or via a subsequent request for information from us
- you have indicated you have a health impairment that requires more detailed assessment
- you do not declare your criminal history, or
- there is a delay in receiving the results of international criminal history checks from an Ahpra-approved supplier.
We can’t finalise your application until after we’ve received your graduate results, your proof of identity check, criminal history check and any additional documents we ask for. We start to assess your application before we receive your graduate results from your education provider, which is why we encourage you to submit your application early and to check whether you’ve provided everything you need to prove that you’ve met the requirements for registration. We also recommend you get your identity check done as soon as InstaID+ email you. This is particularly important during the end-of-year peak graduate period where we receive about 37,000 applications within a few months.