Important update on the 2025 nursing and midwifery renewal
Before renewing, all nurses and midwives must set up their Ahpra portal, which will include multifactor authentication.
Go to our online help centre for information on setting up an Ahpra portal, and multifactor authentication.
Log into Ahpra portal
Find out what you need to do to renew your registration.
The National Law requires all registered health practitioners to renew their registration with their National Board annually. Ahpra manages the registration and renewal process on behalf of the National Boards.
Health practitioners with general, specialist or non-practising registration renew online at the same time each year.
- Nurses and midwives renew their registration by 31 May every year.
- Medical practitioners renew their registration by 30 September every year.
- Other health practitioners renew their registration by 30 November every year.
Health practitioners with provisional or limited registration renew their registration on the anniversary of when it was first granted.
Not sure which type of registration you have? Check your details on the online national register of practitioners.
What information is required at renewal?
When you renew your registration as a registered health practitioner, you must declare that you meet your National Board’s registration standards including:
- professional indemnity insurance
- recency of practice
- continuing professional development, and
- criminal history.
You also need to tell us if you have a health impairment amongst other disclosures relevant to your practice.
Make sure you understand the National Board’s requirements before making your declarations because you may be asked to give information in support of your application.
You need to tell us about any health impairments that you haven’t told us about in the past and that may affect your ability to safely practise. If you do have an impairment that either affects or you think is likely to affect your ability to practise, you must tell us about it and about what you’re doing to manage it. Having an impairment will not necessarily prevent you from practising.
National Boards routinely audit a randomly selected number of practitioners each year and you will need to be able to substantiate your declarations if audited. Making a declaration that is false or misleading can be grounds for the Board to refuse to renew your registration, impose conditions on your registration or take disciplinary action.
Frequently asked questions
To help you understand the renewal process and what information is needed, read the FAQs below.
Renewal application process
If you hold general, specialist or non-practising registration, you must renew your registration by the same date each year.
Look out for a reminder email from Ahpra as confirmation that online renewal for your profession is open. You will get email reminders several times during the renewal period, so update your contact details in the practitioner portal. Be sure to check the public register to confirm your registration details.
| Annual renewal period for registered health professionals |
| 31 May each year |
Nurses and midwives |
| 30 September each year |
Medical practitioners |
| 30 November each year |
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners
Chinese medicine practitioners
Chiropractors
Dental practitioners
Medical radiation practitioners
Occupational therapists
Optometrists
Osteopaths
Paramedicine
Pharmacists
Physiotherapists
Podiatrists
Psychologists
|
If you have general, specialist or non-practising registration, you will renew online through the practitioner portal.
Look out for your email renewal reminder about eight weeks before your registration expires.
- Select the link in your renewal reminder email or log in to your Ahpra practitioner portal and select manage my registration.
- Enter your username – the email associated with your account.
- Enter your current password. If you have forgotten your password, you can update it by selecting the Forgot password link on the login screen.
Health practitioners who hold provisional or limited registration renew their registration on the anniversary of when their registration was first granted.
Check the public register to confirm your registration details if you are unsure of your registration expiry date.
Health practitioners with provisional or limited registration renew online.
Look out for your email renewal reminder about three to four months before your registration expires.
- Click the link in your renewal reminder email or log in to your Ahpra practitioner portal and follow the instructions under ‘Manage my registration’.
- Enter your username – the email associated with your account.
- Enter your current password. If you have forgotten your password, you can update it by selecting the Forgot password link on the login screen.
Some registration and renewal forms for provisional and limited registration will continue to be available as PDF forms for some time on the Legacy forms page. For faster assessment, we strongly encourage you to use the new online portal.
If you have provisional registration, you can only renew twice.
If you have limited registration, you can only renew three times.
Once you have renewed the maximum times allowable, you must submit a new application for registration to stay on the public register. To stay on the public register, your new application must be approved before your current provisional or limited registration expires.
If your provisional or limited registration is close to expiring, you must apply to renew your provisional registration, in time for us to finalise our assessment of it, while we are also assessing your application for general/specialist registration.
This process change, which aligns with the requirements of the National Law, was implemented following our recent operating system upgrade.
This means, for some practitioners you will have two applications in with us at the same time, and you will have to pay two fees. We will refund fees for any registration application that is withdrawn, e.g. your general/specialist is approved, so you withdraw your provisional renewal or re-application.
If you’ve exhausted your ability to renew your provisional registration (two renewal limit) or limited (three renewal limit) you must re-apply for provisional or limited registration, in time for us to finalise our assessment of your re-application, while we are also assessing your application for general/specialist registration. It must be finalised before your expiry date passes or you risk coming off the register.
You will be sent an email confirming that your registration has been renewed or advising that it requires further assessment. If your renewal requires further assessment, someone will be in touch if there’s anything more that we need from you.
You can also check your details on the public register about an hour after you submit your application. If your expiry date has been updated, this means your renewal is finalised.
If you have general, specialist, provisional or limited registration you can continue to practise if your name is on the public register, even if your registration expiry date has passed.
There is an annual renewal fee for registration. Click through to your National Board’s fee schedule for the costs of annual renewal and registration.
These fees have been set at a level that enables your National Board to effectively regulate your profession in Australia and meet its legal responsibilities under the National Law.
If you submit your application to renew in the one-month late period, you will be charged a late payment fee. The fee recognises the additional costs of managing late renewals and is payable on top of the annual renewal fee.
You can pay by credit or debit card. If you do not have a credit or debit card you can purchase a pre-paid debit card from various retail outlets for a nominal fee.
If you are experiencing financial hardship, you can pay your renewal fee in two instalments.
You’re considered to be in financial hardship when unable to provide the following for yourself, your family, or other dependents:
- food
- accommodation
- clothing
- medical treatment
- education, and/ or
- other basic necessities.
You must apply for consideration of financial hardship, and receive the outcome of your application from us, before you apply for renewal of registration. We can’t consider an application for financial hardship after you have applied for renewal.
Your application for financial hardship needs to be submitted no later than 15 working days before the expiry of your registration.
You can find information on eligibility and how to apply on the consideration of financial hardship page.
Once you have paid all your fees and successfully renewed, we will email your tax invoice to you. Make sure you keep this email for your tax return at the end of the financial year.
Making changes to your registration at renewal
Log in to online services, select renew registration, click on ‘opt to not renew’, hit next and follow the prompts to confirm you're not renewing.
To make sure that everyone who intends to keep practising is reminded to renew, we will continue to send reminders to practitioners who haven't:
- lodged an application for renewal of registration, or
- opted ‘not to renew’.
If you do not renew your registration, you will receive a letter after the late period confirming that your registration has lapsed. Your name will be removed from the public register, and you will not be able to practise your profession in Australia. If you want to resume practice in the future, you will need to lodge a new application for registration.
If you are planning on taking a period of temporary leave from practice and are thinking about moving to non-practising registration for the duration of your break, you will need to complete a full application when you move back to general registration. This can take some time to process. You should also think about whether continuing to hold general registration (provided you meet the Board’s registration standards, codes and guidelines) is a better option, as moving between registration types may (in some cases) also mean paying a full registration fee.
There is a one-month late period after your registration expiry date during which you can apply to renew. If we receive your application before the end of the one-month late period, you will remain registered and be able to practise within the scope of your registration. If you submit your application to renew in the one-month late period, you will be charged a late payment fee.
If you do not renew your registration within the one-month late period, your registration will lapse.
Check the public register of practitioners if you are unsure of when your registration expires.
If you do not renew your registration by the expiry date or in the following one-month late period, your registration will lapse. Once your registration has lapsed, your name will be removed from the public register in accordance with the National Law and you will not be able to use your profession’s protected title or otherwise hold yourself out as a registered health practitioner in Australia. You will also be required to lodge a completely new application for registration if you seek to resume practice in the future.
If you have not renewed your general or specialist registration by the end of your profession’s late period and wish to keep practising, you can submit a fast-track application for registration. The fast-track period runs for four weeks from the end of your profession’s late period.
- Nurses and midwives fast-track runs from 1 to 31 July every year.
- Medical practitioners fast-track runs from 1 to 30 November every year.
- Other health practitioners fast-track runs from 1 to 31 January every year.
If you submit a fast-track application, you cannot practise until your application is assessed and your registration details appear on the public register.
If you have general or specialist registration, you can submit a fast-track application through your Ahpra practitioner portal. You must pay a fast-track application fee and the annual renewal fee.
If you have provisional or limited registration and your registration lapses, you must submit a new application for registration.
Accessing and tracking your application
Visit the Ahpra portal help centre for help with:
- migrating to an Ahpra practitioner portal
- resetting your password
- logging in to your Ahpra practitioner portal.
If you’re still having trouble logging in, you can complete an online enquiry form and select ‘Online Access’ as the category type or call us on 1300 419 495 (within Australia).
You can check the status of your renewal to see if we have received your application and find out which stage it is in.
Log in to your Ahpra practitioner portal in the current activity area, click the Registration application in progress tile to check the status of your application.
Any action you need to take will be listed in the action required box.
If your application has been received, you can continue to practise while your renewal application is assessed, even if this extends past your registration expiry date.
You can download a certificate from your Ahpra practitioner portal after you’ve renewed.
If a practitioner or employer wants to check someone’s registration details the safest and most up-to-date way to do so is via the public register which is updated every day.
Check your details on the public register are correct and log in to your Ahpra practitioner portal to make sure we have your current contact information, including the right email address and mobile phone number. We need your most up to date contact details to send your renewal reminders and your tax invoices when you pay your fees.
- Lodge an online enquiry on the Ahpra website (we aim to respond within 2 business days)
- Call 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 9125 3010 (overseas callers).
Registration standards and requirements
All registered health practitioners must declare that they meet their Board’s registration standards including professional indemnity insurance, recency of practice and continuing professional development when they renew their registration. You also need to tell us if there's been any change to your criminal history since your last declaration.
You should make sure you understand the requirements of these standards before you attempt to renew your registration.
Click through to see your Board's registration standards.
You only need to declare an impairment – which means a condition which is likely to detrimentally affect your practice or affect your insight into your ability to practice safely. Most health issues are not impairments.
You do not need to declare well managed health conditions that do not affect your practice. For example, you don’t need to tell us about needing prescription glasses or taking time off work for a short-term illness or injury.
If you do have an impairment you need to tell us about, we need to know what you are doing to manage that impairment. You should provide documents outlining your current diagnosis and/or treatment plan and a statement from your treating health practitioner confirming your current fitness to practise.
When you renew your registration, you will be asked if there have been any changes to your criminal history. This means you need to declare any criminal charges or convictions you have not already declared. The Board will consider any declaration against the criteria set out in the criminal history registration standard. When requested, you will need to provide additional information about any new criminal history matters.
Where you have new criminal history to disclose, a Board will usually be looking for insight and reflection on why and when the conduct occurred, what steps you have taken to redress the conduct and how that conduct may impact your good standing as a member of a regulated profession.
If you are audited, a criminal history check will be carried out to verify your declaration.
You should understand what professional indemnity insurance arrangements you need to have in place and what it means to practise your profession.
When you renew your registration, you will be asked to answer questions in relation to professional indemnity insurance arrangements. First, you will be asked to declare whether you have practised in the preceding period of registration without the required professional indemnity insurance arrangements in place as described in the professional indemnity insurance registration standard. You will also be asked to declare that if your registration is renewed you will not practise without having the required professional indemnity insurance arrangements in place.
If you are audited, you will need to be able to prove you had appropriate professional indemnity insurance arrangements in place for all the time you practised as a health practitioner in the preceding period, e.g. provide a certificate of currency.
More information on your professional indemnity insurance arrangements is available via your Board’s website below.
You will be asked to declare if you meet your Board’s recency requirements. This means declaring that you have worked the required minimum practice hours.
If you are audited you will be required to provide evidence of what you’ve done to meet the requirements, e.g. pay slips, letter(s) from employer(s).
More information on your recency of practice requirements is available via your Board’s website below.
You will be asked to declare that you meet your Board’s continuing professional development (CPD) requirements, including the minimum number of hours for your profession and any other specific requirements in the previous registration period.
If you are audited you will need to provide evidence of the completed activities for example receipts of attendance, notes etc or an equivalent portfolio of information to prove that you have met the requirements of the standard.
Find out your Board’s specific CPD requirements, including minimum hours, below.
