Nurses and midwives are required to renew their registration before 31 May 2023. Nurses and midwives must meet the NMBA registration standards and declare or disclose information about continuing professional development (CPD), criminal history, health condition/impairment, professional indemnity insurance and recency of practice.
Note: the NMBA has recently put out updated guidance around CPD hours. Details below.
ANMF strongly encourages members to contact the Branch (anmfvic.asn.au/memberassistance) 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 2023.
I’m new to the profession. Do I still have to renew my registration by 31 May?
Nurses and midwives who received their registration in late 2022 or early 2023 must renew their registration by 31 May. Registration is renewed annually by this date regardless of how long you were registered during the previous 12 months.
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. Check the NMBA national register via nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, then contact the ANMF if you remain unsure as to when your renewal is due.
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. Those who hold dual registration 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, we recommend seeking ANMF advice well ahead of 31 May.
What if I am a new graduate nurse/midwife?
Recency of practice does not apply to recent nursing or midwifery graduates from programs in Australia applying for registration for the first time, and student registration holders. Recent graduates are those applying for registration for the first time whose qualification was awarded not more than two years prior to the date of their application.
What if I am a non-practising registrant?
This is not a requirement of a non-practising registrant, however ANMF strongly encourage 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, we encourage you to contact the Branch 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 nursing and a midwifery registration (dual 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. Visit education.anmfvic.asn.au for courses.
If you are unclear as to whether you meet the standard for CPD, or the definition of CPD, then please review the relevant NMBA/AHPRA documents – available from nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au:
- Registration standard: Continuing professional development
- Fact sheet: Continuing professional development
- Guidelines: Continuing professional development
Contact the Branch for advice if you remain unclear.
ANMF is aware of recent changes made by AHPRA with respect to CPD. These changes relate to mandatory training. This new AHPRA position means that you can only count mandatory training as CPD if it is relevant to your context of practise and contains new learnings. ANMF has sought clarification from AHPRA on this change.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 about professional indemnity insurance?
Nurses and midwives must confirm they hold required PII arrangements. ANMF full financial membership includes PII* that meets AHPRA requirements. You can download your PII certificate from the member portal: members.anmfvic.asn.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)?
An exposure-prone procedure (EPP) is one where there is a risk of injury to the healthcare worker resulting in exposure of the patient’s open tissues to the healthcare worker’s blood. 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.
How much does registration cost?
The general registration fee for 2023 is $180 and this is tax deductible. This cost has not increased since 2021. View the NMBA fee schedule at nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au.
ANMF members should seek advice early from ANMF Member Assistance if they have any questions in relation to the renewal of their registration – be it recency of practice, declaration of health impairments, or any other matter.
*some exceptions apply. Refer to the PII policy for details: anmfvic.asn.au/pii.
