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Registration renewal for medical practitioners with general, specialist and non-practising registration is due on 30 September 2018.
If you haven’t already renewed your registration, do it before 30 September if you want to continue to practise. Online renewal is quick and easy.
There is a late fee for renewal applications received in October.
To renew, follow the prompts in the reminders AHPRA has sent you by email or mail.
By law, if you apply to renew on time, you can practise medicine while we process your application. If you apply to renew on time or during the late renewal period, you can still practise medicine even if:
Even if the registration expiry date displayed has passed, the national register will continue to confirm that you are registered.
Under the National Law, practitioners who do not apply to renew their registration within one month of their registration expiry date must be removed from the Register of Medical Practitioners. For medical practitioners, this will happen on 1 November. Their registration will lapse and they will not be able to practise medicine in Australia until a new application for registration is approved. Practitioners whose registration has lapsed can make a fast-track application, but they cannot practise until their application is processed and the national register is updated. This can take time.
Fees, tips and other information
The registration fee for medical practitioners for 2018/19 is $764. The fee schedule is available on the fees page.
A video and ‘Tips for renewing online’ are available for medical practitioners on the Registration renewal page.
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The Board publishes statistics each quarter on the medical profession. Data are broken down by state and territory, registration type and for specialists, by specialty and field of specialty.
The latest data are available on the Board’s website under Statistics on the News page.
The Board has approved the following:
Specialist college program of study
The Occupational English Test (OET) will soon be publishing test results in a different format.
All applicants for initial medical registration must meet the Board’s registration standard for English language skills. The OET is one of six English language skills tests accepted by the Medical Board.
OET scores will continue to be reported using the current letter grade scale (A – E) and from October, a new numerical scale (0 – 500) will report candidate scores alongside the letter grade. The new numerical scale takes effect for tests taken from 9 September 2018. Results showing the new numerical grades and OET letter grades will be released from 2 October 2018.
There is no change to the English language level being tested by OET. The OET will measure the same skills at the same level. Only scores will be reported differently. The Medical Board’s English language skills registration standard has not changed. Updates have been made to AHPRA's internal systems and relevant application forms to reflect the new numerical scale.
The Medical Board’s registration standard requires a minimum OET score of B in each of the four components (listening, reading, writing and speaking). From 9 September, AHPRA will continue to accept a minimum score of B, or a minimum score of 350 (the equivalent of a B) on the new numerical scale.
Applicants for medical registration who need to take an English language test to demonstrate they meet the standard can sit either the OET, IELTS, TOEFL iBT, Pearson, NZREX or PLAB tests.
The Medical Board’s English language skills registration standard is available on the Board’s website.
AHPRA made this media statement last month:
Further fines for fake doctor – AHPRA has successfully prosecuted fake doctor Raffaele Di Paolo for further offences, with additional fines totalling $28,000.
There are important lessons for registered medical practitioners from tribunal decisions. The Medical Board of Australia refers the most serious concerns about medical practitioners to tribunals in each state and territory. These cases were published recently:
The State Administrative Tribunal in Western Australia has reprimanded, suspended and imposed conditions on a general practitioner for practising without appropriate professional indemnity insurance (Medical Board of Australia v Stewart)
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal has cancelled a general practitioner’s registration after he had a personal relationship with a patient (Medical Board of Australia v Blomeley).
AHPRA, on behalf of the 15 National Boards, publishes a record of panel, court and tribunal decisions about registered health practitioners.
When investigating a notification, the Board may refer a medical practitioner to a health panel hearing, or a performance and professional standards panel hearing. Under the National Law1, panel hearings are not open to the public. AHPRA publishes a record of panel hearing decisions made since July 2010. Practitioners’ names are not published, consistent with the National Law.
Summaries of tribunal and court cases are published on the Court and tribunal decisions page of the AHPRA website. The Board and AHPRA sometimes choose to not publish summaries, for example about cases involving practitioners with impairment.
In New South Wales and Queensland, different arrangements are in place. More information is available on AHPRA’s website on the Make a complaint page.
1 The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory.
Please note: Practitioners are responsible for keeping up to date with the Board’s expectations about their professional obligations. The Board publishes standards, codes and guidelines as well as alerts in its newsletter. If you unsubscribe from this newsletter you are still required to keep up to date with information published on the Board’s website.
Comment on the Board newsletter is welcome and should be sent to [email protected].
For registration enquiries or contact detail changes, call the AHPRA customer service team on 1300 419 495 (from within Australia).