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Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) registration renewal 2024

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) registration renewal 2024

Registration renewal opens in April 2024 and you will have until 31 May 2024 to submit your application before late fees apply. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) has increased the registration renewal fee by $5 for 2024–25, meaning the fee for general registration is $185. This is tax deductible.

If you hold both nursing and midwifery registration you will only need to pay one registration renewal fee. ANMF encourages you to retain both your registrations.

Nurses and/or midwives must meet the NMBA registration standards and declare or disclose information about continuing professional development (CPD), professional indemnity insurance, health condition/impairment, recency of practice, and criminal history.

ANMF strongly encourages members to contact the Branch before declaring or disclosing health condition/impairment information as part of the registration/renewal process. It is the ANMF’s recommendation that advice is sought well ahead of 31 May 2024.

I’m new to the profession. Do I still have to renew my registration by 31 May?

Yes. If you received your registration in late 2023 or early 2024 you must renew your registration by 31 May 2024 to continue to practice during 2024–25. There is one exception: graduates who registered within two months prior to the 31 May annual renewal date are registered to practise until 31 May of the following year.

What about professional indemnity insurance?

Nurses and midwives must confirm they hold required PII arrangements. ANMF fully financial membership includes PII* that meets AHPRA requirements. You can download your PII certificate from the member portal.

How many hours of practice do I need to demonstrate ‘recency of practice’?

Nurses and midwives must complete a minimum of 450 hours of practice in the preceding five years to meet the NMBA recency of practice standard. If you hold dual registration, you must make separate recency of practice declarations. Consider the relevant competency and registration standards for each profession as there may and will be common elements of work and education.

If you are unsure as to whether you meet this standard, seek ANMF advice well before 31 May.

What if I’m a new graduate nurse/midwife?

Recency of practice obligations do not apply to you if you are applying for registration for the first time and your qualification was awarded not more than two years prior to the date of your application. It is likewise not applicable for student registration holders.

What if I’m a non-practising registrant?

This is not a requirement of a non-practising registrant, however ANMF strongly encourages you to seek advice before moving to a non-practising registration.

Can I practise if I have a health condition or impairment?

Nurses and midwives have an obligation to provide notification of a health condition/impairment that might affect your ability to practice. If you believe you may need to notify in relation to this, contact ANMF for advice. A signed and dated written statement with details of the condition/impairment, and how it is managed, will need to be provided to AHPRA. The National Board will then decide whether your impairment is relevant to your practice.

How many hours of CPD do I need?

Nurses and midwives are required to complete a minimum of 20 CPD hours per registration period (each year), that is relevant to your practice, and to keep record of this. If you hold a dual nursing and a midwifery registration you must meet this standard for each registration. If you hold a ‘scheduled medicine endorsement’ and/or are endorsed as a nurse practitioner, you must complete an additional 10 CPD hours each year.

Note: in 2023, AHPRA made some changes with respect to CPD vis-à-vis mandatory training. The changed requirement means that you can only count mandatory training as CPD if it is relevant to your context of practise and contains new learnings.


Visit the ANMF (Vic Branch) Education Portal to choose from more than 200 free CPD modules that members can complete anywhere, at any time.


What if I have a criminal record?

The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law requires AHPRA, as the regulator, to consider if a health practitioner’s criminal history is relevant to the practise of their profession. Under the National Law, spent convictions legislation does not apply to criminal history disclosure requirements. This means that when making a declaration about criminal history, applicants and registered health practitioners must declare their entire criminal history, from Australia and any other country, including any spent convictions.

More information is available from nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au.

What does it mean when I’m asked if my right to practise has been withdrawn or restricted?

This question only applies to a small number of nurses and midwives who have been given ‘rights’ to work at hospitals or other facilities, such as independent private practice nurse practitioners or midwives who have admitting rights. This question does not require you to declare if your employment has been terminated, suspended or if you are being performance managed.

What is an exposure-prone procedure (EPP)?

Nurses and midwives must declare if they perform EPPs in accordance with the NMBA guidelines for registered health practitioners in relation to blood-borne viruses. Examples of EPPs include a midwife repairing an episiotomy, assisting with a caesarean birth, application of foetal scalp electrodes or a perioperative nurse surgical assistant involved in open surgical procedures.

ANMF members should seek advice early from ANMF Member Assistance if you have any questions about your registration renewal.

*some exceptions apply. Refer to the PII policy for details.

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