Assessments of overseas-trained pharmacists
Eligibility assessments
APC is a skilled migration assessing authority approved by the Australian Government.
We assess the skills and competency of overseas-trained pharmacists who wish to migrate or register to practise pharmacy in Australia. Our work aligns with the requirements of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, and meets the needs of both the Pharmacy Board of Australia and the Department of Home Affairs.
We are proud to support the transition of overseas pharmacists from diverse backgrounds to practise in Australia and contribute to the Australian pharmacy workforce.
Candidate support
In July 2022 we changed the way we supported candidates in their journey to become a pharmacist in Australia. We created a Candidate Relationship Team, who is the first point of call for any individual seeking advice on our skills assessment and examinations processes. The team includes highly experienced team members who have worked across our assessments, examinations, IT and finance teams who can respond to queries either by phone or email, and offer advice and support on document requirements, access to our Candidate Portal and payments.
The work of the Candidate Relationship Team is supported by the ongoing improvements we have made to information on our website and in our Candidate Portal to guide candidates to successfully submit their application.
Connection method 2022-23
Response Time for Candidate Support
80% phone calls answered in real time
>95% response within 1 day
Australian Government Skills Pilots
The federal government commenced a program in late 2021 for eligible skilled migrants in certain occupations to access free skills assessments. We continued to participate in the pilots for overseas trained pharmacists during the financial year to support the needs of the Australian pharmacist workforce.
More than 43 candidates who met the Government’s eligibility criteria have been able to receive a free eligibility check and exam sitting.
The program is time limited and the last exam session that will entitle eligible candidates for a free skills assessment and free exam sitting under is in November 2023.
Eligibility check applications
In the 2022-23 financial year, we completed a total of 2638 applications for a skills assessment eligibility check. This is a 215% increase over last year. To manage the increased workload we streamlined our processes and added more Assessment Officers to our team. This has ensured that we have been able to process all applications within 12 weeks of the correct documents being submitted.
Applications received by financial year:
Country of qualification 2022-23 financial year
Candidates wanting to practise in Australia come from a diverse range of countries. In total we received applications from individuals who had completed their qualifications in 72 different countries in 2022-23.
Country of qualification data
| Country of qualification | Number of candidates |
| INDIA | 926 |
| EGYPT | 763 |
| PAKISTAN | 505 |
| PHILIPPINES | 381 |
| AUSTRALIA | 262 |
| NEPAL | 76 |
| ZIMBABWE | 73 |
| UNITED KINGDOM | 71 |
| NIGERIA | 69 |
| SOUTH AFRICA | 59 |
| IRAN (ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF) | 49 |
| MALAYSIA | 40 |
| JORDAN | 39 |
| THAILAND | 39 |
| BANGLADESH | 32 |
| SUDAN | 28 |
| IRAQ | 27 |
| UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | 16 |
| FIJI | 15 |
| GHANA | 15 |
| NEW ZEALAND | 14 |
| SRI LANKA | 13 |
| SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC | 13 |
| LEBANON | 11 |
| IRELAND | 10 |
| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 10 |
| OTHER (<10) | 103 |
Country of qualification candidate percentage
Skills assessment outcome letters
If candidates pass our ‘eligibility check’, they are eligible to sit the specific exam for their pathway to registration which is either:
- Knowledge Assessment of Pharmaceutical Sciences (KAPS) exam, or
- Competency Assessment of Overseas Pharmacists (CAOP) exam.
If they pass the exam, we issue them with a Skills Assessment Outcome (SAO), validating their knowledge and competency. The SAO can then be used to:
- apply to the Pharmacy Board of Australia for provisional or limited registration as a pharmacist
- provide to the Department of Home Affairs for migration purposes.
In the 2022-2023 financial year, we issued the following Skills Assessment Outcomes:
1158 Knowledge Stream and Competency Stream candidates
291 International students of Australian and New Zealand pharmacy programs
Assessing for the Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia
Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia (CCEA) 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.
We also assess the qualifications and skills of chiropractors trained in or outside of Australia or New Zealand on behalf of the CCEA.
During the financial year we received 73 applications from CCEA applicants.