Registration information

• Application timeframes
• How to apply
• Registration fees
• Using other Australian registration to work in Victoria

Application timeframes

The Board meets every month to consider applications for the registration of veterinary practitioners.

Lodge your application before the cut-off date for the Board's monthly meeting. You can ask for fast track registration if you miss a cut-off date or need to be registered earlier than the next Board meeting. Fast track processing takes up to 7 days and costs $155 on top of standard fees.

• 20 May 2020 for Board meeting on 3 June 2020
• 17 June 2020 for Board meeting on 1 July 2020

NOTE: If you are registered in another Australian State or Territory and have relocated to Victoria, you must apply for registration in Victoria at least a month before your current registration expires.

How to apply

Select the option that applies to you from the following list:

• General registration is for people who have been awarded a degree in veterinary science or medicine recognised by the Board, or who have gained a non-award qualification recognised by the Board. Qualifications recognised by the Board are listed on the qualifications accredited by the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council. Some international graduates must also have passed the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE). Applicants may also need to demonstrate their English language competency. To apply for general registration, select from the list below:
  • You are a new graduate applying for first time registration as a veterinary practitioner
  • You are a practising veterinary practitioner who has never registered in Victoria before
  • You are a veterinary practitioner who was previously registered in Victoria
      
• Specific registration is for people who do not qualify for general registration in Victoria whose circumstances are covered by Section 7 of the Victorian Veterinary Practice Act 1997. Examples: offered a job to teach at the University of Melbourne; offered a study or research position at the University of Melbourne; offered a voluntary or paid position to get clinical experience for the Australasian Veterinary Examination practical clinical exams, and have already passed the preliminary multiple choice questions (MCQ) written examination.
  
  • Apply for specific registration
    
    
• Specialist registration is for veterinary practitioners with general registration in Victoria who have completed a specialist training program and want to practise in Victoria as a specialist in a particular field of veterinary medicine.
  
  • Apply for specialist registration
    
    
• Non-practising registration is for veterinary practitioners registered in Victoria who are ceasing practice in Victoria either temporarily or permanently but who want to stay connected to the Victorian veterinary profession.

Registration and other service fees

The following fees are for the 2020-2021 registration year.

Applicants for registration pay service and registration fees:

• New graduates applying for general registration: $155 application fee + $195 registration fee = Total $350
• General registration (including restoration/re-registration):
  • For registration in the period 1 July 2020 to 1 December 2021 - $155 application fee + $390 registration fee = Total $545
  • For registration in the period 1 December 2020 to 30 June 2021 - $155 application fee + $195 registration fee = Total $350  
• Specific registration: $155 application fee + $105 complex assessment fee + $390 registration fee = Total $650
• Specialist endorsement: $155 application fee + $260 specialist endorsement fee = Total $415. Specialists also pay a $390 general registration fee, and may need to pay a separate fee for the AVBC's Advisory Committee on the Registration of Veterinary Specialists to assess their qualifications.

More information: registration and service fee schedule

Using other Australian registration to work in Victoria

Veterinary practitioners with current registration in another Australian State or Territory sometimes come to Victoria to work temporarily. If your principal place of residence is in another State or Territory, the Victorian Board recognises your interstate right to practise as giving you the right to practise in Victoria. You would not have to apply for registration in Victoria as long as you continued to live in the State or Territory and your registration there remained active. The law covering these circumstances is section 3A of the Victorian Veterinary Practice Act 1997. The general term for the right to practise in Victoria with an interstate right to practise is "national recognition of veterinary registration".

However, if you relocate so your principal place of residence is in Victoria, you would have to apply for registration in Victoria before your registration in the other State or Territory expired. This is required under section 4(1A) of the Victorian Veterinary Practice Act 1997.

Note to international vets including from New Zealand: Recognition of interstate veterinary registration does not extend to people registered in other countries. If you are working as a veterinary practitioner in another country, you cannot come here and immediately start working without first registering in Victoria. Vets from New Zealand, UK and the US will likely have degrees that are recognised for registration in Victoria, but they must apply for registration in Victoria if their principal place of residence will be in Victoria and they want to practise here.