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We aim to inform you of the outcome of your qualification portfolio assessment within 21 days of receiving your application. This process can take longer if we need to request more information from you or an international regulator or education provider.
We have explained the three possible outcomes below:
If we assess your qualification as substantially equivalent, or based on similar competencies, to an approved qualification, you are qualified for general registration as an occupational therapist. We will give you instructions on how to apply for general registration.
To support culturally safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients, you may complete the approved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety training before being granted general registration. Or, if you do not complete this training prior to applying for general registration, the Board may put conditions on your registration. Section 83 of the National Law requires satisfactory completion of the training.
To support your orientation to the Australian healthcare system, the Board requires you to satisfactorily complete a one-on-one Orientation to the Australian Healthcare System – Appendix 5 with an Occupational Therapist who holds current unrestricted general registration and has held general registration for at least 5 consecutive years. Section 83 of the National Law requires satisfactory completion of the Orientation module.
If we assess your qualification as relevant to the profession of Occupational Therapy, you are not yet qualified for general registration. To become qualified, you must complete a competence assessment. The Occupational Therapy Council of Australia will assess your competence to practice as an occupational therapist during a period of supervised practice. During this competence assessment you will be under limited registration. You can find more information under Competence assessment below.
If we assess your qualification as neither substantially equivalent or based on similar competencies to an approved qualification, nor relevant to the occupational therapy profession, you do not meet the qualification requirements for general registration as an occupational therapist. You may consider completing an approved qualification from an Australian educational institution, or other career options.
If we assess your qualification as relevant to the occupational therapy profession, you must obtain limited registration and complete a competence assessment.
We will give you information about the steps to take when we let you know the outcome of your international qualification assessment.
The Occupational Therapy Council of Australia facilitates the competence assessment. You will need to show your competence as an occupational therapist during 6 months of supervised practice under the supervision of an experienced Australian occupational therapist.
You will need to apply for limited registration before you commence the supervised practice.
When you apply for limited registration, we review your application to ensure you meet the Registration Standards that apply to occupational therapists. These include:
After you successfully complete the competence assessment, you may apply for general registration.
For more information, go to the Competence assessment page.
If you are qualified for general registration through one of the pathways described above, you may apply for general registration. We will give you instructions on how to apply for general registration when you complete the qualification assessment process.
When you apply for general registration, we review your application to ensure you meet the Registration Standards that apply to occupational therapists. These include:
To learn more about applying for general registration please read the Registration page for international health practitioners which provides:
Before starting an application for registration, check that you can meet every registration standard. You must also have copies of the documents needed to prove that you meet each standard.
For information on how to apply, go to the Applying for Registration page.
We thoroughly assess international qualifications using assessment criteria approved by the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia. We will give you a summary of the reasons for our advice if we assess your qualification(s) as:
If you think we did not consider important information when we assessed your qualification portfolio, you may ask for a re-assessment. To support your request for reassessment, you will need to give us any extra information and clear colour scans of certified copies of documents.
You need to send your request for re-assessment to the email address written in your notice of assessment within 28 days after we give you an outcome.
If we consider that there are grounds for a re-assessment, an experienced qualification assessor will complete a re-assessment of your qualification portfolio. We will inform you of the outcome within two months of receiving your request.
