Nurses and midwives reminded to renew by 31 May

18 May 2016

Nurses and midwives have two weeks to renew registration and avoid paying a late fee.

More than 370,000 nurses and/or midwives with general or non-practising registration are due to renew their registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) by 31 May.

NMBA Chair, Dr Lynette Cusack RN, urged nurses and midwives to renew on time.

‘About 55 per cent have already renewed registration, with the majority doing so online,’ she said.

‘Registered and enrolled nurses, midwives and nurse practitioners shouldn’t leave renewal to the last minute and risk not renewing their registration by 31 May.

‘To make sure all nurses and midwives remember to renew, three email reminders have already been sent as part of our renewal campaign.’

Anyone who hasn’t received a reminder to renew should update their contact details using online services or phone the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) on 1300 419 495.

Late application fee

As outlined in the National Law¹, applications for renewal of registration that are received after the registration expiry date will incur a late payment fee in addition to the annual renewal fee.

If you do not renew your registration by 31 May, or within the following one-month late period, your registration will lapse. Your name will be removed from the national Register of Nurses and Midwives and you will not be able to practise without making a new application for registration

Once your application to renew registration is received on time, you can continue practising while the application is processed, even if this work is not completed until after 31 May.

Remember – your listing on the national register is evidence to current and prospective employers that you are registered to practise as a nurse and/or midwife.

If you have submitted your application you can find out if it has been received using the online service at AHPRA - Renewal received confirmation.

Useful information

The following pages on the NMBA website contain useful information for nurses and midwives; and their employers:

• Registration standards 
• Registration renewal
• Fact sheet for nurses and midwives 
• Fact sheet for employers
• Non-practising registration fact sheet 

For more information

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

Download a PDF of this Media release - Nurses and midwives reminded to renew by 31 May - 18 May 2016 (111 KB,PDF)

¹The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory (the National Law).