Occupational Therapy Council (OTC)

The Council runs two assessments, set out on its practitioner assessment pages. The Assessment for migration is the skills assessment for a visa. The Assessment of competence is a period of supervised practice under limited registration and forms part of the pathway to general registration. The assessment of an international qualification for registration is now made by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and not by the Council. The Council’s questions and answers state that most internationally qualified occupational therapists need both the Council’s Assessment for migration and Ahpra’s qualification assessment, and that a qualification assessed as not qualified for registration is unlikely to receive a positive Assessment for migration.

The application is made on the Council’s online form, with every document attached to it. Identity documents are a birth certificate, the passport, one further photo identification and a photograph no more than one month old; qualification documents are the testamur or a letter of completion and the academic transcript. The Council does not require certified copies. Identity and qualification documents are lodged as high-resolution colour photographs of the originals in JPEG format, and the Council’s explanatory notes say scans are not accepted. A document issued electronically by an Australian university is accepted as issued. A document in another language must be translated, and the Council will not assess an application without the translation. The Council verifies identity in a video call of three to five minutes, which cannot be booked for a set time.

English is evidenced through education or a test, as set out in the Council’s pathways document. The education pathways depend on schooling and the occupational therapy qualification having been taught and assessed solely in English, with the recognised countries listed in that document. Being a native English speaker does not by itself meet the requirement. For a test taken on or after 23 April 2026 the minimum scores include IELTS Academic 7 overall with 7 in listening, reading and speaking and 6.5 in writing, PTE Academic 63 overall, and OET 350 in listening and writing and 360 in reading and speaking. A test taken on or before 22 April 2026 is measured against the earlier scores. Results are generally accepted if obtained within the two years before the application is lodged.

An incomplete application is not processed until every document has been provided in the required format, and an application not finalised within two years is closed. For the Assessment for migration the Council publishes a contact for complaints and concerns; its published appeals policy applies to the supervised practice assessment.