Skills Assessment
We assess the skills and competency of overseas-trained pharmacists who wish to migrate or register to practise pharmacy in Australia.
Pharmacy education and training environments vary around the world. We assess candidates’ qualifications and experience to ensure that they are eligible to practise in Australia.
APC is a skilled migration assessing authority approved by the Australian Government. In 2020 the Department of Education, Skills and Employment consulted on Guidelines for Skilled Migration Assessing Authorities which were to outline the policy and procedure framework for assessing authorities. We commissioned an external review of our policies and procedures against the draft standards to ensure ourselves of our compliance and for quality improvement purposes. The final guidelines were published in 2021.
Skills assessment applications
Increasing on last year’s numbers, we received 853 skills assessment eligibility applications this year. In March 2021 we received 91 applications – the second largest amount in a single month in the last 3 years.
Number of skills assessment
applications received:
Country of qualification
The APC received applications from 50 countries and a breakdown is as follows:
In addition, single candidates applied for assessment to Australia from these countries:
Albania, Argentina, Armenia, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Germany, Greece, Kenya, Libya, Mexico, Palestinian Territory Occupied, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Serbia Republic of, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Uganda, Yemen
And two candidates from these countries:
Canada, Korea Republic of, Romania, Saudi Arabia, United States of America, Vietnam
Country of Qualification Data
ZIMBABWE9
| Country of Qualification | Number of candidates |
| ALBANIA | 1 |
| ARGENTINA | 1 |
| ARMENIA | 1 |
| AUSTRALIA / NZ | 183 |
| BANGLADESH | 13 |
| BRAZIL | 7 |
| CANADA | 2 |
| CHINA | 1 |
| COLOMBIA | 1 |
| EGYPT | 84 |
| ETHIOPIA | 1 |
| GERMANY | 1 |
| GREECE | 1 |
| HONG KONG | 3 |
| INDIA | 228 |
| IRAN (ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF) | 13 |
| IRAQ | 9 |
| IRELAND | 3 |
| JORDAN | 15 |
| KENYA | 1 |
| KOREA, REPUBLIC OF | 2 |
| LEBANON | 8 |
| LIBYA | 1 |
| MALAYSIA | 8 |
| MEXICO | 1 |
| NEPAL | 24 |
| NIGERIA | 8 |
| PAKISTAN | 57 |
| PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, Occupied | 1 |
| PAPUA NEW GUINEA | 1 |
| PHILIPPINES | 81 |
| POLAND | 1 |
| ROMANIA | 2 |
| SAUDI ARABIA | 2 |
| SERBIA, REPUBLIC OF | 1 |
| SINGAPORE | 1 |
| SOUTH AFRICA | 24 |
| SPAIN | 1 |
| SRI LANKA | 1 |
| SUDAN | 4 |
| SWEDEN | 1 |
| SWITZERLAND | 1 |
| SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC | 8 |
| THAILAND | 3 |
| UGANDA | 1 |
| UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | 6 |
| UNITED KINGDOM | 22 |
| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 2 |
| VIETNAM | 2 |
| YEMEN | 1 |
Country of qualification candidate percentage
Countries with 1% candidates
Zimbabwe, Iraq, Lebanon,
Malaysia, Nigeria, Syrian Arab Republic,
United Arab Emirates
Skills Assessment letters
If candidates are deemed eligible, they sit either the:
- Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS) exam, or
- Competency Assessment of Overseas Pharmacists (CAOP) exam.
If they pass their exam, we provide them with a Skills Assessment letter, validating their knowledge and competency. They provide this letter to either:
- the Pharmacy Board of Australia to receive provisional registration, and begin an internship, or
- the Department of Home Affairs for migration purposes.
Number of skills assessment letters issued:
367 Knowledge and Competency Stream candidates
183 International students of Australian and New Zealand pharmacy programs
Assessing for the Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia
We also assess the qualifications and skills of chiropractors trained in or outside of Australia or New Zealand on behalf of the Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia (CCEA).
Like us, they are an independent, nationally recognised body responsible for ensuring competency standards in the chiropractic profession. They perform activities like accrediting and monitoring chiropractic education programs in Australasia.
From 1 August 2014, we signed an agreement with CCEA and started undertaking the assessments of overseas trained chiropractors and international graduates of Australian/NZ chiropractic programs on behalf of CCEA. Effective from the same date, CCEA also started using the APC as their registered office.
Under the agreement, we:
- conduct assessment of candidates’ documentation against CCEA standards
- make a recommendation for CCEA to consider
- provide a Registered Office for CCEA Ltd
- maintain public liability insurance of at least $10 million in relation to the services.
On average, the APC receives around 40 applications from the CCEA applicants per year.