Roles of assessing bodies

Registration of medical practitioners is solely the responsibility of the Medical Boards. However, they are assisted in their decision-making by the assessments provided through the Australian Medical Council examination and for specialists, through the AMC/ Specialist Medical Colleges procedures.

For information on the roles of other agencies in the health sector, you should view the listings under Australia’s health system.

Mutual recognition

Each of the State and Territory Medical Boards recognises the full (unconditional) medical registration of a doctor, which was obtained in another Australian State or Territory. This is known as mutual recognition.

Registered doctors moving interstate to practise must apply for registration from the Medical Board of the State or Territory to which he or she is moving, but this is a straightforward process in which recognition of registration from another State or Territory is assured.

It is also possible for doctors with conditional registration to have their registration recognised in another jurisdiction, but recognition is not automatic. The Changing jobs section of DoctorConnect also contains important information on this topic.