To be eligible to work in Australia, you will need to fulfill the requirements of one of the three registration pathways, which are coordinated by the Medical Board of Australia:

• the Competent Authority pathway
• the Standard pathway
• the Specialist pathway.

If your specialist qualification is not listed on the website, your training curriculum has not been assessed by the RACGP. Your curriculum must be assessed before you can apply for the comparability assessment. This can be arranged by emailing educationsupport@racgp.org.au. It can take up to 10 weeks from submitting all the necessary documentation along with your request. Some practitioners find it can take several weeks to obtain the curriculum documents from their university or general practice college.

The comparability assessment application includes a calculation for recency of practice, so applicants for the Practice Experience Program (PEP) – Specialist Stream are not required to complete a GPE assessment. For more information, please refer to the PEP – Specialist Stream Comparability Assessment Policy.

If you hold the ICFRACGP, you will need to follow the Specialist pathway to registration and apply to the RACGP for a comparability assessment.

Based on the comparability assessment, you will be assigned to one of three categories:

1. substantially comparable
2. partially comparable
3. non-comparable.

If you are assessed as substantially comparable, you may apply to enter the PEP Specialist Stream and:

• work under supervision while on the program
• complete educational modules designed to orientate you to Australian general practice
• complete workplace-based assessments.

If you are assessed as partially comparable, you would have to complete all above requirements and then sit the RACGP Fellowship exams.

If you are assessed as non-comparable, you would be considered a non-specialist and have to follow the AMC Competent Authority pathway or the Standard pathway and start with taking the AMC MCQ exam.

We strongly recommend you complete the conjoint exam in your country. There is no recognition of partial completion of the conjoint exam and you will not be eligible to sit any Fellowship exams with the RACGP.

The Specialist pathway requires you to work in the following locations based on the outcome of your comparability assessment:

• substantially comparable – MMM 2–7, MMM 1 + DPA or MMM 1 + Priority GP Catchment area
• partially comparable – MMM 2–7 + DPA
• this website shows you the MMM and DPA areas around Australia.

This is decided by your comparability outcome.

If your comparability outcome is:

• substantially comparable – you’ll be required to attain Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP) within 12 months, if working full time
• partially comparable – you’ll be required to attain FRACGP within 24 months, if working full time. This includes successful completion of the RACGP Fellowship exams.

Working part-time means it will take longer to complete your Fellowship requirements.

Substantially comparable doctors who do not satisfactorily complete the WBA will be required to complete additional assessments. If the WBA is not satisfactorily completed on the second attempt, your comparability will be reassessed as partially comparable, and you will be required to complete the RACGP exams.

Partially comparable doctors must also complete the WBA, however, in this instance the WBA is formative. Feedback from the WBA assessors is designed to provide guidance to support the doctor in preparing for the RACGP Fellowship exams.

The RACGP strongly recommends PEP Specialist Stream participants do not change practices during the six-month program time. Changing practices requires approval from AHPRA and the RACGP to reassess the job suitability and confirm the supervisor.

You will also need a new provider number. This can take anywhere from eight to 12 weeks to process. During the time it takes to process your change of job request and issue a provider number, we can’t pause your program time. This means you might find it difficult to fulfill your program requirements in time. You’ll need to complete your educational requirements within the six-month term, irrespective of your provider number situation.

The recruitment process can take between nine and 12 months to navigate through various stages (comparability assessment, job offer approval, application to Specialist pathway program, visa processing, Australian registration application, Medicare provider number allocation). We advise you to start the process at least a year prior to arriving and working in Australia. The best way to speed up the process is to make sure each application you submit is complete, so you don’t receive requests for additional information