As speech pathologists are on demand in Australia, many international medical graduates are looking for opportunities to work as speech pathologists in Australia. Speech pathologists in Australia work for high salaries in different work settings.

This is a guide on how, as an international medical graduate, you can apply and work as a speech pathologist in Australia.

Skills and competency assessments

Speech Pathology Australia (SPA) is the professional body governing the standards and policies for speech pathologists on Australia. It is recognized by the Australian government and is well-connected with the Australian skilled migration process for speech pathologists.

Those hoping to migrate to Australia as speech pathologists have a very high scope as this profession is in demand and highly sought after.

Australian Governments Migrant Skills Incentives

SPA plays a vital role in Australian Governments Migrant Skills Incentives. It waives the initial fee for eligible applicants. It takes approximately two weeks for the applications to be assessed once the required documentation has been submitted.

Here are the requirements to be eligible for this:

The applicant must be living in Australia at the time of application submission.

The applicant must be in Australia on one of the following permanent visa categories:

Family

Partner

Humanitarian

Refugee

The applicant must have not previously undergone any assessment from SPA.

If you are an eligible applicant and get a favorable result from the application process, you will be asked to complete a survey about your work outcomes 6 and 12 months after the assessment. You can learn more on this subject by reading the Skills Assessment Opportunities for Migrants – Fact Sheet.

Overseas-trained speech pathologists

Following are the two types of applications available for overseas-trained speech pathologists:

Mutual Recognition Application (MRA)

To be eligible to apply for this type of application, an applicant must hold a certification or be a member of one of the signatory MRA associations. You must have obtained a professional qualification to become a speech pathologist in a country that is a signatory to the MRA Agreement as follows:

Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (SAC) – Certified Speech-Language Pathologist (S-LP(C))

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) – Certificate of Clinical Competence– Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP)

Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists (IASLT) – Full Member

Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (RCSLT) – Certified Member (Cert MRCSLT)

New Zealand Speech-Language Therapists’ Association (NZSTA) – Full Member (except those who graduated before 1993, who are not eligible to apply under the agreement).

You can find more information about the application process through the below links:

Details about the MRA

MRA Application Form

MRA Guide

Copy of the MRA

Overseas Qualification Competency Assessment Application (OSQCA)

Those who are not eligible to submit the MRA Application can complete the OSQCA if they can prove their competence as a speech pathologist.

SPA will be giving prior notice to overseas-trained applicants in relation to any alterations to the assessment standards from 2023.

You can find more information about the application process through the below links:

OSQCA Form

OSQCA Guide

OSQCA Forms – Pointing out Evidence

Document modification record

All applicants must submit their portfolios based on the instructions and guidance given in the above links.

Here is how you become eligible to apply for OSQCA:

Your educational qualifications should be equivalent to Australian-trained speech pathologists.

You are familiar with Australian English terms related to speech pathology.

You have worked as a speech pathologist for a minimum of 1000 years in the last five years if you graduated over five years ago. Or at least a year of experience if you graduated less than five years ago.

Educational standards

Your qualifications in speech pathology must be equivalent to speech pathologists who are trained in Australia. This equivalency is determined by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), and AQF 7-classified bachelor’s degree is the minimum qualification accepted in Australia.

Your educational qualifications must fulfill the following:

Be specifically related to speech pathology practice

Include elements of supervised clinical experiences

Be comparable with AQF 7 definition of an Australian qualification.

English language proficiency requirements

The professional use of English is vital when practicing as a speech pathologist in Australia. Speech pathologists in Australia must be proficient in English when assessing clients and determining treatment routines for them. Evidence proving your competency in English is required as part of the OSQCA process. There are two such English language proficiency tests; Occupational English Test (OET) and International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Those who fail to obtain the required OET and IELTS scores may be re-considered if they meet the following:

An explanation of why you didn’t perform up to the expected level.

And

Evidence of completion of programs that match up to the expected English language requirement levels.

Or

Obtained results from an equivalent English language test that has a similar structure to OET or IELTS.

Assessment exemptions

Applicants who have a relevant qualification in speech pathology conducted in English from any university in the US, Canada, the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and New Zealand are exempt from providing evidence of English language testing.

Fees

Below are the types of fees you may have to pay for the process:

Migration skills assessment fee which was $1400 as of 2022.

Application withdrawal fees which was $100 as of 2022.

Application review/ appeal fee which was 25% of the application fee or $350 as of 2022.

You must pay the full application fee during the initial stage of applying for the migration skills assessment. You should note that it is a non-refundable fee.

Application process

You must ensure to submit all of the required documents for the application process. Make sure your prepared with the following:

What information to provide in the application

How you will be presenting the evidence

Details about the assessment and appeal processes

Competency Based Outcome Standards (CBOS)

CBOS identifies the core competencies of this subject area for speech pathologists working in Australia. It also outlines against the standards and procedures against which the competence of international applicants are assessed.

The following are the CBOS elements included in the unit 1 assessment.

Identify the client’s communication, speech, or swallowing disorder and explore the main concerns of the client.

Assess the condition and identify the most suitable treatment procedure for the client.

Administer speech pathology assessment with regard to the speech, communication, or swallowing disorder.

Undertake all procedures within the boundaries of ethical guidelines provided to speech pathologists.

Assessment process

Your application is ready for assessment after you provide all of the mandatory documentation. A Professional Recognition Panel will assess your application and provide written feedback within 10 weeks of submission. Any applications that do not meet the requirements will have two more occasions to submit evidence following feedback from the same panel. All of this processing, including submission of addition evidence must be completed within two years of initial application date.

Review and appeal process

SPA will consider an appeal of the result of an unsuccessful applications under the below circumstances.

The assessment procedures as approved by SPA have not been implemented adequately.

There is proven bias or prejudice by the Professional Recognition Panel.

New vital details become available after the assessment process, which could have a significant impact on the outcome of the entire process.

Medfuture is a reputed healthcare recruitment agency that connects qualified and experienced speech pathologists across Australia. View our website for the latest speech pathologist jobs in Australia.