Checking a health practitioner's registration before you book
Search the Ahpra register, read the registration type, conditions and undertakings, and know where to raise a concern.
Booking a physiotherapist, dentist, psychologist or another health practitioner means trusting someone with your body and your records. In Australia, many health professions, including these, are regulated under one national scheme, and the public register shows whether a person is registered, what kind of registration they hold and whether any restrictions apply. This guide walks through a register entry before you book and explains where to go when something does not look right.
Know which practitioners must be registered
Australia runs a single national registration scheme for health practitioners, administered by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) with a National Board for each profession. Medical practitioners, nurses and midwives, dental practitioners (including dentists, hygienists and therapists), pharmacists, physiotherapists, psychologists, chiropractors, osteopaths, optometrists, podiatrists, occupational therapists, paramedics, Chinese medicine practitioners, medical radiation practitioners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners all need registration to practise under those titles. Claiming to be a registered health practitioner without registration is an offence under the National Law. Many other people work in health outside this scheme, including nutritionists, massage therapists, naturopaths, homeopaths, dietitians, social workers and speech pathologists. They will not appear on the Ahpra register, so a missing name matters when the person is using a protected title or claiming to be registered.
Lists the National Boards and the professions and divisions covered by the public registers.
Ahpra: professions and divisionsSearch the register before you book
The online register of practitioners is free, always available and updated continuously. Ahpra describes it as the only reliable source of information about a practitioner's registration status, and says there is no gap between registration being granted and the entry appearing. Search using the name the practitioner registered under, with the correct spelling, because it can differ from the name used on a clinic website or a business card. Ahpra advises against relying on a hard copy printout of a register entry, and the same caution applies to a certificate on a clinic wall: check the live entry yourself before the appointment. If the name does not appear, the person is not registered to practise in Australia, apart from a very small number of practitioners whose details are withheld for personal safety reasons. Ahpra suggests contacting it directly when a name cannot be found or an entry raises questions.
The official national register where you can look up a practitioner by name.
Ahpra: register of practitionersExplains name spelling, printouts, withheld entries and annual renewal dates.
Ahpra: tips for using the registerRead the status and the registration type
A register entry states the registration status. Registered means the practitioner may practise. Suspended means they are not permitted to practise while the suspension lasts, and the name stays on the register so that people can see it. Cancelled practitioners are removed from the main register and listed instead on the Register of cancelled and prohibited health practitioners. The entry also shows the registration type. General registration is the ordinary form for a practitioner who has completed an approved program and any required supervised practice. Specialist registration exists in medicine, dentistry and podiatry, so a claimed specialist title should appear on the entry. Limited and provisional registration come with requirements, such as supervision arrangements or a Board-approved area of practice, which are recorded on the entry. Non-practising registration lets a person keep a protected title without practising, so it is not a basis for treating you. Note the expiry date as well: nurses and midwives renew by 31 May, most medical practitioners by 30 September and other professions by 30 November each year. A practitioner who applies to renew on time stays registered while the renewal is processed, so rely on the status shown rather than the date alone.
Defines registration status, registration type, conditions, undertakings, reprimands and other terms shown on the register.
Ahpra: glossary of register termsFormer practitioners whose registration was cancelled by a court or tribunal, or who are subject to a prohibition order.
Ahpra: cancelled and prohibited practitionersLook for conditions, undertakings and reprimands
Registration can be current and still carry restrictions. A condition is imposed by a National Board or an adjudication body such as a panel or tribunal to limit practice in some way and protect the public. It may follow a disciplinary finding, or something ordinary such as a return to practice after a break. An undertaking is a voluntary agreement by the practitioner to do or not do something in their practice; current undertakings that restrict practice are published, while health-related undertakings are noted without details. A reprimand is a formal rebuke, and reprimands issued since the scheme began in 2010 are published on the register. A notation records a limitation on scope of practice, and an endorsement shows an additional approved qualification, such as scheduled medicines, nurse practitioner or acupuncture. National Boards also publish links to tribunal and court decisions with adverse findings on a practitioner's record. Read these parts of the entry in full rather than stopping at the status line, and ask the practitioner to explain anything that affects the care you are booking.
Practitioners on this list are not registered and are not able to practise.
Ahpra: list of practitioners who have undertaken not to practiseMatch the entry to the person and the service
Confirm that the person who will treat you is the person on the register, not just the business that employs them. Check the profession and any division or specialty against the service being offered. A register entry in one profession does not authorise practice in another, although a practitioner can hold registration in more than one. If a website advertises a qualification, title or specialty that the register does not show, ask about it before booking. Keep a note of the registration number and the date you checked, and look again when you return to a practitioner after a long gap or when a clinic changes hands. Ahpra and the National Boards can also issue public statements naming a person, registered or not, when they believe the person poses a serious risk to public health or safety and other regulatory tools cannot manage it, so a search of the Ahpra website is worthwhile if something feels wrong.
Published warnings about individuals who pose a serious risk, including unregistered people providing health services.
Ahpra: public statements and warningsIf something does not add up
Talking to the practitioner or the clinic is often the quickest way to resolve a concern about your care. If the concern is about unprofessional behaviour you can go to the regulator first, and a crime such as sexual assault should also be reported to the police. For concerns about a registered practitioner's health, conduct or performance, the right body depends on where they practise. Ahpra takes notifications about practitioners in the Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. New South Wales uses the Health Professional Councils Authority and the Health Care Complaints Commission, and Queensland uses the Office of the Health Ombudsman. Concerns about fees, billing, a clinic as a whole or a worker who is not a registered practitioner can usually be taken to the health complaints organisation in your state or territory. Suspected criminal offences under the National Law, such as someone falsely claiming to be registered, should be reported to Ahpra wherever you live.
Which organisation handles a concern, depending on the state or territory and the type of practitioner.
Ahpra: how to raise a concernThe different arrangements for New South Wales and Queensland, and the criminal offences that must be reported to Ahpra everywhere.
Ahpra: reporting concerns in NSW or QueenslandState and territory bodies that handle complaints about fees, services and unregistered health workers.
Ahpra: other health complaints organisationsYour quick checklist
Tick these off as you go. This checklist resets when you leave.
Useful starting points
General information to help you ask questions. Check requirements for the particular service and your state or territory.