Registration

Occupational therapists must be registered with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia, and meet the Board's registration standards, in order to practise in Australia.

Application forms for general registration are now available for downloading.

Further information on the registration process is available on the AHPRA website. 

Introduction to National Registration

See the National Board’s PowerPoint slides for more information about the scheme. Hear a Voiceover on Powerpoint for further information about the scheme.

Who needs to register

The National Board has issued guidance about when practitioners need to be registered. The guidance builds from the definition of practice used in the Board’s registration standards and provides profession-specific advice relevant to occupational therapists:
Read the information sheet :

• When should occupational therapists be registered? (295 KB,PDF)

Visit the National Board's FAQ for more information about the scheme.

Overseas qualified practitioners

To work as an occupational therapist in Australia, you need to apply for and be registered with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia. You may also need to apply for a visa issued by the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection (Australian Immigration Department).

These two application processes are entirely separate and success in one does not automatically guarantee success in the other.

More information on visa applications, including skills assessments and assessing authorities is available on the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection website.

Internationally-qualified occupational therapists wanting to practise in Australia are currently required to undertake an initial assessment in compliance with the requirements specified by the Occupational Therapy Council (OTC). This assessment comprises:

• Stage 1 - desktop audit
• Stage 2 - Supervised practice audit

These initial assessment processes will then qualify internationally-trained practitioners for registration by the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia via the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Please visit the OTC website for further details on the initial assessment processes.

In addition, further information is provided on our facts sheets page, including:

• Demonstrating English language skills for overseas qualified practitioners

The AHPRA website also provides information on the registration process as well as further information for overseas practitioners.