The Australian Pharmacy Examining Council  assists overseas trained pharmacists to obtain registration in Australia and thus enable them to practise their profession in Australia.

If you live overseas and are a pharmacist with a qualification gained outside Australia and you intend to migrate and work in this profession in Australia, you should first contact the nearest Australian Embassy, High Commission or Consulate.

If you live in Australia and hold qualifications in pharmacy gained overseas you will need to apply directly to APEC for an assessment of your qualifications.

If you hold pharmacy qualifications gained in Australia and are intending to migrate to Australia as a pharmacist, you will need to apply to APEC for an assessment of your qualifications.

If you obtained your pharmacy qualifications in Australia and are intending to migrate to Australia you will need a formal skills assessment of your qualifications completed by APEC.

If you obtained your pharmacy degree and licence to practise in the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand you will be accepted for registration by all State and Territory pharmacy registering authorities. Conditions for registration will vary between the registering authorities, and you may need a short period of practical experience supervised by a pharmacist in Australia before you can be registered. If you are intending to migrate to Australia you will need a skills assessment completed by APEC but will not be required to complete the APEC examination process.

If your qualifications do not immediately meet the Australian requirements, there are two options.

The first is to complete an Australian pharmacy degree course at one of the Australian universities. The qualifications awarded by these institutions satisfy the formal academic requirements for registration by all State and Territory pharmacy registering authorities. If you enrol in an award course, you may gain credit for your overseas studies. Universities are selfgoverning and determine their own entry requirements for credit transfers. You will then need to complete a period of supervised practical training - conditions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

The second option is to undertake the examination process conducted by the Australian Pharmacy Examining Council (APEC) Inc. You will need to formally apply for an assessment to determine your eligibility to undertake the examination process.

Counselling is mandatory throughout the procedure and is provided for candidates living in Australia by members of APEC. The APEC examination procedure is only part of the total assessment by pharmacy registering authorities and you may have to meet other requirements. All pharmacy registering authorities reserve the right to impose additional requirements to those stipulated by APEC.

Persons may be eligible for migration after meeting both the English Language requirement and passing the Stage I Examination. If approved for migration at that point, they may continue the APEC examination process
on arrival in Australia. The satisfactory completion of the entire examination process is required before a candidate may apply for registration as a pharmacist with a relevant registering authority in Australia. In normal circumstances, it should take about 12 to 18 months to complete the overall process, providing applicants do not fail any part of the examination. Candidates have five years to complete the exam process. This 5 year period commences from the date of successful completion of the Stage I Examination.

Assessment procedure has six components:
Eligibility Assessment
English Language Requirement
Stage I Examination
Interview and counselling
Supervised practice
Stage II Examination

The complete details on all the above procedures and other important relevant information can be found in 'Your Complete Guide to Overseas Pharmacy Career'. Click Here to buy the Guide now.

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