For diagnostic radiographers, radiation therapists and nuclear medicine technologists who qualified outside Australia: the Board's pathways and qualification assessment, the National exam, English, fees, and where ASMIRT's skills assessment for a visa fits.
See which pathway appliesThe Medical Radiation Practice Board registers practitioners in three divisions (diagnostic radiography, radiation therapy, nuclear medicine technology), and you can be registered in more than one. If you qualified outside Australia, the Board decides from your application which of its pathways applies: Trans-Tasman mutual recognition if you hold current New Zealand registration and a practising certificate, the comparable regulator pathway, the recognised international qualification pathway, or a qualification assessment.
For diagnostic radiography and radiation therapy only, when your qualification was accredited at the time you completed it by a regulator the Board treats as comparable: CORU in Ireland (CORU-approved qualifications completed between 2013 and 2030) or the HCPC in the United Kingdom (HCPC-approved qualifications completed between 2010 and 2030). The Board doesn’t need to assess the qualification itself. The Board says this pathway is not available for nuclear medicine technologists.
For all three divisions, when the Board has already assessed the same qualification as yours and found it substantially equivalent, or based on similar competencies, to an approved qualification. Yours must match an entry on the Board’s list exactly: division, institution, qualification title and award year.
For everyone else, in all three divisions. You send the Board form PNAQ-91 (Portfolio for the assessment of non-approved qualifications) with all your medical radiation practice qualifications, and it assesses them before you apply for registration.
If you hold current registration with New Zealand’s Medical Radiation Technologists Board and a current practising certificate, you can apply for general registration under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997. If you qualified in New Zealand but don’t hold a current New Zealand practising certificate, you can’t use Trans-Tasman mutual recognition: you apply for general registration and give the details of your New Zealand qualification.
| Division | Institution | Qualification | Award years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diagnostic radiography | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Radiography | 2012, 2013, 2016 to 2018, 2020, 2022 |
| Diagnostic radiography | Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Hanzehogeschool Groningen) | Bachelor of Science in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy | 2017 |
| Diagnostic radiography | Inholland University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool Inholland) | Bachelor of Science in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy | 2015, 2016, 2018 |
| Diagnostic radiography | University of Johannesburg | Bachelor of Diagnostic Radiography | 2019 |
| Diagnostic radiography | University of Pretoria | Bachelor of Radiography in Diagnostics | 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 |
| Diagnostic radiography | Canterbury Christ Church University | Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Interprofessional Learning (Diagnostic Radiography) | 2012 |
| Diagnostic radiography | University of East Anglia and University of Essex | Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Diagnostic Radiography | 2015 |
| Diagnostic radiography | University of Leeds | Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Radiography | 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018 |
| Diagnostic radiography | University of Ulster | Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Radiography | 2010 |
| Nuclear medicine technology | University of Pretoria | Bachelor of Radiography (Honours) in Nuclear Medicine | 2014 |
| Nuclear medicine technology | Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Medicine Technology | 2018 |
| Radiation therapy | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Radiography | 2014, 2017, 2020 |
| Radiation therapy | Tung Wah College | Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Radiation Therapy | 2022 |
As printed on the Board’s “Is my qualification recognised” page (reviewed 13 March 2026). The recognised international qualification pathway needs an exact match with an entry on the Board’s list: the division, institution, qualification title and award year. If yours is not on the list, or differs in any of those four details, the Board assesses it instead.
For diagnostic radiography and radiation therapy only, when your qualification was accredited at the time you completed it by a regulator the Board treats as comparable: CORU in Ireland (CORU-approved qualifications completed between 2013 and 2030) or the HCPC in the United Kingdom (HCPC-approved qualifications completed between 2010 and 2030). The Board doesn’t need to assess the qualification itself. The Board says this pathway is not available for nuclear medicine technologists. The recognised international qualification pathway needs an exact match with an entry on the Board’s list: the division, institution, qualification title and award year.
Ahpra asks for certified copies of your documents, with English translations of anything not in English; proof of identity; your qualifications; evidence for your English declaration; and, if you have been registered as a health practitioner outside Australia, a Certificate of Good Standing or Registration Status from each regulator, which you arrange and the regulator sends to Ahpra directly, dated within three months of your application. You also need an international criminal history check, through an Ahpra-approved supplier, for every country you have lived in for six consecutive months or more as an adult. Ahpra suggests applying at least three months before you intend to start work, and accepts applications up to six months before; good-standing certificates and criminal history check results are valid for only three months.
You apply in the Ahpra practitioner portal and upload scanned, certified copies of your documents there. The Board charges an application fee and a registration fee, and both are paid when you apply. For a first general registration that is $460, or $410 if your principal place of practice is in NSW (our sums from the Board’s fee schedule). If the comparable regulator or recognised qualification pathway applies, the Board says you are on a fast-track pathway: it doesn’t assess your qualification, but it still verifies every document in your registration application.
Being qualified is only part of it. When you apply for general registration, the Board checks you against its registration standards on criminal history, English language skills, professional indemnity insurance and recency of practice. Criminal history: you declare your criminal history in all countries, including Australia. A revised standard took effect on 15 July 2026. Professional indemnity insurance: your arrangements must cover all aspects of your practice, and you declare that you won’t practise without them. Recency of practice: at least 450 hours of practice in the previous three years (about three months full-time), under the standard dated 1 December 2016. Falling short doesn’t necessarily stop a return to practice. English is covered below.
Licensing to use radiation is up to each state and territory’s radiation authority: the Board says most states and territories require a radiation use licence, so check with the authority where you will practise before you start work. The Board recommends that you don’t apply for work or set up a practice until you are registered.
You send the Board form PNAQ-91 (Portfolio for the assessment of non-approved qualifications) with all your medical radiation practice qualifications, and it assesses them before you apply for registration. The fee is $660. The application fee for the qualification portfolio assessment is not refundable. You provide “a clear colour scan of a certified copy” of each document, and Ahpra asks for proof of identity when you apply for an assessment of your qualifications, as it does when you apply for registration. The Board publishes no processing time. It will contact you if the assessment is expected to take more than 28 days or it needs more from you, and it says qualification assessments can’t be fast-tracked.
“Substantially equivalent, or based on similar competencies, to an approved qualification”: You are qualified for general registration in that division, and the Board tells you how to apply. “Relevant to the medical radiation practice profession”: You are not yet qualified: you must complete the National exam for medical radiation practice. The Board’s exam FAQs say that to be eligible to sit the exam you must have submitted an application for registration as a medical radiation practitioner, or already be registered; its next-steps page puts applying for general registration after you pass. The two are worded differently, so follow the instructions that come with your assessment outcome. “Not qualified for general registration”: The Board suggests completing an approved qualification from an Australian educational institution, or other career options. If you think something was missed, you can ask for a re-assessment within 28 days of your outcome; the Board says it will tell you the result within two months of receiving the request.
First set up an account on the Board’s examination portal (you need your Ahpra user ID). The Board says accounts are reviewed and activated within five working days, and you need an active account before you can register for a sitting. See the exam section below.
Ahpra asks for certified copies of your documents, with English translations of anything not in English; proof of identity; your qualifications; evidence for your English declaration; and, if you have been registered as a health practitioner outside Australia, a Certificate of Good Standing or Registration Status from each regulator, which you arrange and the regulator sends to Ahpra directly, dated within three months of your application. You also need an international criminal history check, through an Ahpra-approved supplier, for every country you have lived in for six consecutive months or more as an adult. Ahpra suggests applying at least three months before you intend to start work, and accepts applications up to six months before; good-standing certificates and criminal history check results are valid for only three months.
You apply in the Ahpra practitioner portal and upload scanned, certified copies of your documents there. The Board charges an application fee and a registration fee, and both are paid when you apply. For a first general registration that is $460, or $410 if your principal place of practice is in NSW (our sums from the Board’s fee schedule).
Being qualified is only part of it. When you apply for general registration, the Board checks you against its registration standards on criminal history, English language skills, professional indemnity insurance and recency of practice. Criminal history: you declare your criminal history in all countries, including Australia. A revised standard took effect on 15 July 2026. Professional indemnity insurance: your arrangements must cover all aspects of your practice, and you declare that you won’t practise without them. Recency of practice: at least 450 hours of practice in the previous three years (about three months full-time), under the standard dated 1 December 2016. Falling short doesn’t necessarily stop a return to practice. English is covered below.
Licensing to use radiation is up to each state and territory’s radiation authority: the Board says most states and territories require a radiation use licence, so check with the authority where you will practise before you start work. The Board recommends that you don’t apply for work or set up a practice until you are registered.
The Board looks at three things: registration (your qualification was recognised for registration where you gained it, or, where there is no statutory registration body, evidence that it let you practise there); quality assurance (accreditation by a body outside your education provider, or issue by a legally authorised institution meeting minimum requirements); and academic level (comparable to an Australian Bachelor degree, AQF level 7, or one level lower: an Associate degree or Advanced diploma at AQF level 6, or a Diploma at AQF level 5 if gained in a comparable regulator jurisdiction).
Meeting all three at the higher standard gives “substantially equivalent”. Meeting one or more only at the lower, threshold standard gives “relevant to the profession”, which means the exam. Missing a threshold means not qualified.
For “substantially equivalent”, the Board’s core topics for every division are anatomy, physiology and pathology; principles of patient care; communication with patients and their families or carers; medical radiation physics; safe radiation practice; computed tomography (CT) imaging; and the safe use of medicines, including contrast media. Diagnostic radiography adds projection radiography and fluoroscopy; nuclear medicine technology adds preparing radiopharmaceuticals and assessing their purity, radionuclide therapies, SPECT (including SPECT/CT) and PET examinations, and in vivo and in vitro laboratory procedures; radiation therapy adds equipment and techniques for patient reproducibility, localisation and pre-treatment imaging, treatment planning and treatment. For “relevant to the profession” the essential content is shorter: anatomy, physiology and pathology, principles of patient care, medical radiation physics and safe radiation practice, plus projection radiography and fluoroscopy (diagnostic radiography); radiopharmaceuticals, nuclear medicine examinations and therapies, and laboratory procedures (nuclear medicine technology); or treatment planning and treatment (radiation therapy).
You can ask for your portfolio to be assessed for more than one division. If you think something was missed, you can ask for a re-assessment within 28 days of your outcome; the Board says it will tell you the result within two months of receiving the request.
The Board calls it the “National exam for medical radiation practice”; “National MRP Exam” is our short name for it. You sit the exam if the Board assesses your qualification as “relevant to the profession”. The Board can also use it for practitioners returning after an extended break, or where there are concerns about safe practice. The exam guidelines say that, ordinarily, recent graduates of an approved program of study, and applicants under Trans-Tasman mutual recognition, are exempt. They define an approved program of study as one that the Medical Radiation Practice Accreditation Committee has accredited and that leads to a Board-approved qualification published on Ahpra’s website; a recent graduate is someone applying within two years of the award. A qualification the Board assesses on form PNAQ-91, its “Portfolio for the assessment of non-approved qualifications”, is not an approved program of study, so that exemption doesn’t cover it.
A computer-based multiple-choice exam: up to 200 questions in up to three hours (180 minutes), and you need to be available for four hours in all. Each question has four options with one correct answer; most are vignettes or scenarios, across every stage of life. Part A (about half the questions) covers the common capabilities. Part B (about half) covers your division: diagnostic radiography (Domain 1A), nuclear medicine technology (Domain 1B) or radiation therapy (Domain 1C). The pass mark is a minimum of 65 per cent in both Part A (common capabilities) and Part B (division-specific capabilities). The Board calibrates the exam using final-year students and recent graduates.
You have three attempts. After three fails you can’t register for it again, unless the Board agrees to a fourth and final attempt, which it considers only if at least 12 months have passed since your last attempt, your best score was within 5% of the pass mark, and you can show learning that improves your chances. The exam guidelines also say: “Candidates must not attempt the exam within three months of their last attempt.” Check this against the dates before you plan a resit.
| Exam window | Registration period |
|---|---|
| Saturday 16 January to Sunday 24 January 2027 | Monday 7 December to Thursday 24 December 2026 |
| Saturday 10 April to Sunday 18 April 2027 | Monday 1 March to Friday 19 March 2027 |
| Saturday 10 July to Sunday 18 July 2027 | Monday 31 May to Friday 18 June 2027 |
| Saturday 16 October to Sunday 24 October 2027 | Monday 6 September to Friday 24 September 2027 |
From the Board’s 2027 examination schedule. Registration for each sitting closes weeks before its exam window, you need an active exam account first, and the three-month rule between attempts can rule out the next sitting after a fail. Check the Board’s exam page before you plan around a date.
The Board’s candidate FAQs (2022) describe Part A against Domains 1 to 5. The 3rd-edition Professional capabilities, in effect from 30 March 2026, have six domains, and the exam reading list still names the 2020 capabilities. The Board hasn’t said how the exam maps to the new edition.
In its October 2026 newsletter the Board said it will “soon” start a periodic review and update of the exam, refreshing content and adding questions aligned with the updated Professional capabilities. It has published no new format and no date; the exam guidelines in effect are dated 26 April 2022.
English is one of the Board’s registration standards, and Ahpra checks it when you apply for registration. ASMIRT’s English rules for a migration skills assessment are separate and different. Minimum scores for tests taken on or after 23 April 2026:
| Test | Minimum scores | With two sittings, no score below |
|---|---|---|
| IELTS Academic | Overall 7; listening 7, reading 7, writing 6.5, speaking 7 | 6.5 in any component |
| OET | listening 350, reading 360, writing 350, speaking 360 | listening 320, reading 340, writing 350, speaking 350 |
| PTE Academic | Overall 63; listening 58, reading 59, writing 60, speaking 76 | listening 53, reading 54, writing 60, speaking 66 |
| TOEFL iBT | Total 91; listening 22, reading 22, writing 23, speaking 24 | listening 19, reading 19, writing 23, speaking 22 |
| Cambridge C1 Advanced | Overall 178; listening 175, reading 179, writing 180, speaking 194 | listening 168, reading 168, writing 180, speaking 187 |
| Cambridge C2 Proficiency | Overall 185; listening 185, reading 185, writing 176, speaking 185 | 176 in any component |
Status at 7 November 2026: ASMIRT’s overseas assessments page says it is under review and that the page and its links will be live by 20 November.
The ASMIRT facts here come from its 2026 guidelines and FAQ (June 2026), its July 2026 application forms and its October 2026 guide to the application form. Check ASMIRT’s page once it relaunches: it may change any of them.
ASMIRT says its assessment is “not a registration process” and is “not mandatory” for registration with the Board. It says you need it if you require a skills assessment for immigration, or eligibility for ASMIRT membership; which visas require a skills assessment is a question for the Department of Home Affairs. ASMIRT is the assessing authority for skilled migration in diagnostic radiography (medical imaging), radiation therapy and ultrasound. Nuclear medicine technologists are assessed by ANZSNM instead. ASMIRT and ANZSNM can take your work experience into account; the Board looks only at your formal qualifications when it decides whether you are qualified. The Board says this is why some people are approved for skilled migration but don’t meet its registration requirements.
At least two years of clinical experience after you qualified, in medical imaging or radiation therapy. Clinical time inside your degree doesn’t count, and neither does an internship you had to complete for the degree to be conferred. ASMIRT also asks for at least two years in the last five and evidence of clinical experience within the last three years. If you apply short of two years, ASMIRT holds the application until you reach it; without it, you are “ineligible for a skills assessment letter”.
Only pre-approved applicants from New Zealand need a minimum of one year.
If you hold a passport from the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, the United States of America or the Republic of Ireland, you send ASMIRT a certified copy of your passport instead of a test result. Your result must be from within the last two years and must still be current for at least three months after the date you submit.
| Test | ASMIRT’s minimum |
|---|---|
| IELTS Academic | Overall 7.0, no element below 7.0, in a single test |
| OET | Overall B, no element below B, in a single test, in your profession (for example radiography) |
| PTE Academic | Overall 66, no element below 66, in a single test |
| TOEFL iBT | Total 94, with listening 24, reading 24, writing 27 and speaking 23 |
| Cambridge English Advanced (CAE) | No element below 185, in a single test |
ASMIRT’s English rules apply to its skills assessment only. Registration uses Ahpra’s English standard, with different scores and rules, and ASMIRT itself reminds applicants that registration needs its own current English evidence. ASMIRT’s documents don’t say whether at-home tests are accepted, so ask ASMIRT before you book one.
| Board: qualification portfolio assessment (form PNAQ-91), only if your qualification needs assessing | $660 |
| Board: National exam sitting fee, per attempt, only if the Board sends you to the exam | $787 |
| Board: application fee for general registration | $230 |
| Board: registration fee for general registration | $230 (NSW $180) |
| Board: first general registration, both fees (our sum) | $460 (NSW $410) |
| Board: qualification assessment, one exam sitting and first general registration (our sum) | $1,907 (NSW $1,857) |
| ASMIRT (for a visa, not registration): assessment if you apply from overseas | $1,074 |
| ASMIRT: assessment if you live in Australia (includes GST) | $1,180 |
| ASMIRT: a second modality | +$516 |
| ASMIRT: pre-approved application (only for New Zealand graduates, and for people assessed successfully before who haven’t applied to immigration and need an updated letter) | $338 |
| ASMIRT: appeal | $306 from overseas, $338 in Australia |
Board fees are from its schedule effective 1 October 2026; ASMIRT fees are for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. The Board charges an application fee and a registration fee, and both are paid when you apply. The application fee for the qualification portfolio assessment is not refundable. ASMIRT says application fees are non-refundable. English tests, criminal history checks, certification and translation of documents, insurance, a radiation licence, visas and travel are extra. The sums are ours. Fees change, so check the Board and ASMIRT before you pay.
Ahpra and four National Boards, this one included (all three divisions), consulted from 10 December 2025 to 9 February 2026 on a draft standard, “General registration for experienced internationally qualified health practitioners”. As at 7 November 2026 no decision or start date has been published, so the current pathways are the ones that apply.
Proposed, not in force: Ahpra and 14 National Boards, including this one, consulted from 15 May to 17 July 2026 on revised standards: 150 hours of practice in the last year or 450 hours in the last three years, and 20 hours of CPD every year, including 5 hours of interactive CPD. No outcome had been published by 7 November 2026.
It depends on where and what you studied. New Zealand practitioners with a current practising certificate use Trans-Tasman mutual recognition. CORU- and HCPC-approved diagnostic radiography and radiation therapy qualifications use the Comparable Regulator Pathway. Exact matches on the Board’s recognised list use the Recognised International Qualification Pathway. Everyone else goes to the Qualification Assessment Pathway. The Board decides which pathway applies to you from the information in your application. Nothing on this site can tell you for certain which one it will be.
No. ASMIRT says its assessment is “not a registration process” and is “not mandatory” for registration with the Board. It says you need it if you require a skills assessment for immigration, or eligibility for ASMIRT membership; which visas require a skills assessment is a question for the Department of Home Affairs. Registration and a visa are separate applications. The Board says they are “entirely separate” and that success in one “does not automatically guarantee success in the other”.
Sat 16 – Sun 24 January 2027 (registration Mon 7 – Thu 24 December 2026); Sat 10 – Sun 18 April 2027 (registration Mon 1 – Fri 19 March 2027); Sat 10 – Sun 18 July 2027 (registration Mon 31 May – Fri 18 June 2027); Sat 16 – Sun 24 October 2027 (registration Mon 6 – Fri 24 September 2027). You sit it only if the Board sends you to it. First set up an account on the Board’s examination portal (you need your Ahpra user ID). The Board says accounts are reviewed and activated within five working days, and you need an active account before you can register for a sitting. The exam guidelines also say: “Candidates must not attempt the exam within three months of their last attempt.” Check this against the dates before you plan a resit.
If you qualified outside Australia, you sit it when the Board assesses your qualification as “relevant to the profession”; the comparable regulator and recognised qualification pathways make you qualified for general registration without it. The Board can also use the exam for someone returning to practice after an extended break, or where there are concerns about safe practice. The exam guidelines say that, ordinarily, recent graduates of an approved program of study, and applicants under Trans-Tasman mutual recognition, are exempt. They define an approved program of study as one that the Medical Radiation Practice Accreditation Committee has accredited and that leads to a Board-approved qualification published on Ahpra’s website; a recent graduate is someone applying within two years of the award. A qualification the Board assesses on form PNAQ-91, its “Portfolio for the assessment of non-approved qualifications”, is not an approved program of study, so that exemption doesn’t cover it.
The Board says this pathway is not available for nuclear medicine technologists. You can still use the recognised qualification pathway if your qualification is on the Board’s list, or the qualification assessment. For a visa, skills assessments for migration are done by ASMIRT for diagnostic radiographers and radiation therapists, and by ANZSNM (the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine) for nuclear medicine technologists.
For tests taken on or after 23 April 2026: IELTS Academic overall 7 (listening 7, reading 7, writing 6.5, speaking 7); OET listening 350, reading 360, writing 350, speaking 360; PTE Academic overall 63 (listening 58, reading 59, writing 60, speaking 76); TOEFL iBT total 91 (listening 22, reading 22, writing 23, speaking 24); Cambridge C1 Advanced overall 178 (listening 175, reading 179, writing 180, speaking 194); Cambridge C2 Proficiency overall 185 (listening 185, reading 185, writing 176, speaking 185). Use one sitting, or two sittings no more than 12 months apart with the same test provider (results from different providers can’t be combined). With two sittings you still have to reach every component minimum: for IELTS, PTE Academic, TOEFL iBT and Cambridge you can reach them across the two sittings (Ahpra’s OET row says you must achieve the required minimum in each component). The overall minimum must be met in each sitting for IELTS, PTE Academic and TOEFL iBT; OET and Cambridge must test all four components in each sitting; and no component in either sitting may fall below the floor shown for that test.
The Board publishes no processing time. It will contact you if the assessment is expected to take more than 28 days or it needs more from you, and it says qualification assessments can’t be fast-tracked. Ahpra suggests applying at least three months before you intend to start work, and accepts applications up to six months before; good-standing certificates and criminal history check results are valid for only three months. ASMIRT’s own documents give different processing times, so we don’t quote one: ask ASMIRT.
Ahpra and four National Boards, this one included (all three divisions), consulted from 10 December 2025 to 9 February 2026 on a draft standard, “General registration for experienced internationally qualified health practitioners”. As at 7 November 2026 no decision or start date has been published, so the current pathways are the ones that apply.
We don’t give migration advice, and we don’t name visa types or processing times: check with the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs. The Board doesn’t give migration advice either. Registration and a visa are separate applications. The Board says they are “entirely separate” and that success in one “does not automatically guarantee success in the other”.
Board and Ahpra pages checked on 7 November 2026; ASMIRT facts from ASMIRT’s guidelines of June 2026 and its October 2026 guide. Rules and fees change, so confirm with the source before you act. GdayRadiographer is an independent preparation provider. We are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia, Ahpra or ASMIRT.
Our paid plans prepare you for the National MRP Exam: lessons, practice questions and timed mock exams for Part A (the common capabilities) and for the diagnostic radiography Part B. We have no Part B practice for radiation therapy or nuclear medicine technology. We don’t prepare ASMIRT or Ahpra applications or give migration advice, and nothing we sell affects a decision by the Board, Ahpra or ASMIRT.
The same Board pathways, with what applies where you qualified.
Each needs a free account. No credit card required.
Lessons, practice questions and timed mock exams for Part A and the diagnostic radiography Part B.