Hi Becky,

No you are not going crazy it really does cost that kind of money to register here in Australia. The system here is very thorough however in my opinion the costs are uncalled for and need some regualtion. Looking at your list you don't need to do everything on there though and it also depends where you have completed your degree. If you're studying in Scotland then it is a 4 year degree as far as I know so you can apply for equivalence rather than going through the whole assessment process.

As I understand it if you are going to qualify from an English uni. When you qualify you need to register with the APC assessment process 'Assessment to qualify General Registration: Part 1 = $1100' pass this then you can sit the written exam that they offer overseas 'Part 2 (Written) = $1900'. Pass this and you can apply to register with AHPRA (our equivalent to the HPC) for limited registration, with limited reg you can be employed in Aus but you have to meet certain supervision criteria with your employer. You then need to pass 'Part 3 (Clinical) = $3465' the catch with this part of the process is that you have to actually be in Australia to complete the three exams (neuro, MSk, CVR) you have to pay upfront and if you fail any of them then you have to reapply to do all 3 again i.e. you could pay $3465 fail the first exam then you have to pay $3465 again and to add to that the exams could be in any of Australia's capital cities so you could be working in Perth but you might have to go to Melbourne for one exam, Sydney for one and Adelaide for the other. So that's where the costs can potentially start adding up. Once you pass all three parts of the assessment you get a certificate to say that and you can apply for full registration with AHPRA. It is an expensive lengthy process but based on your current experience it may be your only option.

The second option that people use is the NZ reg then transfer it. This is cheaper but it's still a lot of work. You do need to work for at least a year first and have to be able to prove competence in the core practice areas and after applying it can still take 6months to a year depending on number of applications they have to process etc. And once you have that you still need to sort out registration with AHPRA/ NZ authoroties and that will take another month or two.

This is a fantastic place to live and work. I spent four years working in the UK before I took the leap and I've not regretted it once however you have to put some work in to get here.