Development of this site

This site was developed by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) with support from the Australian Government Department of Health, through the project Effecting Reforms to Australia's specialist medical training and accreditation system post COVID-19. In response to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia’s training and accreditation system has adapted and innovated. The Effecting Reforms project contributed to identifying, reviewing and considering opportunities to improve and enhance the medical training and accreditation system in Australia, as well as inform the development and implementation of a National Medical Workforce Strategy. This site provides information for all stakeholders of assessment across the continuum of medical education to share learning and support improvement. The materials and resources on the site were developed in response to findings through the AMC accreditation processes, and feedback from stakeholders on areas that would be beneficial to share learning.

The Australian Medical Council

The AMC is a national standards, accreditation and assessment authority. It is appointed as the accreditation authority for the medical profession in Australia and provides accreditation services for New Zealand.

As the accreditation authority for medicine, the AMC has been assessing medical programs in Australia for over 25 years. In that time, medical programs and education providers have evolved in response to changed community and government expectations of medical education and medical practice,  international developments in medical education and assessment, and the accreditation standards used by the AMC to assess providers and their programs. These standards  have also evolved in response to international developments and community expectations.

The AMC provides the examination for international medical graduates seeking to practise in Australia. In this role it assesses on average 4,000 international medical graduates per year via a computer adaptive multiple-choice examination, a clinical examination delivered through the AMC National Test Centre and now available online.  It also sets the standards for the alternate workplace based assessment pathway for international medical graduates and provides a process for accreditation of workplace-based assessment programs offered in Australian health services.

The AMC has expertise in the development of assessment material, standard setting, delivery of examinations, examiner training and calibration, and the development of assessment resources.

National Medical Workforce Strategy 2021-2031

The National Medical Workforce Strategy 2021-2031 (the Strategy) was developed with the support and oversight of the Medical Workforce Reform Advisory Committee and was endorsed by Health Chief Executives and Health Ministers at the end of 2021. It has been developed to guide long-term collaborative medical workforce planning across Australia, and identifies achievable, practical actions to build a sustainable, highly trained medical workforce that sustainably meets the changing health needs of Australian communities.

The Strategy will be a key driver of reform. It comprises five complementary priority areas to drive achievement of the Strategy’s vision. They are:

1: Collaborate on planning and design

2: Rebalance supply and distribution

3: Reform the training pathways

4: Build the generalist capability of the medical workforce

5: Build a flexible and responsive medical workforce

Further information