Obligations on Medical Practitioners

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) registration standard

Registered medical practitioners are required to participate regularly in continuing professional development (CPD) that is relevant to their scope of practice. This involves maintaining, developing, updating and enhancing their knowledge, skills and performance to ensure they deliver appropriate and safe care.

All doctors need to meet the 2023 CPD registration standard when doing their CPD in 2024 (unless they are exempt). This means you:

• have a CPD home in 2024. You will:
  • join an AMC-accredited CPD home before you start to do your CPD in 2024. The home must be suitable for your scope of practice and can be a college or non-college home
  • log CPD activities with your CPD home
  • need to declare which is your CPD home at 2024/25 registration renewal
• write a professional development plan before starting to do CPD each year
• do 50 hours CPD each year, split across a range of activities:
  • 25 hours - reviewing performance and measuring outcomes:
    • you decide the best mix of these activities to suit your practice, with five hours minimum of each type
  • 12.5 hours - traditional learning or educational activities – reading, lectures, conferences etc
  • 12.5 hours of activities from any category – you allocate these CPD hours.

These groups don’t have to do CPD:

• Medical students
• Doctors with non-practising registration
• Doctors with short-term limited registration (less than four weeks)
• Doctors granted CPD exemptions by CPD homes ( e.g due to illness, parental leave etc)
• Interns and PGY2 doctors who are participating in a structured program that leads to a certificate of completion.

All medical practitioners will be required to make a declaration that they have met the standard and have completed the necessary CPD when they apply for renewal of registration. The Board requires medical practitioners to keep records that may be subject to audit.

The standard covers the CPD obligations for medical practitioners in a range of circumstances.

For details see the Board’s Registration standard: Continuing professional development (PDF 680KB)

English language skills registration standard

This registration standard applies to all applicants for initial registration.

All internationally qualified applicants for medical registration, or applicants who qualified for medical registration in Australia but did not complete their secondary education in English, must demonstrate that they have the necessary English language skills for registration purposes.

All applicants must be able to demonstrate English language skills at IELTS academic level 7 or the equivalent, and achieve the required minimum score in each component of the IELTS academic module, OET or alternatives specified in the standard.

Test results must be obtained within two years of applying for registration. The Board may grant an extension in specific circumstances.

For details see the Board's English Language Skills Registration Standard (PDF 216 KB)

Proof of identity

All applicants are required to comply with the Board’s 'Proof of Identity' requirements.

For the Board can meet its primary responsibility to protect the community, the Board must have confidence in the processes used to validate the authenticity of applicants for medical registration. Once the Board has approved an application for registration, the applicant will be notified and required to attend the Board's office for an identification check. The applicant will need to contact the relevant State or Territory office of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and make an appointment for this purpose. A Certificate of Registration and other information will be issued to the applicant at this appointment if all the required standards have been met.

For details see the Ahpra proof of identity policy approved by the Board.

Recency of practice registration standard

To ensure that they are able to practise competently and safely, medical practitioners must have recent practice in the fields in which they intend to work during the period of registration for which they are applying.

To meet the standard, they must have practised within their scope of practice for a minimum total of:

• four weeks full-time equivalent in one year, which is a total of 152 hours, or 
• 12 weeks full-time equivalent over three consecutive years, which is a total of 456 hours.

If a practitioner has been absent from practice, the specific requirements depend on the field of practice, their level of experience and the length of absence from the field.

If a practitioner proposes to change their field of practice, the Board will consider whether the practitioner’s peers would view the change as a normal extension or variation within a field of practice, or a change that would require specific training and demonstration of competence.

Practitioners who are unable to meet the recency of practice requirements set out in the standard may need to complete professional development activities, submit a plan for re-entry to practice or other training or assessments.

They may also be required to work under supervision or oversight, before being granted unrestricted registration.

For details see the Board’s Registration Standard: Recency of Practice (PDF 218KB)

Professional indemnity insurance registration standard

All registered medical practitioners who provide health care or medical opinion in respect of the physical or mental health of any person, must ensure all aspects of their medical practice are covered by professional indemnity insurance (PII), or some alternative form of indemnity cover that complies with the Board’s registration standard for professional indemnity insurance.

Initial registration and annual renewal of registration will require a declaration that the medical practitioner will be covered for all aspects of practice for the whole period of the registration.

For details see:

• Professional Indemnity Insurance Registration Standard (PDF 64KB)
• Professional Indemnity Insurance Registration Standard (DOCX 82KB) 

Criminal history registration standard

The Board has the power to check the criminal history of registered medical practitioners.

Medical practitioners will be required, at annual renewal (section 109 of the National Law), and at any time during the registration period (section 130 of the National Law) to advise the Board of any charges for offences punishable by 12 months imprisonment or more, and any convictions or findings of guilt for offences punishable by imprisonment.

Before making a decision about an application for renewal of registration, or at any time during the registration period, the Board may check a registrant’s criminal history. The Board can do so by obtaining a written report from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), a police commissioner or an entity in a jurisdiction outside Australia that keeps records about the criminal history of persons in that jurisdiction. It has this power under sections 79 and 135 of the National Law.

The Board’s Criminal history registration standard sets out the factors that the Board will consider when it decides whether a medical practitioner’s criminal history is relevant to the practice of medicine.

For details see:

• Criminal History Registration Standard (PDF 321KB)
• Criminal History Registration Standard (DOCX 574KB).

International criminal history checks

From 4 February 2015 onwards, a new process will apply for checking criminal history outside of Australia. This new approach requires certain applicants and registered practitioners to apply for an international criminal history check from an approved supplier. For more information, please refer to the international criminal history page on the Ahpra website.