Revised registration standards take effect 1 December 2019

02 Dec 2019

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia’s (the Board) revised registration standards came into effect on 1 December 2019.

The following revised registration standards¹ apply from 1 December 2019:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners
• English language skills
• Recency of practice
• Professional indemnity insurance arrangements, and
• Continuing professional development.

The revised registration standards were published on 31 July 2019 to give practitioners time to understand the revised requirements. You should make sure you have read and understand the revised registration standards and know what you need to do to meet them. Some of the main changes are outlined below and you can read the registration standards in full on the Registration Standards page of the Board’s website.

When applying for registration for the first time you need to meet the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and English language skills registration standards. Every time you renew your registration you must declare you meet Recency of Practice, Professional indemnity insurance arrangements and Continuing professional development registration standards.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

To meet the standard, you must be and identify as an Aboriginal and/or Islander Strait Islander person. The first time you apply for registration you need to provide a letter from a recognised Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander organisation stating that you are an accepted Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander in the community in which you live or lived. The letter needs to be on official letterhead, signed by an authorised person and include the official seal if the organisation has one.

English language skills

The first time you apply for registration you need to show your English language competency by giving evidence of your successful completion of an approved program of study. You can also show your competency through any qualifications you hold at the level of Certificate IV or higher.

Recency of practice (RoP)

The revised registration standard requires you to have practised 450 hours over the last three years, or 150 hours over the last year. You will also need to submit a professional development plan to the Board for approval if you are making a substantial change to the scope of your practice, for example from an administrative role to providing clinical care.

Professional indemnity insurance arrangements (PII)

The revised registration standard has been made easier to read and understand. To meet the registration standard you need to have appropriate insurance. It’s likely your employer has PII cover for you, but you should still check. If you work for yourself make sure you have the correct insurance in place.

Continuing professional development (CPD)

The revised registration standard requires you to do 20 hours of CPD each year and five of these must be interactive. You no longer have 3 years to complete 60 hours and you don’t need to maintain an up to date first aid certificate to meet the registration standard.

Resources about the revised standards

You can find more information about the revised CPD registration standard in the CPD guidelines on the Codes and Guidelines webpage.

The Board will be publishing more information about all the revised registration standards in the FAQ section on the Codes and Guidelines webpage in coming weeks.  

¹ Registration standards define the requirements that applicants and registrants in the regulated professions need to meet to be registered.