Mila's story

Mila, an overseas-qualified practitioner, complained to our office about the delivery of the multiple-choice exam (MCQ) and objective structured clinical exam (OSCE) that she was required to sit to become eligible to be registered in Australia. This included concerns about delay in the publishing of the MCQ handbook, problems with the delivery of the OSCE and a lack of transparency about the feedback she received regarding the OSCE results. Mila said that Ahpra ‘has been delaying the processes, have charged fees that were not justified and held back important information which led to more fees, failed exams and a longer waiting period’. Mila also said that she had experienced financial hardship and mental health issues as she had not been able to work for more than two years due to the length of time taken to progress her application. She sought a refund of the $4,000 fee to sit the OSCE due to the delivery issues identified, and compensation due to her experience with the MCQ.

Mila agreed to participate in our early resolution transfer process with Ahpra.

What we found

In its response to the complaint, Ahpra acknowledged Mila’s frustration and disappointment with the delay. Ahpra explained that the delays were due to the pandemic, and this had affected Mila’s experience.

Ahpra explained the purpose of regulatory exams such as the OSCE is not educative. These exams do not seek to provide feedback to candidates to correct errors or direct a candidate’s learning. However, Ahpra confirmed that it was considering whether it could provide more information to people who sit the OSCE.

In relation to Mila’s requests for compensation and a refund, Ahpra advised that due to the National Scheme’s cost-recovery model, it would not refund the registration application fee that she paid. It also advised that it could not compensate her in relation to the MCQ test because she had paid the MCQ provider to undertake the test (not Ahpra). Ahpra advised that due to a review of the results of the OSCE, Mila had now passed the OSCE and was eligible to apply for registration. Ahpra therefore did not provide a refund or review Mila’s OSCE outcome.

Complaint outcome

Given Mila was now able to apply for registration, our office finalised our investigation.

However, we acknowledged that Mila’s concerns highlight systemic issues in relation to the transparency of the OSCE, including its candidate manual and the release of exam results. Other candidates also submitted similar separate complaints to our office.

Accordingly, our office decided to undertake further work in relation to these issues at the system level. Mila was offered the opportunity to be kept up to date about the progress of this work.