Is my occupational therapy degree recognised in Australia? The full program list, by country

Written by Callum Trevorrow. Last checked 28 October 2026 against official sources.

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The Occupational Therapy Board of Australia recognises 30 overseas OT programs by name (14 in Canada, 8 in South Africa and 8 in the USA), and separately accepts any HCPC-approved OT qualification completed 2010–2030 and any CORU-approved one completed 2015–2030. If your degree matches exactly, you’re qualified to apply for general registration; if it doesn’t, you go through the A$688 portfolio assessment instead. Find your country below and check your degree certificate against it, word for word.

The lists are from the Board’s page (reviewed 11 March 2026), checked on 28 October 2026. What happens after this check, including fees, English and your certificate of registration status, is in the Ahpra registration guide for overseas OTs.

The exact-match rule: read this first

Your qualification must match three things exactly: the institution, the qualification title and the date of award. If any one is different, you’re not on the list, and the Board’s route for you is an individual qualification (portfolio) assessment.

Three ways to get this wrong:

• Year of award, not year you started (listed programs). For the 30 listed programs, check the date of award on your testamur, not your enrolment date. For the UK and Ireland rule below, the Board uses the year you completed.
• The right school, a different degree. A school listed for its master’s doesn’t cover a doctorate or a bachelor’s from the same school, and the other way round.
• Windows that have closed. Some year ranges below end in 2025 or earlier. Graduates inside the range still match; later graduates don’t. Which windows are “closed” is our reading of the year ranges; the Board’s page doesn’t use that word.

UK and Ireland: the comparable regulator rule

The UK and Ireland aren’t on a program list. The Board treats them as comparable regulators:

These are treated as substantially equivalent for general registration. The Board’s page doesn’t state a current-registration requirement for either rule. If you qualified in Ireland before 2015, or in the UK before 2010, you’re outside the window, so check your route with the Board before you plan around it.

USA: 8 programs

Six are open to future graduates. Every other US program goes to portfolio assessment. The full US route, including NBCOT and the OTC, is in the US OT guide.

Canada: 14 programs

Canada isn’t a comparable regulator for OT, so this list is the only shortcut. The University of Saskatchewan (first MOT cohort fall 2026) isn’t listed. For the four Québec programs where I haven’t given a degree title, match yours against the title on the Board’s page. More in the Canadian OT guide.

South Africa: 8 programs

Note the 2021 start for Free State and Sefako Makgatho: earlier graduates of those two aren’t covered. South African OTs also now generally need an English test; see the South African OT guide.

New Zealand

New Zealand isn’t on these lists because it has its own route. NZ OTs with current OT Board of NZ registration and a current NZ practising certificate can apply for general registration under Trans-Tasman mutual recognition. Without a current practising certificate, you can’t use it. See the NZ OT guide.

Not on any list?

You go through the Board’s individual qualification (portfolio) assessment. It costs A$688 and isn’t refundable. The Board aims to reply within 21 days of receiving your application, though it can take longer if it needs more information, and assessments can’t be sped up. If your qualification is found “relevant” rather than substantially equivalent, you’d apply for limited registration and do six months of supervised practice, with a competence assessment facilitated by the Occupational Therapy Council, before applying for general registration. In practice that usually means an employer who can arrange that supervision (our reading). The portfolio assessment guide covers the criteria and outcomes.

Before you rely on this page

• Check the live list. The Board updates it. Compare your testamur with the Board’s page before you pay any fee.
• A match isn’t registration. A listed or comparable-regulator qualification gets you to the general registration application. You still apply to Ahpra (A$250 application plus A$138 registration, A$130 in NSW, from 1 October 2026) and meet English, recency and other standards.
• Gather your documents early. The document checklist lists what Ahpra asks for and what expires.

Several of my own team trained overseas. I’ve done this move with them, not just for them.

Your next step

For OTs: find your program and award year above, then check the title on your testamur against the Board’s wording. If you match, your next question is English and recency; if you don’t, it’s the portfolio assessment. The pathway check asks those questions in order and tells you what to do next, including whether an info session is the right first step. Physio or speech pathologist? Your routes are different: see the Physiotherapy Council pathways or the SPA MRA, or the OSQCA if you can’t use the MRA.