Some overseas trained practitioners looking to build a career in Australia may no longer have to sit an English language test, after the number of countries recognised under registration standards expanded.
Previously, health practitioners who had trained or lived in just seven recognised English-speaking countries were not required to sit an English language test as part of their Australian registration. These countries included the UK, USA and New Zealand.
Now, under the updated Registration standards: English Language Skills (the ELS standard) practitioners from 30 countries, including Barbados, Malta, Jamaica and Bermuda, may also be exempt from sitting the test.
The updated standard is set to come into effect by April 2025.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) said the expansion will cut red tape for qualified practitioners while maintaining public safety.
Every applicant must still meet their National Board’s registration standards, including the English language skills standard, regardless of where they were trained.
AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen said the changes must not result in a watering down of standards for the sake of improving access to health practitioners.
“We have really high standards of all health practitioners in Australia, and we should maintain those,” she said.
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia chair Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey said communication is a critical tool for any health practitioner.
“All registered health practitioners need to be able to engage with the people in their care, they need to be able to provide clear and concise information to those that need it, and this ELS standard helps support this,” she said.
“By making these changes we enable those who may already have the necessary capabilities a smoother pathway to registration.”
The updated ELS standard will also see changes to the current English language test pathway including:
- reducing the writing component score for the approved English language tests from IELTS 7 to 6.5 (or equivalent) in all professions
- adding the Cambridge English Language Skills test
- extending timeframes for accepting a combined result from two tests from six months to 12 months
- widening the grounds for extending the validity of English language test results to include continuously working in appropriate roles in recognised countries.
Chair of the Psychology Board of Australia Rachel Phillips said the number of health practitioners looking to work in Australia continues to grow.
“It’s important we make the process as simple as possible while maintaining the highest standard of care for the public,” she said.
Further updates to the ELS standard will see South Africa removed from the list of recognised countries.
Qualifications across professions in South Africa were found to be offered at various institutions with different entry requirements, with many of these substantially below the equivalent Australian entry level ELS requirements.
It was also found that some have no English language minimum requirements for entry.
To ensure a reasonable transition for applicants, there will be a 12-month transition period for this change to come into effect, Ahpra said in a statement.
The full list of countries now recognised under the ELS standard and updated to language testing can be found here.