Registration in Australia FAQs

When a Canadian registered nurse wishes to work in Australia, they must first contact the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). AHPRA regulates the health practitioners in Australia in partnership with national boards, such as the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). AHPRA requires all international applicants who apply for registration to meet particular guidelines set out by the NMBA. For details on the criteria, please click here.

CASN is able to assist Canadian registered nurses who studied at accredited Canadian schools of nursing to gain licensure to work in Australia by providing evidence for Criterion 3 (as outlined in the above link), which relates to the program of study being accredited during the time the registered nurse undertook the program of study.

CASN requires three pieces of information in order to process a request to provide evidence related to the accreditation status of the applicant’s school of nursing:

1. The template letter the Australian regulatory body provided to the applicant, with personal details filled in in the table (in a Word document).
2. A scanned copy or image of either the applicant’s degree or final transcripts in order to confirm the graduation date.
3. The email address of the contact person at AHPRA. (CASN has an arrangement with them that allows the letters to be sent via email.)

These documents and information can be emailed to Karem Langer, Accreditation Programs Coordinator, at klanger@casn.ca. Once this information is received, CASN will review its files, and if appropriate, will complete the letter for the applicant. Please note that CASN will copy the applicant on the email sent to AHPRA so that they may have a copy of both the letter and correspondence.

If an applicant’s program of study is not accredited by CASN, or was not at the time, then they may wish to reach out to the regulatory body in their school of nursing’s province or territory. They may be able to provide documentation as evidence of official regulatory approval of the applicant’s program of study and/or education institution at the time of the program of study.

CASN does not charge a fee for completing the form and sending it to the applicant’s AHPRA contact person.

CASN can provide the required letter within 10 business days of the original request. Please send the documentation with this timeline in mind. Also, please note that the letter is sent via email, so there is no need to factor in mailing times.