Anzoc.org.au

Policy for Assessment and Recognition of Overseas
Assessment and Regulatory Authorities
Preamble

The Osteopathy Board of Australia (OBA) wishes to offer a Competent Authority
Pathway (CAP) for registration of osteopaths who have qualifications gained outside
Australia and New Zealand. Overseas assessing authorities may offer, or have
offered, more than one pathway to registration. In instances where an authority has
offered more than one pathway to registration, each pathway wil be considered
separately.
Where a pathway offered by an authority is assessed as being equivalent in its
standards and processes for accreditation of courses and/or assessment of
osteopaths for the purpose of registration, the osteopaths who have been registered
under a pathway which is deemed equivalent by the Australian and New Zealand
Osteopathic Council (ANZOC) wil be permitted to apply for registration in Australia
via the CAP set out by the OBA and defined in detail in the ANZOC Guidelines for
Overseas Applicants.
This policy establishes criteria and processes to enable the assessment and
recognition of selected “authorities in other countries who conduct examinations for
registration in osteopathy or accredit programs of study relevant to registration, to
decide whether persons who successful y complete the programs/examinations
conducted or accredited by the authority have the knowledge, skil s and professional
attributes necessary to practice the profession in Australia” under s.42(c) of the
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009 (The National Law).
This policy recognises that equivalence wil be required within the system of
occupational classification cal ed the Australian and New Zealand Standard
Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). ANZSCO has determined that the level of
skil required of osteopaths is commensurate with a qualification equivalent to
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level 7 or higher (ANZSCO Skil Level 1).
Those authorities that are assessed as having equivalent standards to Australia wil
be deemed “Competent Authorities”, a term that has currency in the Australian and
New Zealand osteopathy context.
Final - Approved by Board of Directors 29 October 2012 Criteria for Establishment of Equivalent Status

The fol owing characteristics of the overseas assessing authority wil be considered
in establishing equivalence:
1. The authority operates as an independent regulatory authority established by
legislation within its identified jurisdiction. 2. The authority has course accreditation standards, processes and outcomes and assessment processes that are equivalent to those operating in Australia. 3. The authority has governance arrangements, committee and decision making processes which are comparable in their rigour and attention to fairness and equity in applying accreditation standards (although they might differ in format). 4. The authority has policies and processes relating to the maintenance of competence of practitioners and continuing professional development. 5. The authority has policies and processes relating to the investigation of complaints and disciplinary action against practitioners. 6. There is congruence between the education and health system context in the jurisdiction in question and the Australian context. Process for Assessing Overseas Authorities

ANZOC has responsibility, under the National Law for applying the above criteria in
assessing overseas regulatory authorities.
ANZOC wil perform the assessment of individual overseas regulatory authorities at
the request of the OBA and wil present a report and recommendations to the OBA
on those overseas authorities referred to it by the OBA. Under normal circumstances
the assessment wil be completed within three months.
1. ANZOC wil appoint an assessor who wil :
• Gather the relevant evidence pertaining to the accrediting authority, • Do a desk review of the evidence and compile it into an annotated inventory • Construct a matrix of equivalence using the ‘Criteria for establishing Competent Authority status’ and • Provide a report to the ANZOC Board of Directors that identifies areas of equivalence or non-equivalence and, where relevant, the need for more in depth exploration with the authority concerned. Final - Approved by Board of Directors 29 October 2012 2. The ANZOC Board of Directors wil review the report and evidence and recommend that: • The report containing the assessment of the extent of equivalence of the overseas authority and recommendations for assessment of applicants registered under that authority for registration be forwarded to OBA, or • Further investigation needs to occur before a determination can be made. Glossary of Terms

Competent authority: An overseas assessing authority deemed as being
equivalent in its standards and processes for accreditation of courses and/or
assessment of osteopaths for the purpose of registration.
Competent authority pathway: The eligibility requirements determined by the OBA
against which osteopaths are assessed for the purpose of registration is undertaken
by ANZOC
Overseas assessing authority: A body outside of Australia charged with the task of
accreditation of courses and/or assessment of osteopaths for the purpose of
registration.
Date approved:
Final - Approved by Board of Directors 29 October 2012 Matrix for Assessing Overseas Authority Equivalence
Authority under Assessment:

Criterion
Overseas authority
Australian reference
Equivalence
reference document(s)
document(s)
independent regulatory authority within its identified jurisdiction. The authority is equivalent to Australia in the The authority has governance arrangements, committee and decision making processes which are comparable in their rigour and attention to fairness and equity in applying accreditation standards (although they might differ in format). The authority has policies and processes relating to the maintenance of competence of practitioners and continuing professional development, which achieve comparable outcomes. The authority has policies and processes relating to the investigation of complaints and disciplinary action against practitioners, which are comparable in their rigour and attention to fairness and equity. The level of congruence between the education and health system context the jurisdiction in question and the Australian context. Final - Approved by Board of Directors 29 October 2012

Source: http://www.anzoc.org.au/files/Policy%20for%20Recognition%20of%20Overseas%20Competent%20Authority%20(FINAL).pdf