For Consultation: Medical Board of Australia recency of practice standard

We would like to invite your feedback to inform the RACP’s response to the Medical Board of Australia’s (MBA) consultation on the Recency of Practice Registration Standard. This standard sets out how much practice is required to remain registered to practice and the actions that apply when a practitioner falls outside the standard.

This consultation matters to all RACP members in Australia: trainees, supervisors and Fellows, across career stages and practice settings. Recency of practice rules directly affect how physicians work, including periods of part-time practice, parental leave, caring responsibilities, cultural and community obligations, and transitions in and out of the workforce. They also have broader workforce implications, influencing role availability, service capacity and patient access to care.

Your perspective is particularly important in helping the College understand how recency of practice requirements interface with the realities of specific RACP specialties, in particular:

• Any specialty-specific opportunities or barriers created by the proposed revised Recency of Practice Registration Standard
• Whether the regulatory approaches proposed appropriately reflects scope of practice, training pathways, practice opportunities of RACP specialties

Note: The MBA’s proposed changes include minor updates to wording and formatting, alongside greater flexibility for practitioners who have not practised for more than three years to return to practice, while maintaining patient safety. How these changes are implemented will be critical in determining whether the standard supports safe, sustainable and contemporary physician practice.

Read the related consultation paper and have your say via this link: AHPRA: Recency of Practice Registration Standard consult

All feedback is due by Wednesday 4 February 2026, COB, AEDT

Email Peter Lalli, Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer for any queries via [email protected]