Fastrack Your Move to Australia as a Physiotherapist With the Express Flyr Pathways

To get a job as a physiotherapist in Australia, foreign-trained physiotherapists must fulfill specific requirements in order to meet the country’s standards for physiotherapy practice.

There are three major assessment pathways that the Australian Physiotherapy Council offers to international physiotherapists in order to help them obtain their license to practice.

They are:

1. Standard Assessment Pathway:

This is the most common assessment pathway for foreign-trained physiotherapists wanting to be registered and work as physiotherapists in Australia. It includes three stages:

I. Eligibility Assessment and Cultural Safety Training

The Eligibility Assessment is a document-based assessment to ensure you hold an appropriate entry-level physiotherapy qualification. You are required to have a minimum of a diploma in physiotherapy (except Singapore) and be licensed to practice in your country.

You will be required to complete an online application and submit the following documents:

• Your passport identity page
• Evidence of a change of name (if applicable)
• Degree Certificate
• Official statement of results (transcript)
• Evidence for practice

You will also be required to complete a Cultural Safety Training.

The Cultural Safety Training is an online program that consists of six learning modules and will take approximately 5 hours to complete. You are required to get a pass mark of 80% to be able to progress on your assessment pathway.

You can repeat the exam until you achieve the pass mark at no extra cost.

Fees:

Eligibility Assessment: AUD1,136 ($762)

Cultural Safety Training: AUD 228 ($152)

Processing Time:

This stage takes 4 weeks to process.

The Interim Certificate

After you have successfully completed the Cultural Safety Training and the Eligibility Assessment, the Australian Physiotherapy Council will issue your Interim Certificate.

With this two-year Interim Certificate, you can fulfill one of the prerequisites for Limited Registration for Supervised Practice with AHPRA.

Prior to submitting an application for General Registration as a physiotherapist in Australia, limited registration permits you to operate under supervision and acquire clinical experience inside the Australian healthcare system.

Get more information about AHPRA limited registration requirements.

II. Written Assessment

This assessment evaluates your knowledge, problem-solving, and decision-making skills to ensure that they meet the Physiotherapy Practice Thresholds in Australia established by the Physiotherapy Board of Australia.

The assessment is conducted four times a year (in December, March, June, and September) and is completed via an online platform that can be accessed remotely from your home or at a physical location.

You can attempt the written assessment as many times as you like if you’re on the Standard Assessment Pathway; however, if you’re on the FLYR pathway, you can only attempt the written assessment three times in order to stay on this pathway.

Exam Format

The Written Assessment is conducted online and comprises two papers: Paper 1 in the morning and Paper 2 in the afternoon of the same day.

Each paper lasts two hours and includes 15 cases.

Each paper will contain 60 multiple-choice questions within the 15 cases. Each case will Include four multiple-choice questions that require you, as the physiotherapist, to identify the correct response. These questions consider the knowledge, actions, decisions, and responses that an entry-level Australian physiotherapist typically exhibits in a clinical setting.

Assessment Fee: AUD 1,958 ($1313)

If you are following the Standard Assessment Pathway, after you have finished the Written assessment successfully, you will be able to move on to the Clinical Assessment.

Get the Written Assessment Information booklet

III. Clinical Assessment

The final phase of the Standard Assessment Pathway is the Clinical Assessment, where you showcase your clinical knowledge and reasoning while conducting secure and efficient consultations. The evaluation takes place in the Simulation Lab, a virtual setting where qualified actors play actual patients. The three required practical components are as follows:

• musculoskeletal physiotherapy
• neurological physiotherapy
• cardiorespiratory physiotherapy

Fees: AUD 4,263 ($2,860)

After passing all three Clinical Assessment components, you will receive a Final Certificate, fulfilling one of the prerequisites for General Registration with the Australian Physiotherapy Board.

Should you fail any of the three assessment components—musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, or neurology—you will have to reapply to retake that particular component.

Get more information about the Clinical Assessment

Final Certificate

You will obtain your final certificate upon completion of all assessments administered by the Austalia Physiotherapy Council (APC).After that, you can proceed to AHPRA to finish the General Registration process.

More information on AHPRA registration

2. Express FLYR Pathway and FLYR Pathway

Presumably, the Australian Physiotherapy Council noticed that the Standard Assessment pathway slowed down the physiotherapist registration process, which is counterproductive to demand.

To solve this issue, the Australian Physiotherapy Council created the Express FLYR and FLYR Pathway, an alternate registration method for physiotherapists. FLYR Pathway intends to simplify and expedite the registration procedure, allowing competent physiotherapists to fulfill rising demand more efficiently. This strategy enhances the healthcare workforce by decreasing unnecessary delays and facilitating prompt access to physiotherapy services.

The Express FLYR Pathway, or FLYR Pathway, is designed to save time and money on your journey towards becoming a physiotherapist in Australia.

Eligible foreign-trained physiotherapists can skip some assessment stages in the Standard Assessment Pathway and complete their assessments remotely without the need to travel to Australia.

Express FLYR Pathway

This is the fastest route available, allowing qualified physiotherapists to finish their evaluation process without having to take the Written Assessment or Clinical Assessment. To receive your Final Certificate, all you need to do is pass the Eligibility Assessment and Cultural Safety Training.

To qualify for the Express FLYR pathway, you must meet the following criteria:

• Have an entry-level physiotherapy qualification in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, or Hong Kong.
• You must have held registration without restriction with the relevant regulatory body within the past 5 years.
• Able to practice without any restrictions.
• Have an entry-level qualification that is diploma-level.

Fees: Eligibility Assessment + Cultural Safety Training

FLYR Pathway

Eligible physiotherapists must successfully complete the Written Assessment, Cultural Safety Training, and Eligibility Assessment in order to receive the Final Certificate.

To qualify for the Express FLYR pathway, you must meet the following criteria:

• Have an entry-level physiotherapy qualification in South Africa, the Netherlands, or Singapore.
• You must have held registration without restriction with the relevant regulatory body within the past 5 years.
• Able to practice without any restrictions.
• Have an entry-level qualification that is diploma-level (B.sc for Singapore)

Fees: Eligibility Assessment + Cultural Safety Training + Written Assessment

Processing Time: 4 Weeks

Fees: same as listed above

3. Equivalence of Qualification Pathway

The Equivalence of Qualification Pathway is a document-based evaluation of international physiotherapy qualifications.

It seeks to establish whether your international physiotherapy qualification is sufficiently equivalent to a recognized Australian entry-level program. The goal of this evaluation is to check that you have the same competencies as an entry-level physiotherapist trained in Australia and that you are safe to practice.

To see if your university program is considered equivalent, consult the list of Equivalent University Programs here. To apply for the Equivalence of Qualification Pathway, your university, program, and years of study must exactly match the list.

Requirements

• Complete the online application and pay for your application.
• Complete Cultural Safety Training.

Fee: AUD 1,549 ($1039) + Cultural Safety training (AUD 228 ($152))

Processing Time: 4 weeks

Learn more about the Equivalence of Qualification Pathway

The Express FLYR and FLYR pathways remain the fastest routes to moving to Australia as a physiotherapist, as they have been designed to expedite the immigration process for physiotherapists, ensuring a smooth transition to Australia’s healthcare industry.

Learn more about the Assessment Pathways for foreign-trained physiotherapists.