Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency - Consideration of financial hardship
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Consideration of financial hardship

Applicants and practitioners can apply for consideration of financial hardship regarding payment of registration fees.

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.

If your application for consideration of financial hardship is approved, and you:

  • don’t hold any form of registration with the relevant National Board, you will be required to pay the full application fee and you’ll be granted a reduction of fifty per cent of the relevant registration fee.
  • already hold a form of registration with the relevant National Board, you will be granted permission to pay the relevant registration fee in two instalments – fifty per cent of the registration fee when applying for registration or renewal and the remaining fifty per cent within a set timeframe.

How do I apply?

You must apply for consideration of financial hardship, and receive the outcome of your application from us, before you apply for registration or renewal of registration. We can’t consider an application for financial hardship after you have applied for registration or renewal.

To apply for consideration of financial hardship you must:

  1. complete the relevant application form for your state or territory, and
  2. return the completed form to us via Ahpra online upload.

We need you to use the form for your state and territory as it includes a statutory declaration. We ask you to declare that you are experiencing financial hardship.

Timelines

If you are renewing your registration, we want to make sure we can consider your application for financial hardship before your renewal expiry date. This is so you can avoid late fees.

Your application for financial hardship needs to be submitted at least 15 working days before the expiry of your registration. 

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Which fees are eligible for financial hardship consideration?

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The policy applies to individuals applying for or renewing the following registration types with the relevant National Boards:

  • general
  • provisional
  • limited, or
  • specialist.

The policy does not apply to recent graduates for the following professions, because a reduced application or registration fee already applies:

  • Chinese medicine, or
  • Nursing and midwifery.

Do I have to provide evidence of financial hardship to support my application?

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As part of your application, you will need to make a statutory declaration that you are experiencing financial hardship. This is the only evidence we need at application.

We may ask you for more information when we assess your application, particularly if you have applied for consideration of financial hardship before.

The type of information we may ask for is listed in the policy.

What happens after I apply?

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You’ll receive an email confirmation from us letting you know we received your documents. You must wait to hear the outcome of your application from us before you apply for registration or renewal. We aim to let you know the outcome of your application within two business days.

Once you have received the outcome of your application, you’ll be able to apply for registration or renewal.

Why can’t I get the fee waived?

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The National Scheme is designed to be self-funded through fees paid by practitioners and does not receive any ongoing government funding. Fees are set in order to meet the full costs of regulating each profession for the safety of the public. The National Boards work closely with Ahpra to keep fees as low as possible while continuing to meet regulatory obligations and the expectations of the public and practitioners.

How do I pay the second instalment of my registration fee?

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If you’ve been approved to pay the registration fee in two instalments, we will contact you when payment opens for the second instalment. Please make sure you keep your contact details up to date via online services.

Where can I find more information?

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Please read Ahpra and the National Boards’ Financial hardship policy for further information.

 
 
 
Page reviewed 8/07/2024
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