New Zealand Registered Pharmacist Stream

This pathway shows you how to apply for a Skills Assessment Outcome.

It is for those who have graduated and are registered in New Zealand and now want to permanently move to Australia.

If you're a New Zealand citizen, you can work in Australia without a Skills Assessment Outcome. It is not required as a step towards pharmacist registration. It's only required for migration purposes. Check your circumstances with the Department of Home Affairs first to see if you need to apply for a Skills Assessment with us.

Overview

This process applies if you:

have completed an approved program in Australia or a substantially equivalent program in New Zealand or have completed an approved adjudication process in New Zealand
are currently registered to practise in either Australia or New Zealand, and
now want to migrate to Australia.

If you're a New Zealand citizen, currently registered in New Zealand and want to work in Australia but not migrate, you do not need a Skills Assessment Outcome. To register as a pharmacist, apply directly to Ahpra / Pharmacy Board of Australia.

Processing time:8 weeks

If you leave out any documents or provide incorrect information, the process will take longer.

Cost:

Eligibility Check and Skills Assessment Outcome: $1110
Work Experience verification: $200

Documents

When you apply for a skills assessment outcome, you need to include your:

Passport	Your passport must be valid. We cannot accept an expired passport. If you do not have a current passport, you can complete your application with an alternative Australian or New Zealand identification document. The only accepted alternatives include: Australian / New Zealand Drivers Licence Australian federal, state or territory government issued identity card Australian government issued ImmiCard.
Official photo-bearing document	We require an official ID as proof of identity. This must be an ID document issued by an overseas or Australian authority. It must include your photo.
Birth certificate	We require a birth certificate as proof of identity. If you do not have a birth certificate you can provide a second photo-bearing document (see above).
Qualification certificate or letter of completion	To apply using this process, you must have graduated with a degree in New Zealand or have completed an approved adjudication process in New Zealand. To show this, please include: your degree certificate OR letter of completion if your degree has not yet been issued. It must include: details for the full degree (not a provisional or temporary certificate/letter) the issuing date. Combine files into one file.
Academic transcript	The academic transcript issued by the education provider must: include all pages in a single document show all subjects/units and examination results for every semester of the program.
Evidence of registration	You need to be fully registered in either Australia or New Zealand. To show this, please upload an image of your: original registration in Australia or New Zealand current registration in Australia or New Zealand To obtain this evidence, contact your pharmacy registration authority, not your university. It must include the commencement and/or expiry date of the registration period.
Evidence of your pharmacist work experience (optional)	You do not need to have worked as a pharmacist to apply for a skills assessment. However, if you request for us to comment on your work history to support your visa/migration application, we'll need to see evidence of your work experience. We can only consider your work experience if you've worked: as a fully registered retail or hospital pharmacist (not as an intern) for more than 20 hours per week for at least 12 months in the last 10 years. In the portal, include Work Experience Reference Templates combined with secondary evidence such as a payslip, income tax statement or Government issued letter. You'll need to complete one template per employer. Upload these as one single file.
Resume or Curriculum Vitae (optional)	If you'd like us to assess your work experience, you need to provide an up-to-date resume or curriculum vitae (CV). It must include: all periods of work undertaken as a registered pharmacist (with full/general registration) employer's name of organisation, address and contact details start and finish dates for all periods of work.
Agent authorisation form (optional)	If you want to nominate someone to communicate with us on your behalf, upload the original APC Agent Authorisation Form. Both you and your agent must sign the agent’s authority. We will only communicate directly with one person. If you nominate an agent, we will communicate only with the agent.
Evidence of name change (optional)	Your name must appear the same way on all your documents. If you have changed your name, you need to upload proof of any name change in the portal. If your name is spelt incorrectly in any of your documents, you will need to have them corrected by the organisation who originally issued them. Documents that prove a change of name include: a marriage or divorce certificate a deed poll change of name documents from an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, or the relevant authority outside Australia documents that show other formal names you've been known by.

Get translations

Translate any non-English documents into English. We will not accept an extract translation of the document. It must be a translation of the full document.

We will not accept an extract translation of the document unless it is provided from an Australian Government Department, such as the Department of Home Affairs.

You must use a translator who is accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). We will not accept documents that have been translated by anyone else.

Helpful resources

For more information on the criteria that your qualification needs to meet, see our Assessment Standards.

For specific details about the required documents, see our Skills Assessment Documents Policy.

You do not need to:

have any documents certified
show proof of English competency.

If you leave out any documents or provide incorrect information, the process will take longer than usual.

Process

Step 1

Before you apply

Check that you're eligible to apply

You must:

have completed an approved pharmacy qualification, or been through an approved adjudication process, in New Zealand
be fully registered to to practise in either Australia or New Zealand
want to migrate to Australia

If your degree is incomplete, you are not eligible for a Skills Assessment outcome.

If you completed your degree in a different country, go to the Skills Assessments page.

If you want to work in Australia without migrating here, you do not need a Skills Assessment outcome. You can apply to register directly with the Pharmacy Board of Australia.

Gather your documents

You'll need to provide us with documents to:

show that you meet the eligibility criteria
support the claims you make in your application

Get help with your application if you want to

Anyone can help you fill out forms or give you general help with your application.

But you may want us to correspond with another person, such as a migration agent or family member, instead of you.

If you want to nominate someone else to work with us, download and fill in our Agent Authorisation form. Both you and your nominated agent must sign it.

Please note that your nominated agent must use a different email address to yours.

You'll need to scan and upload the completed form in your application where it says 'If you use an agent'.

If you nominate someone else, we'll only talk to your authorised agent about your Skills Assessment outcome.

Step 2

Apply for the Skills Assessment outcome

Sign in to our Candidate Portal

Create an account in our Candidate Portal using your name and address.

In the portal, you will:

set up a candidate profile
request an eligibility check

Upload your documents

Make you have all the correct documents, and that they're correctly prepared.

Pay the fee online

We can accept payment by credit or debit card. Your card must be issued by a bank in your country of residence.

Step 3

After you apply

We'll email you to let you know when we've received your application.

Wait to hear from us again

It will take us about 8 weeks to complete your eligibility check.

If you leave out any documents or send us the wrong ones, it will take us longer.

Send us more information if we ask

We may contact you by email to tell you we need more information.

If we ask for more information, you have 6 months (180 days) to get this to us.

If we do not receive the correct information from you within 6 months, our system will close your application. If this happens, you'll need to re-apply and pay the fee again.

Request your Skills Assessment outcome

We'll email you (or your agent) a copy of the Skills Assessment outcome.

Next Steps

Request your Skills Assessment Outcome.

Once you have a Skills Assessment outcomefrom us, you can use it to support your application to the Department of Home Affairs for a visa application.

The Department of Home Affairs sets the validity period for your Skills Assessment outcome. Contact them to check how long it will be valid.

If something significant changes after we issue your Skills Assessment outcome, you can ask us for an updated Skills Assessment.

New Zealand Registered Pharmacist Stream skills assessment outcome