Australian Dental Council (ADC)

The ADC skills assessment for migration is a separate documentary application, distinct from the three-stage registration pathway, and is open only to a narrow group. Applicants must be registered to practise in New Zealand, hold an eligible general dental qualification from the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland or New Zealand, hold a Canadian qualification completed after March 2010 with National Dental Examination Board certification, or have completed their dental qualification in Australia. Dentists outside these categories must instead complete the full dental practitioner assessment pathway, and the ADC confirms that skills assessments are only available for dentists and dental specialists.

The skills assessment examines work history, professional registration status and evidence of good standing rather than clinical knowledge. Applications are lodged through ADC Connect with a current passport, qualification, academic transcript, registration evidence, evidence of practice as a registered dentist and two professional references; the certificate of good standing must be sent directly to the ADC by the regulator. The ADC states that no English test is required at any stage of its process.

The outcome is valid for three years from the date of issue, with a processing time of approximately eight weeks. Disputed outcomes proceed first to an internal Review Panel and then to an Independent Appeals Committee, and both consider only an alleged breach or error in the administrative process, not a re-scoring of the assessment.