Australian general registrants

You can apply for this pathway if you have passed the Australian Medical Council examinations and are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Prerequisites

You can apply for registration through this pathway if you:

  • have a primary medical degree from a university medical school listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools,
  • have passed the Australian Medical Council (AMC) multi-choice questionnaire examination,
  • have passed the AMC Clinical examination, or successfully completed a formal AMC-approved workplace-based assessment,
  • satisfactorily completed 12 months of supervised practice in Australia resulting in full general registration with AHPRA, and
  • meet Council's "fitness for registration" requirements including satisfying Council's English language policy.

 You must also provide evidence of a job offer that includes supervision. We cannot consider your application if you do not have supervised employment.

Applying for registration

You and your employer need to work together to complete your application using Checklist 7 and the REG1 application form

  • REG1

    Application for registration in New Zealand

  • CHKL7

    Australian general scope pathway - Part A: Checklist for registration in New Zealand

Primary source verification of documents

Please don't send us your application documents until you have sent the required documents for primary source verification through the EPIC system. The verification process can take time and we cannot process your application until we have received the verification at source.

The registration interview

We will consider your application once it is complete and we have received primary source verification of your documents. We will then let you know the outcome of your application.

If your application is successful, we will send you an 'eligibility for registration' letter. This confirms for other agencies like Immigration New Zealand that you are able to be registered and will give you the details for your registration interview. For more information on the registration interview, please see the link below.

Working under supervision

Once we have received all the documents from your registration interview and payment of your practising certificate fee we will register you in a provisional general scope and issue you with a practising certificate. Your practising certificate will include an endorsement requiring you to work under supervision in the position you have been approved for. 

You will need to apply for a variation to your scope of practice if any of the details listed on your practising certificate need to change as a result of a change to your employment, position, or supervision.

Progression to general scope

Progression to registration within the General scope of practice is not automatic. You are able to apply after you have:

  • completed 12 months working within the Provisional General scope in a New Zealand under a Council-approved doctor. This needs to be at a hospital, general practice, educational institution or other organisation approved by us
  • hold an advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) certification at New Zealand Resuscitation Council’s CORE Advanced level, which is less than 12 months old
  • hold a CORE Advanced certificate for doctors working in hospital-based practice OR a CORE Immediate certificate for doctors working in general practice or non-clinical based practice
  • received satisfactory supervision reports for 12 months full-time equivalent working under supervision
  • been recommended for registration in the General scope by a Council-approved supervisor, who has been supervising you for at least 3 months prior to your application

If you complete these requirements, you can apply for registration within the General scope of practice. If you do not achieve these requirements within a 12 month period, you need to continue to work under supervision until you have.

  • COS4

    Application for general scope of practice for doctors on a provisional general scope of practice (excluding Interns).

Variations

Your practising certificate will include an endorsement allowing you to work under approved supervision and employment.

You cannot work outside the requirements of your provisional scope of practice and any specific requirements imposed by Council. You must apply for a variation to the endorsement on your practising certificate if your employment, supervision, position or location changes.

You need to apply at least 20 days in advance of your planned change. You must then wait for Council to confirm that the change has been approved before commencing work under the new arrangement.

Recertification requirements

You don't need to work under supervision once you're registered in a general scope. However, you must continue to meet the Council’s recertification requirements. The Council requires this to maintain the high standards of competence and fitness to practise of doctors in New Zealand.

You can enrol in either:

  • Inpractice, the Council-approved recertification programme run by bpacnz, or
  • an accredited vocational training programme.