Registration, Accreditation and the Register
Applying for registration
Registration requires meeting the eligibility standards, paying fees, and declaring criminal history and any prior registration action. Applications are assessed on the information provided; false declarations are treated seriously. The trap is assuming registration is automatic once a qualification is held - eligibility, recency and English language still apply.
Approved programs of study
Only programs approved by the Board and delivered by an accredited provider lead to registration. The trap is that a qualification from an unrecognised or non-accredited program, however similar in content, does not satisfy the requirement. Questions may describe a course with equivalent content and expect you to recognise that equivalence is not the test - approval is.
Student and graduate registration
Students enrolled in approved programs hold student registration, which is limited and does not permit independent practice. On completing an approved program, graduates may apply for graduate registration (where applicable) to undertake supervised practice before general registration. The trap is confusing the two, or assuming student registration permits unsupervised clinical work.
The public register and employer services
The register is public and shows registration status, type, conditions and any restrictions. Employers can use employer services to verify a practitioner's registration and conditions. The trap is assuming a practitioner can work while unregistered or while conditions are unverified; practising without registration is a serious matter.
Worked rule of thumb
For any registration question, run the sequence: approved program → appropriate registration type → eligibility standards met → register reflects status and conditions. If any link is missing, the practitioner is not properly registered for that activity.
Exam traps
- Equating equivalent content with an approved program.
- Assuming student registration allows independent practice.
- Forgetting that conditions are visible on the public register and must be honoured.