Assessment of Qualifications in Podiatric Therapeutics for Australia

The Podiatry Board of Australia has approval from the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council (Ministerial Council) to endorse the registration of a podiatrist or podiatric surgeon as being qualified to administer, obtain, possess, prescribe, sell, supply or use Schedule 2, 3, 4 or 8 medicines for the treatment of podiatric conditions.

The Podiatry Board of Australia has an Endorsement for Scheduled Medicines (ESM) Registration Standard approved by the Ministerial Council pursuant to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act as in force in each state and territory (the National Law). The Podiatry Board of Australia has also developed Guidelines for Endorsement for Scheduled Medicines (Guidelines) under section 39 of the National Law as well as an Information Pack to assist podiatrists applying for the first time or renewing an endorsement for scheduled medicines. These documents can be found on the Podiatry Board of Australia website www.podiatryboard.gov.au

The requirements for endorsement are set out in the Podiatry Board of Australia’s Endorsement for scheduled medicines registration standard and explained in the Guidelines and Information Package. A podiatrist or podiatric surgeon who wishes to apply to the Podiatry Board of Australia to have their registration endorsed for scheduled medicines may follow one of two pathways (Pathway 1 or Pathway 2) to meet the requirements for an application for endorsement for scheduled medicines.

Approved Program of Study in Podiatric Therapeutics

For the purpose of the Endorsement for scheduled medicines registration standard the Podiatry Board of Australia will accept the following as an approved program of study in podiatric therapeutics:

• A program of study in podiatric therapeutics that has been accredited for this purpose by the Australia and New Zealand Podiatry Accreditation Council (ANZPAC) and approved by the Podiatry Board of Australia
• A program of study that transitioned on the commencement day of the National Law as an ‘approved program of study in podiatric therapeutics’ (section 283 of the National Law)
• A program of study in podiatric therapeutics that, in the opinion of the Podiatry Board of Australia, is substantially equivalent to, or based on similar competencies to, an approved program of study (section 94 (1) (a) (ii) of the National Law

Process for the assessment by ANZPAC of qualifications in podiatric therapeutics that are not on the Board’s list of approved qualifications for ESM)

• Practitioners wishing to work towards/apply to have their registration endorsed for scheduled medicines should check the Podiatry Board of Australia’s website for the current list of approved qualifications in podiatric therapeutics for ESM
• If a practitioner does not have an approved qualification in podiatric therapeutics, the practitioner has the option to either:
  • Undertake an approved program of study in podiatric therapeutics; or
  • Have their qualification in podiatric therapeutics assessed by ANZPAC to ascertain if it is substantially equivalent, or based on similar competencies to an approved qualification in podiatric therapeutics by submitting the Assessment of Qualifications in Podiatric Therapeutics Application Form
• If a practitioner decides to have their qualification in podiatric therapeutics assessed by ANZPAC, this should be done prior to undertaking the other requirements for ESM (ie. web based case studies and 40 sessions of supervised practice [40 log sheets]).
• If the practitioner’s qualifications are assessed by ANZPAC as not being equivalent to an approved qualification in podiatric therapeutics, the practitioner has the opportunity to undertake an approved program of study in podiatric therapeutics before they commence the other requirements for ESM.

The cost of the assessment is $1300 AUD. The assessment of qualifications in podiatric therapeutics can take up to six (6) weeks from the date ANZPAC receives your correctly completed application form and all the required documents exactly as stated in the form. 

On completion of the assessment you will be issued with a Certificate of Assessment.  This Certificate should be included with your application for endorsement and is valid for three (3) years from the date of issue.

Lodgement methods

ANZPAC accepts applications submitted via:

• email to [email protected]

Submitting supporting documents

Electronic Copies

All documents submitted electronically must be scanned colour copies of the original document. This information offers you guidance in attaching documents to your email application.

Compressed files

ANZPAC is not able to accept files that have been compressed. A compressed file is a container for documents, programs or other files that have been packaged together and reduced in size.

A common example is files compressed using WinZip® with a ‘.zip’ file extension. If the document you are attempting to attach is too large we recommend that you create a PDF document.
See: https://createpdf.adobe.com/

What can you attach?

ANZPAC is only able to accept the following file formats:

The following table details the maximum number, size and allowable formats of files you are able to attach to your application: