The Occupational Therapy Council no longer measures your degree for registration — Ahpra does that now, and the Council measures your practice instead

If you are looking for the Occupational Therapy Council’s standard for judging an overseas OT degree against Australian education, the honest answer as at today is that for registration purposes it no longer has one. That work moved.

The Council states the change on its own page, with dates. Internationally qualified occupational therapists who wish to practise in Australia must be registered with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia, and assessment of international qualifications and registration applications are now managed by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) on the Board’s behalf.

It sets 10 October 2025 as the cut-off for new applicants and refers to the Ahpra qualification assessment process introduced on 27 October 2025. The Occupational Therapy Board’s assessment criteria page carries a matching review date of 27/10/2025.

So there are now three different things called an assessment in Australian occupational therapy, run by two organisations, and confusing them is expensive:

1. Qualification assessment for registration — Ahpra and the Board. This is the equivalence test.
2. Competence assessment — the Occupational Therapy Council. Six months of supervised practice, not a document review.
3. Skills assessment for migration — the Occupational Therapy Council. A desktop check of qualification and English, for migration only.

This page is administrative. It describes published process and criteria only, states no clinical opinion, and predicts no outcome.

The equivalence standard, now published by the Board

For applicants from countries other than New Zealand, the Board says the qualification requirements “are outlined in section 52 and 53 of the National Law” and that there are three pathways to meet them.

Comparable Regulator Pathway — for qualifications “from a country where the local regulator of occupational therapy is recognised by the Board as a comparable regulator”, with the condition that “Your qualification must have been accredited by that regulator at the time you completed your studies.” Two regulators are named: “Ireland (CORU)” and “United Kingdom (HCPC)”.

Recognised International Qualification Pathway — for qualifications the Board has already assessed. Its definition of “already” is exact: “previously assessed the same qualification as yours (same institution, same year, same degree title)” and considered it “substantially equivalent, or based on similar competencies, to an approved qualification.”

Qualification Assessment Pathway — everyone else. This is where a portfolio is actually read, and the Board publishes the criteria in three groups.

Criterion 1, professional registration. Either 1.1, that “Your qualification was recognised by a statutory registration or licensing body for registration as an occupational therapist in the country, state or province where you obtained the qualification”, or 1.2, where no such body exists, that “your qualification enabled you to practice as an occupational therapist” there.

Criterion 2, quality assurance and accreditation. Either 2.1 — that when you completed it, the qualification “was subject to quality assurance and was recognised or accredited by a body external to the education provider, based on published standards for education in occupational therapy” covering, at minimum, contemporary educational approaches, evidence-based practice, “assessed professional practice in occupational therapy within relevant health settings (recommended minimum of 1,000 hours)”, institutional resources, and an independent published review process with regular re-accreditation. Or the alternative: that the qualification “was issued by a legally authorised academic institution, and it meets the minimum requirements for safe and ethical practice in Australia”, including “the nature and substance of the qualification is occupational therapy”, “learning and assessment of any essential content”, and again a “recommended minimum of 1,000 hours of assessed practical experience.”

And then 2.3, which stands alone and applies on top: “When you completed your qualification, it was a World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT) approved education program.” The Board adds that it will check this itself: “We will check the WFOT website to confirm if your qualification is WFOT approved. You do not need to supply supporting documentation.”

Criterion 3, academic level. Either 3.1, comparable “at a minimum, to the level of an approved qualification in Australia which is a Bachelor degree – Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) level 7”, or 3.2, comparable to an Associate degree or Advanced diploma at AQF level 6, “which is one level lower than the approved qualification in Australia.”

How those criteria produce the three outcomes

This is the part worth memorising, because the Board sets it out as a grid rather than as a grade.

Criteria 1.1, 2.1 and 3.1 met → “your qualification meets the National Board’s requirements to be considered substantially equivalent or based on similar competencies to an approved qualification – section 53(b) of the National Law.”

Criteria 1.2, 2.2 and 3.2 met → “your qualification meets the National Board’s requirements to be considered relevant to the profession – section 53(c) of the National Law.”

“1.2, 2.2 and 3.2 are threshold requirements. These are the minimum criteria that you need to meet. If we assess one or more of these criteria as not met, your qualification is not considered substantially equivalent or based on similar competencies to an approved qualification, nor is it relevant to the profession.”

So the lower limb of each criterion is a floor, not a softer alternative. Miss any one of the three floors and both outcomes are gone.

The Board also publishes what separates the two positive outcomes in content terms. Ten “core topics and competencies” are needed for substantial equivalence — among them “autonomous management of patient/consumer service provision”, “collaboration with inter-professional teams, to deliver client-centred care”, “safe, ethical, lawful and accountable practice”, and “prescription of products and services, such as home modifications, equipment, non-pharmacological therapies and assistive technologies”. Only four items are needed to be “relevant to the profession”, and the autonomy and interprofessional-collaboration items are not among them.

What each outcome leads to, including the one with no remedy

The Board publishes the consequence of each outcome, and this is where the study question is answered — or not.

Outcome 1, substantially equivalent. “you are qualified for general registration as an occupational therapist. We will give you instructions on how to apply for general registration.” Two additional requirements attach: an approved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety training module, and “a one-on-one Orientation to the Australian healthcare system – IQOT with an Occupational Therapist who holds current unrestricted general registration and has held general registration for at least 3 consecutive years.” The Board notes that section 83 of the National Law requires satisfactory completion of both.

Outcome 2, relevant to the profession. “you are not yet qualified for general registration. To become qualified, you must complete a competence assessment.” This is the outcome that routes you to the Council, under limited registration.

Outcome 3, not qualified. The published remedy is one sentence, and it is worth quoting exactly because it is the whole of what is offered:

“If we assess your qualification as neither substantially equivalent or based on similar competencies to an approved qualification, nor relevant to the occupational therapy profession, you do not meet the qualification requirements for general registration as an occupational therapist. You may consider completing an approved qualification from an Australian educational institution, or other career options.”

“An approved qualification from an Australian educational institution, or other career options.” There is no bridging program, no top-up, no partial-credit scheme, no named list of courses, and no gap analysis. Start again in Australia, or do something else. That is the entire published pathway, and anyone telling you otherwise is not quoting the Board.

There is a re-assessment route, but it is narrow and time-limited: it applies “If you think we did not consider important information”, the request goes to the address in your notice of assessment “within 28 days after we give you an outcome”, and an outcome is promised “within two months of receiving your request.”

What the Council does now: competence, not comparability

Where the Board’s outcome is “relevant to the profession”, the Council takes over — and its assessment is of practice, not paperwork. It assesses an applicant’s competence for safe, effective and culturally responsive occupational therapy practice in Australia, and it is undertaken during a period of supervised practice under limited registration, with approved supervisors and an approved workplace.

The published mechanics, briefly, because they determine cost and time more than any document does. You must secure employment in a role requiring a registered OT, nominate primary and secondary supervisors, obtain Ahpra approval of the arrangements through limited registration, and commence employment only after limited registration is granted. A Supervised Practice Implementation Plan goes to the Council within the first two weeks of commencing employment, on the Council’s own template, which it says it will not accept in an altered format. Direct observation is specified: four sessions of direct practice observation by the supervisor during the first six weeks of supervised practice, and a further two between the six-week milestone and submission of the midway progress report.

Duration is generally based on six months of full-time equivalent practice, which the Council defines as 30 hours per week or more. Below that it extends pro rata, may run to approximately 12 months, and is not normally expected to exceed 12 months. Successful completion produces an Assessment of Competence Certificate, which is required as part of the application for general registration. The requirements are on the Council’s process for assessment of competence page.

A transitional group still exists. Applicants who commenced qualification assessment with the Council before 10 October 2025 are told to continue following the requirements and advice the Council previously provided, are not required to complete the Ahpra qualification assessment process introduced on 27 October 2025, and if they hold a valid Council Stage 1 outcome letter issued within the previous two years may use it to apply for limited registration and go straight to the competence assessment.

The Council’s other assessment, and its actual equivalence test

The Council remains the assessing authority appointed by the Department of Home Affairs for the migration skills assessment, and this one is a document review with a stated standard. Its explanatory notes dated April 2026 set two requirements for the qualification. It must have been approved by the World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT), and that approval cannot be considered retrospectively — approval the institution or program obtained after the time of graduation is not sufficient. And it must be comparable to an Australian Bachelor or Graduate Entry Master’s degree, judged in accordance with the Country Education Profiles produced by the Australian Government’s education department.

Two things about that pair. First, WFOT approval is judged at the time you graduated and cannot be earned later by your school on your behalf — the FAQ repeats it: “WFOT approval cannot be applied retrospectively.” It adds only that alternative assessment considerations may apply in limited circumstances, without publishing what they are, and tells applicants who are unsure to contact the Council before applying.

Second, the comparability half runs on Country Education Profiles, which is a subscription product. If you want to check where your own qualification sits before paying an application fee, the free official sources that answer the same question are set out in Country Education Profiles is paywalled.

The Council is emphatic that this assessment settles nothing about practising: “A positive skills assessment outcome does not provide registration to practise as an occupational therapist in Australia.” It makes the same point again elsewhere on those pages — the outcome confers no eligibility to practise, and separate processes apply for registration and for migration. Its FAQ also rules out a substitution people attempt: the skills assessment is based on the occupational therapy qualification only, and does not consider work experience, clinical skills or employment history.

The Council’s own advice on sequencing is the most useful thing on either site. If you are unsure whether your qualification is suitable for registration, it suggests completing Ahpra’s qualification assessment first — because a qualification assessed as not qualified for registration in Australia is unlikely to support a positive assessment for migration either.

What to do with this

1. Work out which of the three registration pathways you are in before doing anything. If you trained under CORU or the HCPC and your program was accredited at the time you studied, you are in a different process from everyone else.
2. Check WFOT approval for your program as at your graduation year, not today. Both bodies apply that test and neither applies it retrospectively.
3. Check your programme’s assessed practical placement hours against the “recommended minimum of 1,000 hours” in criterion 2, and your award level against AQF 7 (or the AQF 6 floor).
4. If you need both a registration assessment and a migration assessment, read the Council’s own advice on which to do first rather than doing them simultaneously by default.
5. If you receive Outcome 3, take the Board’s sentence literally. There is no published bridging route, and the 28-day re-assessment window is for information that was already available, not for new study.
6. If you receive Outcome 2, budget for six months of full-time supervised practice at minimum, and note that you cannot start it until you have a job offer, approved supervisors and limited registration in hand.

Whether registration, a skills assessment or something else is your actual gate is covered in assessment, registration and admission are three different things.

This site summarises published administrative rules. It is not Ahpra, the Occupational Therapy Board or the Occupational Therapy Council, it does not assess qualifications or competence, it offers no clinical guidance, and nothing here is a prediction of an outcome. For anything about visas, go to the Department of Home Affairs or a registered migration agent.