How To Get Australia PR For Occupation Therapist

Occupational Therapist is one of the in-demand occupations in the healthcare industry of Australia. Therefore in 2022, the Australian Immigration Department announced the opening of more pathways for international candidates having Occupational Therapist licenses in their home country. Moreover, due to the high demand for this occupation, international candidates have a greater opportunity to obtain Permanent residency in Australia faster.

In this blog, we will provide you with all the necessary details regarding how an International candidate who has an existing Occupational Therapist license with relevant experience in their home country can opt for Permanent Residency in Australia.

To apply for Australia PR for Occupational Therapist (ANZCO: 252411), there are a few steps that the applicant needs to clear.

Please find the steps mentioned below:

Step 1: Role & Education Confirmation for Occupational Therapist

Applicant must match the roles & responsibilities as well as relevant education for this profile set by the Australian Government.

The applicant must have a Bachelor’s / Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapist with relevant Internships.

Post Education, it’s ideal to have 2+ years of experience in this same field.

Apart from education, candidates must match the following roles to qualify for Australia PR as an Occupational Therapist.

• Assessing client’s emotional, psychological, developmental, and physical capabilities using clinical observations and standardized tests
• Assessing client’s functional potential in their home, leisure, work, and school environments, and recommending environmental adaptations to maximize their performance
• Planning and directing programs through the use of vocational, recreational, remedial, social, and educational activities on an individual and group basis
• Providing advice to family members, carers, employers, and teachers about adapting the client’s home, leisure, work, and school environments
• Providing adaptive equipment, such as wheelchairs and splints, to assist clients in overcoming their functional limitations
• Working with other Health Professionals in the overall case management of clients
• Working with other professionals in providing specialist advice to specific client groups such as those requiring driver rehabilitation, third-party compensation, and medicolegal representation
• Recording client’s progress and maintaining professional relationships by relevant legislative requirements and ethical guidelines. Once, the initial evaluation is processed by our expert team, the next step will be to apply for Skill assessment.

Step 2: Skill Assessment (Occupational Therapist Council)

OTC is the Assessing Authority who will assess the documents of the Occupational Therapist Profile. There are 2 stages that applicants need to go through before obtaining the positive skill assessment for Occupational Therapist:

Stage 1: Desktop Assessment

Here candidate must need to submit their Educational Documents, Experience Documents, Language Proficiency Test Scores (PTE/IELTS), and Licensing Documents through mail. OTC will verify the Candidate’s documents through WOTC. Post that, they will provide Stage 1 approval.

Stage 2:

Upon successfully passing Stage 1, the candidate must need clear Level 1 & Level 2 Online Training & Practitioner successfully before applying for stage 2. OTC will monitor the progress of the candidate of their level through the IAHA portal.

Applicant must need to find suitable employment & supervisor in Australia for training. The candidate must submit the ALPS-96 Form to OTC for registration. Once OTC & AHPRA will confirm the documents then the applicant needs to proceed to level 3.

In Level 3, the candidate must need to inform OTC & AHPRA, when the applicant will start their supervisory practice. Here the candidate must upload their documents online. At the end of the supervising test, the candidate must send the Stage 2 completion report to OTC. Therefore OTC will instruct AHPRA to provide the applicant certificate of practice completion certificate.

Post stage 1 approval, candidate can submit their EOI for subclass 189/190/491 to obtain nomination, which is one of the pivotal stages to get Australia PR.