Registration types

Registration

Under the National Law, National Boards can grant a number of different types of registration to an eligible practitioner:

For further information on registration types see the FAQ, Who needs to be registered.

General registration

This type of registration may be granted to practitioners who meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements set out in sections 52 and 53 of the National Law, and who meet any registration standards issued by the Board.

In general, practitioners who hold general registration have graduated from a Board approved, accredited program of study or have completed the overseas trained practitioner competency assessment pathway.

Limited registration

This type of registration may be granted to practitioners who do not qualify for general registration, but who meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements set out in sections 65-70 of the National Law and any registration standards issued by the Board.

Under section 72 of the National Law, limited registration may not be renewed more than three times, but a new application may be made. There are four sub-types of limited registration provided for in the National Law; only two of those categories are supported by registration standards published by the Board:

Limited registration for area of need

This type of registration may be granted to overseas trained practitioners who do not qualify for general registration but who have skills and qualifications considered sufficient to work under supervision in a particular role or position in a geographic location or specific health service.

Under section 67 of the National Law, it is the responsible minister (or delegate) in a state or territory who decides whether an area of need exists. An area of need is when there are insufficient health practitioners to meet the needs of people living in the area. Currently there are no areas of need identified for chiropractors in Australia.

Limited registration for teaching or research

This type of registration may be granted to practitioners who are not qualified for or do not intend to engage in clinical practice, but are qualified to fill a teaching or research position in the profession.

See Registration standard for limited registration for teaching and research (259 KB,PDF) for more information.

Limited registration in the public interest

This type of registration may be granted to practitioners who do not qualify for general registration, but who hold qualifications in the profession and who may be visiting from overseas for a short period, filling a locum position, attending a seminar or exchanging practice with a local practitioner.

The Board must be satisfied that it is in the public interest for the practitioner to practise the profession given the practitioner’s qualifications and experience. See Registration standard for limited registration in the public interest (233 KB,PDF) for more information.

Limited registration for postgraduate training or supervised practice

This type of registration may be granted to practitioners who hold qualifications in the profession, but who are required by the Board to practise under supervision or to sit an examination or assessment, to qualify for general or specialist registration.

Currently there is no registration standard published by the National Board to support this category of registration.

Non-practising registration

This type of registration may be suitable for chiropractors who:

have retired completely from practice
are not practising temporarily (for example, on maternity or paternity leave) or
who are not practising in Australia but are practising overseas.

The Board’s registration standards - Professional indemnity insurance arrangements, Continuing professional development and Recency of practice - do not apply to chiropractors holding non-practising registration. However, the Board advises all chiropractors considering moving to non-practising registration to consider their circumstances and the requirements for applying for general registration again in the future. The Recency of practice registration standard sets the minimum requirements to maintain recent practice and applies to practitioners changing from non-practising to general registration.

The Board’s definition of ’practice‘ is:

Any role, whether remunerated or not, in which the individual uses their skills and knowledge as a health practitioner in their profession. For the purposes of this registration standard, practice is not restricted to the provision of direct clinical care. It also includes using professional knowledge in a direct non-clinical relationship with clients, working in management, administration, education, research, advisory, regulatory or policy development roles, and any other roles that impact on safe, effective delivery of services in the profession.

This definition is contained in the Board’s Professional indemnity insurance arrangements registration standard and Recency of practice registration standard (see Registration standards section).

Chiropractors with non-practising registration cannot undertake any practice as defined above whether they are being remunerated or not.

There is a reduced fee for non-practising registration.

The requirements are outlined in the form ‘application for general registration as a chiropractor for current non-practising registrants available from the forms section.

Student registration

This type of registration is granted to people who are enrolled in an approved program of study that qualifies them for general registration.

Students enrolled in approved programs of study do not need to make an application for registration. After they have enrolled in the program of study, their education provider is required to provide the relevant National Board with a list of enrolled students.

On receiving this list, the National Board will register the students. A student’s registration ends when they have completed their program of study, or when the student ceases to be enrolled in the program of study.

The Board’s powers in relation to registered students are limited to students who:

may be suffering from an impairment
have been charged with or found guilty of an offence punishable by 12 months imprisonment or more, or
have breached a condition of their registration.

For more information, see the Student registration page.