If you are a registered in Australia as an osteopath, you are able to practice in New Zealand under the TTMRA between Australia and New Zealand. The information below sets out what you need to know to have your registration approved so you can begin to practice here.

Apply for Registration

Information About Applying for Registration in New Zealand

The Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition agreement provides an alternative avenue for obtaining registration in New Zealand.

Background

The Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 (TTMRA) came into force on 1 May 1998. It recognises the regulatory standards adopted in Australia regarding goods and occupations.

Mutual Recognition Principle

The Act allows people registered in Australia and New Zealand who practise substantially the same registered occupations, where there is similar legislation in both countries, to move freely between the two countries.

If you are registered to practise osteopathy in Australia, you are entitled to seek registration as an osteopath in New Zealand. You will need to:

• make a statutory declaration
• pay the application fee
• provide evidence of entitlement to practise as an osteopath by supplying a certified copy of a current practising certificate/registration or other document evidencing current entitlement to practice osteopathy in Australia
• provide a certified copy of your Birth Certificate or Passport
• provide a certified copy of your qualification
• complete a Consent to Disclosure of Information form - NZ Police Report.

Application Process

When deciding whether to grant, postpone or refuse your applications, the Council makes inquiries of the authorities of any jurisdictions in which you are registered, to ensure that the information supplied on your application form is correct, and to establish whether there are any conditions or restrictions relating to your registration in those jurisdictions. The Council also makes inquiries regarding your activities in osteopathy and any matters relevant to your written notice. The Council may postpone or refuse to grant registration if:

• any of the statements or information in the notice required by section 19 of TTMRA are materially false or misleading or
• any document or information required by section 19 is materially false or misleading or
• any document required by section 19 has not been provided or
• the Council determines that the occupation in which registration is sought is not an equivalent occupation, and that equivalence cannot be achieved by the imposition of conditions or
• the circumstances of the applicant have materially changed since the date of the notice or the date it was given.

Pending the granting or refusal of registration, a person is deemed to be registered and is entitled to practice osteopathy in New Zealand as long as they have a current New Zealand Annual Practising Certificate. The Council may impose conditions on deemed registrations to:

• achieve equivalence of occupations or
• match conditions that apply to a person's Australian registration or
• implement the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition principle in relation to occupations.

There is a right of review of the Council's decision to postpone or refuse registration. Once granted, registration takes effect as if it had been granted immediately on giving of the written notice.

Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (HPCA Act)

Once registered, you will practise in New Zealand under the requirements of the HPCA Act 2003. Its purpose is to protect the health and safety of members of the public by providing for mechanisms to ensure that health practitioners are competence and fit to practise their profession. You can view the legislation on www.legistation.govt.nz under Statutes - Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003.

The Council is required under part 6 section 138 of the HPCA Act to register certain information about each practitioner, this includes:

• full name
• qualifications
• scope of practice and any change to the scope of practice
• whether the practitioner holds an annual practising certificate, or interim practising certificate
• any other matters the authority thinks fit e.g. address information.

Although you are not applying to register under the Act, the Council would appreciate information about your qualifications (see question 4).

Practitioners who are registered under TTMRA are, like all registered practitioners, required to apply for an Annual Practising Certificate under the Act.

As part of the registration process, you will be asked to make declarations as to your competence. A scope of practice is endorsed on your APC in accordance with the Act. The scope of practice describes the health services that the practitioner is permitted to perform.

Timeline

Applicants who are registered with an Australian registration authority should first read the above registration information and then complete the application form through MyOsteo. In addition to seeking registration, applicants will also need to apply for an Annual Practising Certificate prior to practising in New Zealand.