Ahpra application refusal

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Hi everyone,

I´m a registered nurse from Germany with 4 years experience. Went to the whole registration process with ahpra and waited 7 months. Today I received an email, that they are considering to refuse my application. The reason for that is, that they do not consider my training as equivalent with the Australian one. That is really a joke. Has someone ever been in this situation before? How did you write your appeal letter?

Matt,

I hope the AHPRA representative that told you that you will get the registration is right. In my refusal letter from them is written that when i finish my bridging course, the Board will assess again my documentation according to the standards and criteria that are in power at the moment of the new assessment. This means that if sth more is required, we have to provide it. Also, after my experience, I simply do not trust them any more. I would advise you to email them and get their answers written. Always make contact directly with your case officer and not the general enquiry AHPRA staff.

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Specializes in Cath Lab.

Hi nosileia and Matt - any news regarding your appeals?? How long was your appeal-letter and how much extra information/documentation did you provide?? I hope to send my appeal in by 23rd September so any news are extremely helpful. Matt, I'm surprised that you didn't get a registration - I mean, you're even studying in Australia. Can't wait to hear the reasoning behind not accepting your appeal.

All the best to all of you :)

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Hi Everyone,

I received my letter from the AHPRA and it just says that my bachelor is based on similar competences. However, it is not good enough to become a nurse in Australia. No other reason stated, In my opinion they can't find anything, they just forcing me to do the course. In addition, they said that my Australian degree is not a board approved course to get your nursing registration.

I have a lawyer here in Australia and after a few phone calls he said that they are not going to change there mind. I'm not going to send them an appeal, it is only a waste of time and it will delay everything (again). There is nothing else I can do, except for doing that competence course. I'm starting to get everything organised and I will apply for next year. Good luck to everyone ... Cheers.

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Specializes in Cath Lab.

Hi Matt, so sorry to hear this. By the sound of it they have no intention of letting anyone in. I'm stunned that they have such a hard time giving a straight answer. They are messing with people's lives and making many waste/spend a lot of money when they should just come out and say "look, if you want to register as a nurse in Australia you have to have a BP-course". No where are they providing this information up front. Giving the information could make nurses around the world think twice about choosing Australia.

In my case, I have no way of finding $10.000 or more (and it will be more with flights, living expenses etc) to spend on a course that won't even garantee me registration. I'm not going to spend my savings (that were supposed to help me start a new life down under) on a course.

Having said that, I'm still sending them my appeal including my comparison of the standards (Australia vs Denmark) + a ton of other stuff. I'm bombarding them with documents :) I will keep you posted when I hear something - should be by november.

Good luck to everyone

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G'Day you all,

An update in regard my nursing registration.

Yesterday I had a nice talk with one of the professional officers within the AHPRA. She called me on monday to ask me if I want to come in and have a chat. I said yes and she is really helpful. She told me that they accept my bachelor degree from Belgium and it is definitely at the same level as the Australian one. However, In Australia the whole nursing education is based on competencies. At the end of there education, nurses full fill all those competencies and that's very important for the AHPRA. She advised me to contact my uni in Belgium and have a talk with them in regard those competencies. I know in Belgium, those competencies are really important. As soon as I have a translation, I have to match the Belgian ones with the Australian competencies. I have to submit those extra papers and my case will be discussed in another board meeting. Might be lucky and I will get my registration. If they still say no, I have to do the competence course ... I hope this helps.

Good luck.

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Hi everybody,

Matt, your post is very interesting, thank you. Could you please provide us with the competences this officer told you about? In which city are you? Did they tell you anything about the C1 country working experience?

Lisbeth, I am still waiting for an answer (the Board will decide on 2/10). My case is similar to the tribunal that I found on internet, so I used many of it's elements.

Fingers crossed for all of us!

Cheers!

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Specializes in Cath Lab.

Hi all,

Nosilea - it will be very interesting to hear the outcome of your appeal. I'm not sure I know what tribunal you are talking about - do you have a link to it?? I will be going to the Australian Embassy tomorrow to have them attest more documents for me and then I will have everything send off. My case should be on the board meeting early November.

Fingers crossed :)

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Specializes in Cath Lab.

thank you for the link Nosileia :) Good luck to you too.

I just sent out all the docuements today so now I have to be patient and wait for the outcome in November.

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Hi All,

I found out accidentally that they moved my appeal to be reviewed on a later meeting (17 october)!!!!! These people do not want to give us any registration. Also I have feedback that there are not nursing jobs in melbourne. If I had my registration I would first try casual jobs and after some time I could apply for part time jobs. My advice for all of you who are overseas: Come to Australia after you have finalized your registration and you have a job offer. Otherwise, be prepared to start a new career in a different field.

I am in a dead end here, things are pretty much serious.

Cheers to all!

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Lisbeth in which city are you applying to?

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Specializes in Cath Lab.

I'm applying to the NSW office. I'm still in Denmark and have no intention of moving without my registration. i'm going for permanent residency so not interested in any sort of sponsorship.

My plan is (if I get my registration) to sign up with an agency that has many jobs in rural areas. I did part of my clinical training in rural NSW (Broken Hill and Cobar) and would love to go back - though I couldn't move to any of these places on a more permanent basis. So agency nursing specialising in rural communities are my top priority.

I can't believe the lack of communication from APHRA! I still marvel at the fact that they can refuse someone without giving a proper answer and at least let us know in which area or which criteria we failed to meet. I find it very hard to believe that we would fail in all competencies/criterias.

Crossing my fingers for all of us.... :)

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