Graduate registration

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.  

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.  

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.