Department of Health

Key messages

  • Some healthcare workers in Victoria are subject to occupational licensing laws or ‘statutory registration’; others are not.
  • There are 14 health professions regulated under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.

Professions where registration is required

The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law as in force in each state and territory (‘the National Law’) requires a person to be registered if they wish to practise in a regulated health profession.

There are 14 regulated health professions under the National Law:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice
  • Chinese medicine (acupuncturists, Chinese herbal medicine practitioners and Chinese herbal dispenser)
  • chiropractic
  • dental (dentists, dental specialists, dental hygienists, dental prosthetists, dental therapists and oral health therapists)
  • medical
  • medical radiation practice (diagnostic radiographers, nuclear medicine technologists and radiation therapists)
  • nursing and midwifery (registered nurses, enrolled nurses, nurse practitioners, and midwives)
  • occupational therapy
  • optometry
  • pharmacy
  • physiotherapy
  • podiatry
  • psychology.

Registered health practitioners

A registered health practitioner is a person who, in order to practise their profession, must be registered in one of the health professions regulated under the National Law (as in force in each state and territory).

Unregistered healthcare workers

An unregistered healthcare worker is any person who provides a health service and is not registered in one of the health professions regulated under the National Law.

Reviewed 09 September 2015

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