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Fertility specialist titles, a guide by Dotto

Guide 05 of 05Field: Registers

What the Specialists Register shows

The Specialists Register holds the names of all specialist health practitioners currently registered in a profession with specialist recognition, and for doctors it gives each one’s specialty and field of specialty practice. A doctor with both general and specialist registration appears on it and on the Register of medical practitioners; a doctor with specialist registration only appears on the Specialists Register alone.

General information, not medical or legal advice. The official place to check a practitioner is Ahpra’s register of practitioners, and Ahpra says a name on it means the person is allowed to practise.

Two registers, one nameTwo blank record cards, one above the other. The first is headed Register of medical practitioners, with name, registration type and conditions. The second is headed Specialists register, with name, specialty, field of specialty practice and conditions. The name field is marked on both, for a doctor who appears on both.REGISTER OF MEDICAL PRACTITIONERSNAMEREGISTRATION TYPECONDITIONSSPECIALISTS REGISTERNAMESPECIALTYFIELD OF SPECIALTY PRACTICECONDITIONS
The two registers a doctor can appear on, drawn blank. The name is marked on both, because a doctor with both kinds of registration is listed twice.

Section 223

What the law requires

“The National Board established for a health profession for which specialist recognition operates under this Law must, in conjunction with the National Agency, keep

  1. (a)a public national specialists register that includes the names of all specialist health practitioners currently registered in a health profession for which the Board is established; and
  2. (b)a public national register that includes the names of all:
    1. (i)specialist health practitioners whose registration has been cancelled by an adjudication body; and
    2. (ii)persons who are subject to a prohibition order; and
    3. (iii)persons who were previously specialist health practitioners who are subject to an interim prohibition order.”
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, s 223

So the section asks for two registers: one of the specialists currently registered, and one of specialists whose registration an adjudication body has cancelled, people under a prohibition order, and former specialists under an interim prohibition order.

Entry details

What an entry tells you

Specialty
The recognised specialty the doctor is registered in. Specialist registration exists only in specialties the Ministerial Council has approved.
Field of specialty practice
Some specialties have fields within them. The register gives the field consistent with the approved list of specialties, fields and specialist titles.
Conditions
The Board may put conditions on a specialist’s registration that restrict their practice to a specified area within a specialty or field, and those conditions appear on the Specialists Register.
Scope
A doctor with specialist registration only is limited to practising in their specialty, the Board’s registration standard says.

To find a doctor in the first place, by name or by registration number, start with Checking a doctor’s registration.

Dates

The dates behind the register

  • 15 February 2018The date of the earlier specialist registration standard, which the current one replaces.
  • 1 October 2024The Ministerial Council approved the current specialist registration standard.
  • 21 October 2024From this date, doctors granted specialist registration must have finished supervised practice, cultural safety education and an orientation to Australia’s healthcare system, though some exemptions may apply.
  • 26 August 2025The Ministerial Council approved the current list of specialties, their fields and the specialist titles that go with them.
  • 22 September 2025That list took effect.
  • 30 September each yearThe common end date for every specialist registration. Registration is granted for 12 months at most, and every registrant must apply to renew it each year.

Users

Who relies on it

Patients are not the only readers. The Medical Board says Medicare uses the public specialist register to check that a doctor has specialist registration, so that their patients can get a specialist-level rebate. Specialist referrals and Medicare explains the referral that goes with it.

Advertising is tied to the register too. Ahpra’s guidance says a practitioner with specialist registration should keep words like ‘specialist’ to the specialty they are registered in. How doctors may advertise has the rest.