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Registration fees fund the work of Ahpra and the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) to keep the public safe. Each Board in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme is responsible for meeting the full cost of regulating their profession, as there are no government or other subsidies to support this vital role.
Medical registration and application fees fund:
In 2022/23 the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the MBA introduced a new model for allocating costs which reflects the actual complexity, volume, and time involved in medical regulation. The new model draws on more complete data and is based on independent financial advice.
Registration renewal fees
Since the National Scheme began in 2010, the MBA has kept registration renewal fees steady, limiting increases each year. Regrettably, more complete data shows that a small increase would not cover the actual cost of regulating the profession. Compounding factors that have increased regulatory costs in the last year include higher inflation, escalating numbers of notifications, more high-risk matters, cosmetic surgery reforms, stronger management of sexual boundary violations and the added costs of responding to Ministerial directions (eg the regulatory implications of increasing Australia’s health workforce safely).
To cover the cost of regulation, from 9 August 2023, the registration renewal fee for medical practitioners outside NSW will increase from $860 to $995 per year.
We recognise that this increase is coming at a tough time for many doctors, but without any government funding, we have no other option to pay for regulation.
Assessing applications for registration for medical practitioners is the first line of defence in protecting the public from unqualified, unethical and incompetent practitioners. It is also labour-intensive and costly. Historically, the MBA has shared the cost burden of managing applications for registration across the profession, so it was carried by doctors in all stages of their careers. The registration application process has been free for local graduate applicants and heavily subsidised for international medical graduates (IMGs).
More complete data about the actual costs of regulation, along with the increased workload involved in managing a larger volume of applications for medical registration (domestic and international), has made it clear that it is financially unsustainable for the Board to continue to subsidise application fees.
On 1 July 2023, the MBA adjusted some application fees to align more closely to the cost of managing them.
From 11 September the application fees for international medical graduates and general registration will also be adjusted.
We regret that these increases are unavoidable.
1,500
0
300
490
1,020
200
995
65
930
11
479
192
(11)
203
30
5
20
50
*Payment of both an application fee and a registration fee is required at the time of application.
Please note that:
There are no fees for the registration of students.