Revised English language skills registration standards taking effect from 1 July

21 May 2015

Revised English language skills registration standards take effect from 1 July for all registrants except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners.

National Boards today published the contents of revised English language skills registration standards for all registrants except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners. Boards also published supporting materials to help practitioners understand the new requirements.

Whenever possible, National Boards seek to work together to develop common or similar standards across professions.

The revised standards are:

• a common standard for 12 professions: Chinese medicine, chiropractic, dental, medical, medical radiation, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry and psychology 
  • the standard for 10 Boards (no additional wording)
  • a standard for dental, which is identical to the common standard with the addition of some very brief dental-specific words for applicants for limited registration 
  • a standard for medical, which is identical to the common standard with the addition of information about two medicine-specific English language tests 
• a profession-specific standard for nursing and midwifery, which shares many elements with the common standard.

The revised standards introduce additional pathways for applicants to demonstrate evidence of their English language skills. Diagrams of how these work are included below under ‘additional resources’.

The revised standards were developed after a review of the existing standards, which included a public consultation. The consultation report provides a summary of responses, rationale for any changes and sets out the proposed way forward, including areas where further work is planned.

These revised standards will apply to all applicants for initial registration, regardless of whether they qualified in Australia or overseas (except for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners).

The English language skills registration standard for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners is being reviewed at a later date, and does not change on 1 July 2015.

Additional resources about the standards taking effect from 1 July 2015

• Letter from Ministerial Council approving the revised standards 
• FAQ for all professions (except nurses and midwives): Find out more about the standards. 
• FAQ: Additional information for Chinese medicine practitioners 
• Pathways diagram and evidence guide for all professions (except nurses and midwives): Explains the requirements for each pathway.

Information specific to nurses and midwives

• Pathways diagram for nurses and midwives and evidence guide: Explains the requirements for each pathway. 
• FAQ: Information for nurses and midwives about the standard.

For more information

• Lodge an online enquiry form 
• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 9275 9009 (overseas callers) 
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200