CMBA

Updated on 23 Nov 2020

Meeting the registration requirements

To be eligible for general registration as a Chinese medicine practitioner, you need to meet the Board’s qualification requirements and registration standards.

Applications for registration from overseas qualified Chinese medicine practitioners are assessed against:

• Board approved assessment criteria, and
• the registration standards which are:
  • criminal history
  • English language skills
  • professional indemnity insurance arrangements, and
  • recency of practice.

Applicants who are assessed as meeting the Board’s qualification requirements and registration standards are eligible for general registration.

About AHPRA?

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) supports the 14 National Boards in their role of protecting the public and setting standards that all registered health practitioners must meet.

AHPRA and the National Boards work together to register health practitioners and, where required, investigate complaints or concerns regarding health practitioners.

AHPRA's operations are governed by the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law which came into effect on 1 July 2010. This law applies in each Australian state and territory, and is usually referred to on our sites as ‘the National Law’.

All health practitioners registered to practise are included on the national register of practitioners.

Then you apply for registration we will assess your Chinese medicine qualifications against the Board approved assessment criteria listed below. Your qualifications do not need to meet all the criteria.

Assessment criteria

Criterion	What we assess	Supporting documents required with your application for registration
1	The academic level of your qualification in acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and/or Chinese herbal dispensing is comparable to, at a minimum, an Australian Bachelor Degree at level 7 of the Australian Qualifications Framework.	Certified copy (and translation into English) of degree/qualification certificate awarded to you  Certified copy (and translation into English) of your academic transcript
2	Your qualification is in acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and/or Chinese herbal dispensing.	Nil
3	At the time you were awarded your qualification (or completed the program of study leading to your qualification) in acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and/or Chinese herbal dispensing, it was:  subject to quality assurance by a body external to the education institution, and  recognised or accredited by the external body, and the quality assurance was based on the following  published accreditation standards for Chinese medicine education published processes for reviewing programs/providers against the accreditation standards  an assessment conducted by an individual or team with appropriate expertise in education and in Chinese medicine practice  regular review of the program of study such as annual reporting or cyclic re-accreditation	Nil
4	Your qualification was recognised by a statutory registration/licensing body for practice as an acupuncturist, a Chinese herbal medicine practitioner and/or a Chinese herbal dispenser in the country where you completed the program of study leading to your qualification.	If applicable, evidence of statutory registration as an acupuncturist, a Chinese herbal medicine practitioner or a Chinese herbal dispenser
5	At the time you were awarded your qualification (or completed the program of study leading to your qualification) in acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and/or Chinese herbal dispensing, the education institution was registered or authorised to deliver higher education.	Nil
6	If you are applying for general registration in the Acupuncture division:  As part of your studies you successfully completed a clinical assessment (or “demonstrated competence in the clinical setting”) in the following areas of acupuncture practice:  professional practice in a legal and ethical framework professional communication and collaboration risk management  mastering the use of the Pin Yin system of Romanisation knowledge of the biomedical and behavioural sciences enabling the practice of Chinese medicine within an inter-professional health care context safe and effective practice of acupuncture and other Chinese medicine manual therapies according to the relevant theories and principles of treatment in Chinese medicine for a range of common, as well as some specific diseases and conditions.	Nil
	If you are applying for general registration in the Chinese herbal medicine division: As part of your studies, you successfully completed a clinical assessment (or “demonstrated competence in the clinical setting”) in the following areas of Chinese herbal medicine practice:  professional practice in a legal and ethical framework professional communication and collaboration risk management  mastering the use of the Pin Yin system of Romanisation  knowledge of the biomedical and behavioural sciences enabling the practice of Chinese medicine within an inter-professional health care context safe and effective practise of Chinese herbal medicine according to the relevant theories and principles of treatment in Chinese medicine for a range of common, as well as some specific diseases and conditions.	Nil
	If you are applying for general registration in the Chinese herbal dispensing division:  As part of your studies, you successfully completed a clinical assessment (or “demonstrated competence in the clinical setting”) in the following areas of Chinese herbal dispensing practice:  professional practice in a legal and ethical framework professional communication and collaboration risk management mastering the use of the Pin Yin system of Romanisation safe and effective processing of Chinese herbal medicines (pao zhi) according to the relevant theories and principles of treatment in Chinese medicine complying with appropriate procedures for record keeping, safe storage and dispensing of Chinese herbal medicines safe and effective supply and administration of Chinese herbal medicines including clearly and correctly labelling the herbal medicines for dispensing clearly explaining to clients the correct usage and method of administration of prescribed Chinese herbal medicines.	Nil

Guidelines:

You must apply as an overseas qualified applicant and use application form AGOS-86 if you:

• are relying on any qualifications obtained overseas to apply for registration as a Chinese medicine practitioner in Australia, and
• have not held registration in Australia before.

You can lodge your application for registration, and supporting documentation, by post or in person at an Ahpra office in the state or territory in which you plan to live and work. 

All applications from overseas applicants are subject to the same assessment regardless of where the application is lodged.

We do not accept applications by email because we need your original signature (not a scanned signature) on the application documents.

Applying for registration does not guarantee that you will be granted registration. Granting registration is a decision of the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia (or its delegate).

It is important that you fill out your application form accurately. Read the instructions carefully and pay attention to the symbols used in the form, as these will help you complete the form correctly. The symbols used in the form are:

Additional information: provides specific information for you about a question or section of the form.

Attention: highlights information about the form that is particularly important for you to read.

Attach document(s) to this form: identifies when you need to include documents with your application. Processing cannot occur until all required documents are received.

Signature required: requires you or appropriate parties to sign the form.

Mail document(s) directly to Ahpra: identifies when you need to arrange delivery of documents directly to Ahpra. These documents may be from another organisation or from you.

Supporting documents for us to assess your application:

The Board and Ahpra rely on the documents you submit with your application form to accurately assess your application for registration. Please ensure that all supporting documents meet the Ahpra certification and translation guidelines.

The Board and Ahpra view fraud very seriously and will carefully review the responses and documents you provide in support your application. If you provide false or misleading responses or documents with your application, your registration will be refused.

To enable us to assess your application, you need to provide ALL of the supporting documents identified in the application forms. Your application cannot be assessed until we receive all of these documents.

If you hold more than one qualification

When we assess your application, we will consider all your qualifications, as long as they are related to practice of acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine or Chinese herbal dispensing (or equivalent profession in the country where you completed your studies). We recommend you provide the required supporting documents for all your qualifications with your application. Please note certificates of attendance at professional development activities and conferences are not qualifications under the National Law.

English language skills

Applicants for registration in Australia are required to demonstrate English language skills to be suitable for registration.

 You need to supply:

• Official documents for all your Chinese medicine qualifications:
  • certified copy of course certificate awarded (e.g. degree)
  • certified copy of the academic transcript
• proof of any change of name
• proof of identity
• a signed and dated curriculum vitae that describes your full practice history and contains all the elements as defined in AHPRA’s standard format for curriculum vitae at www.ahpra.gov.au/cv
• Proof that you meet the Board’s English language skills registration standard
• Fees for your registration application:
  • Application fee
  • Registration fee
    Note: the application fee is non-refundable.

If relevant or applicable you need to supply:

• a separate sheet with an explanation of circumstances of your criminal history in Australia
• a separate sheet with an explanation of circumstances of your criminal history in another country
• a separate sheet with details of your impairment and how it is managed
• a separate sheet with your current suspension or cancellation details in Australia or another country
• a separate sheet with your previous conditions, undertakings or limitation details
• a separate sheet with your disqualification details in Australia or another country
• a separate sheet with details of your conduct, performance or health proceedings in Australia or another country, and
• a separate sheet with your previous cancellation, refusal or suspension details

To be supplied directly to AHPRA from regulatory authorities:

• Certificate of Registration Status (CORS) or Certificate of Good Standing (COGS) from every jurisdiction outside of Australia in which you are currently, or have previously been, registered in during the past five years.
  Note 1: if the regulatory authority sends a CORS, it must include information on your standing.
  Note 2: CORS and COGS are valid for three months from date of issue.

Fees:

Schedule of fees effective 18 September 2020

Item	National fee ($)	Rebate for NSW registrants ($)	Fee for registrants with principal place of practice in NSW ($)
Application fee for general registration in 1 division	579	0	579
Application fee for general registration in 2 divisions	685	0	685
Application fee for general registration in 3 divisions	737	0	737
Application fee for general registration in 1 division for new graduates*	116	0	116
Application fee for general registration in 2 divisions for new graduates*	137	0	137
Application fee for general registration in 3 divisions for new graduates*	147	0	147
Application fee for limited registration in 1 division	579	0	579
Application fee for limited registration in 2 divisions	685	0	685
Application fee for limited registration in 3 divisions	737	0	737
Application fee for fast track application	60	0	60
Registration fee for general registration in 1 or more divisions	492	89	403
Registration fee for non-practising registration in 1 or more divisions	115	11	104
Registration fee for limited registration in 1 or more divisions	492	89	403
Registration fee - general registration new graduates*	116	0	116
Late renewal fee for general registration	30	0	30
Late renewal fee for limited registration	30	0	30
Late renewal fee for non-practising registration	5	0	5
Replacement registration certificate	20	0	20
Extract from the register	10	0	10
Copy of the register (if application is assessed as in the public interest)	2000	0	2000
Verification of registration status (Certificate of Registration Status)	50	0	50

*There is a reduced application fee and first registration fee for Chinese Medicine new graduates of an approved program of study applying for general registration.

Apply Online:

FAQ

Contact Details:

Australian Capital Territory

Street address:

Ground Floor
50 Blackall Street
Barton
ACT 2600

Mailing address:

AHPRA
GPO Box 9958
Canberra
ACT 2601

New South Wales

Street address:

Level 51
680 George Street
Sydney
NSW 2000

Mailing address:

AHPRA
GPO Box 9958
Sydney
NSW 2001

Northern Territory

Street address:

Level 5
22 Harry Chan Avenue
Darwin
NT 0800

Mailing address:

AHPRA
GPO Box 9958
Darwin
NT 0801

Queensland

Street address:

Level 4
192 Ann Street
Brisbane
QLD 4000

Mailing address:

AHPRA
GPO Box 9958
Brisbane
QLD 4001

South Australia

Street address:

Level 11
80 Grenfell Street
Adelaide
SA 5000

Mailing address:

AHPRA
GPO Box 9958
Adelaide
SA 5001

Tasmania

Street address:

Level 5
99 Bathurst Street
Hobart
TAS 7000

Mailing address:

AHPRA
GPO Box 9958
Hobart
TAS 7001

Victoria

Street address:

Level 8
111 Bourke Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000

Mailing address:

AHPRA
GPO Box 9958
Melbourne
VIC 3001

Western Australia

Street address:

Level 1
541 Hay Street
Subiaco
WA 6008

Mailing address:

AHPRA
GPO Box 9958
Perth
WA 6001

National

Street address:

Level 7
111 Bourke Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000

Mailing address:

AHPRA
GPO Box 9958
Melbourne
VIC 3001