Francis's Story

Francis made a complaint to our office about Ahpra’s assessment of his registration application. Ahpra assessed that he needed to sit an English language test to meet the requirements of the English language skills registration standard.

Francis told us his secondary and tertiary education was taught and assessed solely in English. However, he did not meet the ‘combined secondary and tertiary education pathway’ under the registration standard because his secondary education took place in a non-recognised country.

Francis completed more than 7 years of full-time vocational and tertiary education in Australia. However, he took a 6-month break from education due to personal hardship. This meant he did not meet the ‘extended education pathway’ under the registration standard because his studies were not continuous.

Francis disagreed with Ahpra’s assessment and complained to our office.

Complaint outcome

Our office reviewed the information Francis provided to us. We found that Ahpra had assessed his application in line with the registration standard and it had communicated its assessment in a timely and detailed manner.

We explained to Francis that Ahpra had applied the registration standard correctly. While we understood his disappointment, Ahpra’s advice that he must undertake an English language test was in line with the registration standard.

Francis told us that though he now understood that the registration standard was applied correctly, he felt it was unfair and unreasonable. He said he felt disheartened about how the registration standard defines ‘recognised countries’ and ‘full-time equivalent continuous education’ without scope for considering an individual applicant’s circumstances.

We shared with Francis that our office continues to provide feedback to Ahpra about how the registration standard is operating, including through our submission to Ahpra and some of the Boards’ consultation on a revised registration standard. Francis said that he now better understood the registration standard, despite his disagreements with it.