Letting a practitioner work on a lapsed or conditioned registration is the kind of gap that is invisible until it is serious. This guide walks how to verify registration properly and, just as importantly, keep it verified. It is the verification step inside onboarding a staff member, done as a repeatable procedure. For the employer obligations and the 2025 law changes around registration, read the AHPRA registration management guide; for the wider picture, see the AHPRA and registration compliance pillar.
Before you begin
You verify registration at the source: the public register at AHPRA. Have the practitioner's full name as registered, and their registration number if you have it (it makes the match unambiguous). Decide where you will keep the central record of what you verify, because tracking, not the one-off check, is where practices fall short.
Step 1: Search the public AHPRA register
Go to the AHPRA public register and search by registration number, or by full name, for the practitioner. Match the result to the person in front of you (profession, and where shown, location and qualifications), because common names return multiple practitioners. The register is the authoritative source: verify there, not from a certificate, a screenshot, or a line on a CV, any of which can be out of date or altered.
Confirm the registration is current and covers the profession and division the role requires. A nurse registered in one division, or a practitioner whose registration has lapsed, is not registered for the work you are about to give them.
Step 2: Read beyond the registration status
"Registered" is not the whole answer. Read the full record: the registration type and division, any endorsements or scheduled-medicines authority the role relies on, and critically any conditions, undertakings, reprimands, or notations. Conditions can restrict what a practitioner may do, require supervision, or mandate audits, and they are your responsibility to accommodate once you know about them.
If the register shows conditions, read them in full and work out what they mean for how the person can work in your practice. Employing a practitioner with conditions is allowed; ignoring the conditions is not.
Step 3: Record what you verified in a central register
Capture the verification so it is provable and trackable. Record the registration number, profession and division, the renewal or expiry date, any conditions, and the date you checked, in a central register that the practice controls, not in the individual's head or buried in a personnel file. This record is what lets you monitor expiry across the whole team and what you produce if anyone ever asks how you knew the person was registered.
A central register turns registration from something each practitioner self-manages into something the practice can actually see and govern, which is the point an accreditation assessor or a regulator is checking.
Step 4: Set renewal reminders and re-verify
Registration renews annually, on a date that varies by profession, and a practitioner can let it lapse. Set a reminder ahead of each renewal date and do not rely on the practitioner to tell you. Re-verify on a sensible cycle even between renewals, because conditions, undertakings, or a suspension can be added mid-cycle and will not announce themselves.
The goal is that a lapse or a new condition is caught by your system before it becomes a person practising unregistered or outside their conditions. Tracking expiry across the team is exactly the kind of ongoing monitoring the verification exists to support.
Step 5: Act when verification surfaces a problem
Verification is only useful if you act on what it shows. If registration has lapsed or been suspended, the person must not perform the regulated role until it is resolved. If there are conditions, make sure your practice actually complies with them. And if you become aware of conduct that meets the threshold for a mandatory notification under section 140 of the National Law, you may have a legal duty to notify AHPRA; the mandatory notifications guide walks that test.
Record the action you took, the same way you recorded the check. A verified registration that turns up a problem you then ignored is worse than no check at all, because the record shows you knew.
What good looks like
- Registration is verified on the AHPRA public register, not from a certificate or CV.
- The full record is read, including division, endorsements, and any conditions.
- Verification is recorded in a central, practice-controlled register, with expiry dates.
- Renewal reminders are set and registration is re-verified, not checked once and forgotten.
- Lapses and conditions are acted on, and mandatory-notification obligations are considered.
Common mistakes: accepting a certificate or screenshot instead of checking the register, reading only "registered" and missing the conditions, verifying once at hire and never tracking the expiry, and relying on the practitioner to flag their own renewal.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if someone is registered with AHPRA?
Search the AHPRA public register by registration number or full name, and match the result to the practitioner (profession, division, and where shown other details). The register is the authoritative source, so verify there rather than accepting a certificate, screenshot, or CV entry, which can be out of date.
What do conditions on registration mean?
Conditions restrict or shape how a practitioner may work, for example requiring supervision, limiting scope, or mandating audits. They appear on the public register. Employing a practitioner with conditions is allowed, but the practice must understand and accommodate them, so reading the full record (not just the registration status) matters.
How often does AHPRA registration need to be renewed?
Annually, on a renewal date that varies by profession. Because a practitioner can let registration lapse and conditions can be added between renewals, set reminders ahead of each renewal date and re-verify periodically rather than relying on a single check at hire.
Do I have to re-check registration after hiring someone?
Yes, in practice. Registration renews each year and can lapse, be suspended, or gain conditions mid-cycle, none of which will announce itself. Keeping a central register with expiry dates and reminders is how you catch a lapse before it becomes a person working unregistered.
When does verifying registration trigger a mandatory notification?
Verification itself does not, but if it (or anything else) makes you form a reasonable belief that a practitioner has engaged in notifiable conduct under section 140 of the National Law, you may have a mandatory duty to notify AHPRA. Finding conditions on a registration is not automatically notifiable; conduct that meets the statutory threshold is.
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