March 2025

In this month's issue:

• Chair’s message
• Medical Board of Australia news
  • Expedited pathway opens to obstetricians and gynaecologists from similar health systems
  • Updated English language skills registration standard now applies
  • Accreditation: providing high-quality education and training
  • Latest registration data published
• News and alerts
  • New Ahpra practitioner portal
  • Helping IMGs get registered
  • Are you an IMG whose provisional or limited registration is about to expire?
  • Discrimination and racism will not be tolerated
  • Australia hosts Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress (PRIDoC)
• Contacting the Board

Chair’s message

What a privilege to celebrate the contribution of Indigenous doctors from around Australia and across the Pacific, who gathered for the Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress (PRIDoC) in late 2024. In a challenging global environment, when nuance and respectful differences of opinion struggle for a place in public discourse, PRIDoC created a welcome opportunity for knowledge sharing, mutual learning and reflection.

Dr Susan O’Dwyer
Chair, Medical Board of Australia

Medical Board of Australia news

Expedited pathway opens to obstetricians and gynaecologists from similar health systems

Internationally trained obstetricians and gynaecologists from similar health systems can now access a new fast track registration pathway to work in Australia.

Under the Expedited Specialist pathway, specialist international medical graduates (SIMGs) with specialist qualifications in obstetrics and gynaecology from the UK and Ireland can apply for registration directly to Ahpra and the Medical Board of Australia.

The gateway to the pathway is a list of pre-approved qualifications (the Expedited Specialist pathway: accepted qualifications list).

Accepted qualifications in general practice, anaesthesia and psychiatry were added to the list in 2024. General medicine, general paediatrics and diagnostic radiology are the next priorities for the Expedited Specialist pathway, later in 2025.

More information is available on the Board’s Expedited Specialist pathway page.

Updated English language skills registration standard now applies

An updated cross-profession English language skills registration standard now applies.

Late in 2024, we published an advance copy of the Registration standard: English language skills (the common ELS standard).

Important changes include an expanded list of recognised countries, reduced accepted score for the writing component of approved English language tests to IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent), addition of the Cambridge English language skills test and improved flexibility for applicants to meet National Boards’ English language skill requirements.

A new Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia’s English language skills registration standard is now also in place.

Under the revised standard, the list of recognised English-speaking countries has been expanded to 30 nations and territories, cutting red tape for qualified practitioners. Because South Africa is no longer considered a recognised country, there is a 12-month transition period for this change to take effect for these applicants.

Flexible transition arrangements apply. Practitioners with applications being assessed when the revised standard took effect on 18 March, and those who may have met the revised ELS standard since December 2024 when it was published in advance, are encouraged to read the National Boards’ transition arrangements. These applicants must apply for this by 18 April 2025.

A copy of the updated registration standard is on the Board’s website. There is information on how to provide evidence on Ahpra’s website. The transitional arrangements are on the FAQs page. You can use our self-assessment tool to work out which pathway is right for you to meet the standard.

Accreditation: providing high-quality education and training

The Board has approved the following:

Medical school programs of study

PGY1 (intern) training accreditation authority

Latest registration data published

The Board publishes data each quarter on the medical profession. Data are broken down by state and territory and registration type, and for specialists by specialty and field of specialty practice. Visit our Statistics page to view the latest report.

News and alerts

New Ahpra practitioner portal

Ahpra recently launched a new online practitioner portal, and new digital smart forms for application and renewal of registration.

This means next time you log in, the experience will be a bit different. When you next renew, you’ll be asked to migrate your existing account to the new practitioner portal. We’ve introduced multifactor authentication (also called two-step verification) for additional account security. For more information on setting up your portal and two-step verification, visit our Ahpra portal help centre.

We’ve also stopped using the 10-digit User ID, and have switched to an email username. As your email is now your user ID, it must be unique to you. It cannot be one you share with anyone else. You won’t be able to use an email shared by your family, or the reception email used at your medical practice.

Once you’ve set up your practitioner portal, you will use it to manage all aspects of your registration.

If you’re lodging a new application for provisional, limited, general or specialist registration, or endorsement, you’ll be using our new digital smart forms. The forms step you through the process, showing only the questions that are relevant to your application. You can complete your proof of identity check and upload your documents all through the portal.

In August, when it’s time for medical practitioners with general or specialist registration to renew, we will provide detailed instructions on how to set up your new Ahpra practitioner portal.

Help protect your data

Help protect your data by being alert to scammers and only logging into the Ahpra portal direct from the Ahpra website: www.ahpra.gov.au.

We will only ask you to log into your Ahpra portal when you’re due to renew your registration.

Multifactor authentication adds an extra layer of security, protecting your online data.

Helping IMGs get registered

Moving online means all applicants now apply and renew their registration online.

This is a change for international medical graduates (IMGs) applying for limited or provisional registration, and their employers and recruiters, who used to use PDF registration forms.

The online form will make applying easier for applicants as it’s a digital smart form that only shows questions relevant to the practitioner’s circumstance.

Applicants can still nominate an authorised representative, such as their employer or a recruiter.

Authorised representatives log in via the practitioner portal

After the applicant nominates their authorised representative, Ahpra confirms the nomination, and an email will be sent to the authorised representative with a link. The link will take them to the Ahpra practitioner portal where they can log in (if they are a practitioner) or sign up for an account.

What can authorised representatives see in the practitioner portal?

If the authorised representative is a practitioner, they can see their own account or switch to see the IMGs they are nominated representatives for.

Authorised representatives can complete assigned tasks, make enquiries and upload relevant documents.

This is a change of process for employers and recruiters as previously they may have viewed the IMG’s application before the IMG submitted it.

Supervisors of IMGs

IMGs applying for limited or provisional registration and their proposed supervisors still need to complete and sign the PDF form Supervised practice plan and supervisor’s agreement for international medical graduates – SPPA-30.

In addition, the IMG, their principal supervisor and their employer must also agree to the arrangements by signing our new PDF form, Declaration form – DFLP-00 – application for registration.

Both forms must be uploaded by the IMG as part of their online application for registration.

The forms are published on the Ahpra and Medical Board website, and applicants can also find them linked from within the online application form.

Online Q&A forums for employers, recruiters and other people who help IMGs get registered

Ahpra held webinars for employers, recruiters and other people who help IMGs get registered before the launch of the new practitioner portal to help them understand the changes. We are following up with more Q&A forums and are progressively publishing information on the Ahpra website.

Are you an IMG whose provisional or limited registration is about to expire?

To stay registered, you must submit your application for general or specialist registration in time for it to be assessed, before your limited or provisional registration lapses.

If we don’t have enough time to assess and grant your general or specialist registration before your current registration lapses, then you will need to apply to renew your limited or provisional registration as well as applying for your new general and specialist registration.

This means you will need to submit two applications and pay all the relevant fees for both application types. We will adjust the fees and give you a pro-rata refund following approval of general or specialist registration.

To avoid any disruption to your registration and paying extra fees, please keep a close eye on your registration end dates and submit any new applications well in advance.

To apply to renew your limited or provisional registration or to transition registration type, log in to your practitioner portal, and go to My registration in the top menu bar then Manage registration.

In the Active Registrations window:

• to renew, click Renew registration
• to transition, click Transition to General and/or Specialist registration.

Discrimination and racism will not be tolerated

Recent incidents in NSW are a timely reminder that there is no place for discrimination, racism or intolerance in healthcare. The ‘Bankstown nurses’ have been suspended by NSW authorities. This suspension applies nationally. Boards can suspend practitioners when there is an immediate risk to the public.

The overwhelming majority of Australia’s nearly one million registered health practitioners provide much needed safe healthcare every day. Safe healthcare relies on trust between patients and practitioners. Discrimination and racism erode that trust and put lives at risk.

The Medical Board’s Code of conduct aims to support doctors to provide safe, respectful healthcare that is free of discrimination and racism. Similar codes apply to all other registered health professions. Workplace standards also apply.

If in doubt, please remind yourself about your obligations. Breaches of the code may have consequences for your registration and considered unsatisfactory professional performance, unprofessional conduct or professional misconduct.

Ahpra and the National Boards have also published information to help registered practitioners understand and meet their obligations when using social media. This guidance recognises freedom of expression for practitioners and their right to communicate, including advocating for causes via social media, provided their activities do not involve abuse or discrimination against others, or present a risk to the public.

The full statement is published on the Medical Board website. 

Australia hosts Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress (PRIDoC)

In late 2024, 800 First Nations medical practitioners and professionals from across the Pacific region gathered on Kaurna country (Adelaide) for the biennial Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress (PRIDoC), with delegates from Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Taiwan and New Zealand.

Ahpra presented on the upcoming Culturally Safe Accreditation and Upskilling Framework and Strategy co-designed by Weenthunga Health Network, and shared highlights of the Medical Training Survey results.

The theme of the conference was, ‘Ngadluku Warra, Ngadluku Tapa Purruna, Ngadluku Purruna (Our Language, Our Culture, Our Health).’

Yankunytjtjara and the Narungga woman and Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) Board Director, Dr Olivia O’Donoghue, facilitated day one on topics including guiding cultural safety through accreditation, advancing cultural safety within medical regulation, cultural connection for GP trainees enhancing fellowship success and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural and Health Training framework.

Newly appointed AIDA President Dr Jonathan Newchurch shared how language and identity are critical to First Nation Peoples wellbeing.

Cree-Anishinaabe woman, physician Dr Marcia Anderson, from the University of Manitoba, presented on the cutting edge work and resources of the National Circle for Indigenous Medical Education (NCIME), and the importance of radical rest and group coaching to support leadership in anti-racism and social justice including for Indigenous and racially marginalised women in medicine.

Métis man and Toronto-based physician, Dr Ryan Giroux, shared his perspectives on the newly developed accreditation standards addressing anti-Indigenous racism within health institutions in Canada.

Australia’s 2024 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical graduates and fellows were presented with painted stethoscopes at the gala dinner, in line with AIDA custom. Professor Ngiare Brown was awarded the prestigious Kekuni and Paratene Advocacy Award.

The next PRIDoC conference will be held in Taiwan in 2026.

L-R: Sam Paxton, CEO, Weenthunga Health Network and Rachel Stringfellow, Senior Project Officer, Ahpra. 

Contacting the Board

The Medical Board of Australia and Ahpra can be contacted by phone on 1300 419 495.

For more information, see the Medical Board of Australia website and the Ahpra website.

Lodge an enquiry form through the website under Contact us at the bottom of every web page. 

Mail correspondence can be addressed to: Dr Susan O'Dwyer, Chair, Medical Board of Australia, GPO Box 9958, Melbourne, VIC 3001.

More information

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.

Comments on the Board newsletter are welcome, send your feedback and suggestions to newsletters@ahpra.gov.au.

For registration enquiries or contact detail changes, call the Ahpra customer service team on 1300 419 495 (from within Australia).