Accreditation requirements of the qualification assessment model

Criterion 2 of the qualification assessment model requires that your education institution and program of study were accredited during the period of time that you studied. The NMBA’s specific requirements for criterion 2 are set out below.

Criterion 2

At the time you received your qualification as a registered nurse or midwife or enrolled nurse the qualification was subject to quality assurance and recognised or accredited by a body external to the education institution and based on published accreditation standards.

The accreditation standards for registered nurse or midwife or enrolled nurse education must include all of the following:

• contemporary approaches to education
• institutional resources (staffing and facilities)
• evidenced based and contemporary nursing and/or midwifery practice
• workplace experience across a variety of healthcare settings and
• medication management that addresses safe and effective use of medicines.

The published processes for reviewing programs/providers against the accreditation standards must include all of the following:

• an assessment conducted by an individual or team with appropriate expertise in education and in the registered nurse or midwife or enrolled nurse practice, and
• regular review of the program of study such as annual reporting or cyclic re-accreditation.

Information about the accreditation system and standards for nursing and midwifery education in Australia, including links to relevant documents, is published on the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) website.

If your education institution or program of study were not subject to the type of regular external review described above, your qualification will not meet the qualification requirements.

AHPRA has conducted research into nursing and midwifery qualifications awarded by education institutions in a number of countries to establish whether or not they are likely to meet the accreditation requirements. The outcome of this research is described below.

We are continuing to conduct research on nursing and midwifery qualifications issued by education institutions in countries that are not listed below. We will update the information to include qualifications issued by education institutions in other countries as it becomes available.

The categories below do not apply to qualifications where the education institution and/or education program are subject to a system of regular external review by an agency operating outside the country where the applicant studied.

For more information please see:

• Application Outcomes for more information on referral to bridging.
• Supporting documentation for us to assess your application.