Start here to turn your dream of living and working in Australia as a GP into reality.
The specialist qualifications required to be vocationally recognised as a GP in Australia are:
- a Fellowship of the Royal Australian and College of General Practitioners (RACGP), or;
- a Fellowship of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM).
The RACGP Practice Experience Pathway (PEP) – Standard stream is the most common route taken by GPs seeking vocational recognition in Australia.
The ACRRM also offers a range of pathways for GPs to work in Australia with a focus on rural and remote practice.
The following qualifications have been pre-assessed as eligible for comparability assessment:
- Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners, UK
- Membership of the Irish College of General Practitioners
- Fellowship of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners
- Certification in the College of Family Physicians of Canada
- Certificate of Specific Training for General Practice Sweden
- Certificate of Specific Training for General Practice Netherlands
- Specialist in Family and Community Medicine, Spain
- Specialist in Family Medicine, Malta
If you hold a different qualification, you will need to apply for a portfolio assessment and be found eligible before you can apply for a comparability assessment.
Applying for a comparability assessment
Following your assessment for comparability, you will receive an outcome of either substantially, partially or not comparable. You will be required to meet all criteria to be found substantially or partially comparable, including an assessment of recency of practice and completion of CPD requirements.
Substantially comparable:
If you are found to be substantially comparable, you are considered suitable to undertake the intended scope of practice and to take full responsibility for all patients with limited oversight by a supervisor.
You are required to achieve Fellowship within 12 months of full-time equivalent work in an approved job.
Partially comparable:
If you are found to be partially comparable, you are considered suitable to undertake a defined scope of practice in a supervised capacity.
You will be required to reach comparability within 24 months of full-time equivalent work in an approved job. You are also required to achieve Fellowship in this same time period and successfully complete the RACGP Fellowship exams.
Our expert in-house regulatory and migration team is here to guide you through each step of this process.
New Zealand
Planning to go a little further than Australia? Here are the requirements to work as a GP in New Zealand
The two main pathways for medical registration as a GP in New Zealand are as follows:
1. The Competent Authority pathway
To be eligible for this pathway you must:
• Hold a primary medical degree from a university medical school accredited by the UK or Ireland, and;
• hold full or general registration in the UK or Ireland, or;
• have completed your internship within the UK or Irish jurisdictions, and satisfy the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) English language requirements.
2. Comparable Health
To be eligible for this pathway you must:
• Have worked in a comparable health system for a minimum of 30 hours per week, for at least 33 of the last 48 months, and;
• hold full or general registration in the comparable health system, and;
• have proposed employment in New Zealand in the same or similar area of medicine and at a similar level of responsibility to the work you have been doing in a comparable health system, for at least 33 of the last 48 months.
Completion of either pathway leads to the attainment of provisional general registration with the Medical Council of New Zealand. This registration requires you to work as a GP under the supervision of a registered GP for at least the first six months before progressing to general scope of practice.
Countries deemed to be in a comparable health system:
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Canada
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Iceland
- Israel
- Italy
- Norway
- Portugal
- Republic of Ireland
- Singapore
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- The Netherlands
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
Our expert team are ready to help you every step of the way on your journey to working as a GP in New Zealand. Register your details and we’ll be in touch to help you make the move to Aotearoa.