English language skills

From 1 July 2015, new registration standards for English language skills will come into effect for all professions, except Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice.

The new standards are:

• a common standard for 12 professions: Chinese medicine, chiropractic, dental, medical, medical radiation, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry and psychology
  • the standard for 10 Boards (no additional wording)
  • the standard for dental, with the addition for some very brief dental-specific words for applicants for limited registration
  • the standard for medical, with the addition of information about two medicine-specific English language tests
• a profession-specific standard for nursing and midwifery, which shares many elements with the common standard.

These new standards were developed after a review of the existing standards, which included a public consultation. The consultation report provides a summary of responses, rationale for any changes and sets out the proposed way forward, including areas where further work is planned.

The new standards introduce additional pathways for applicants to demonstrate evidence of their English language skills. Diagrams of how these work are included under ‘additional resources’.

These new standards apply to all applicants for initial registration, regardless of whether they qualified in Australia or overseas, except for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners.

The English language skills registration standard for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners is being reviewed at a later date, and does not change on 1 July 2015.

Additional resources about the standards coming in to effect from 1 July 2015

Information specific to nurses and midwives

About the English language skills test

For more information about the tests, please refer to the provider’s website.

• IELTS
• OET
• TOEFL 
• Pearson
• NZREX (medical only)
• PLAB (medical only)