Ethics CPD Requirements for Australian Doctors 2026

Every doctor with general or specialist registration in Australia meets the Medical Board of Australia's continuing professional development standard, in force since 1 January 2023, and declares at renewal that it has been met. The standard is built around a CPD home, 50 hours a calendar year spread across three kinds of activity, and a plan written before the year starts — and the declaration is one Ahpra can audit after the event. This guide sets out what the standard asks for in 2026, how an ethics and professionalism course counts toward it, what to keep as evidence, and what happens if the records are asked for.

Medical Board of Australia CPD Requirements at a Glance

Every doctor must belong to a CPD home — a specialist college or another program accredited by the Australian Medical Council — that suits their scope of practice, and must complete 50 hours of CPD each calendar year (1 January to 31 December), logged with that home. The hours are counted by activity type:

Activity type	Minimum	Examples
Educational activities	At least 12.5 hours	Courses, reading, lectures, conferences, online learning with or without assessment
Reviewing performance	At least 5 hours	Peer review, multi-source feedback, supervision, case discussion
Measuring outcomes	At least 5 hours	Clinical audit, outcome data review, incident review
Reviewing performance and measuring outcomes together	At least 25 hours	The two types above, in the mix you choose
Any type	The remaining 12.5 hours	Allocated as you decide

Registration is renewed by 30 September; at renewal you declare the CPD home you used for the previous calendar year, and the home verifies your record. A professional development plan is written before the year's CPD starts. Interns, doctors in their second postgraduate year in a structured program, doctors with non-practising registration and doctors on short-term limited registration are exempt; a CPD home can grant an exemption for illness or parental leave.

An assessed two-hour ethics course is an educational activity worth 2 hours toward the 12.5-hour minimum for that type. Australian Doctors can see the ethics and professionalism courses written for doctors that count under the standard.

The CPD Home and the Professional Development Plan

The CPD home is the part of the standard that is new since 2023. It is not a provider of courses: it is the body that holds your plan and your log, verifies at renewal that you met the standard, and may have requirements of its own above the Board's minimum — a college program may ask for specialty-specific activity within the 50 hours. Choose a home that fits your scope of practice, and check its program requirements as well as the Board's.

The professional development plan is written before the year starts. It names your scope of practice, the learning needs you have identified, and the activities you intend to complete, by type. Ethics and professionalism belong in it for every scope of practice: Good medical practice, the Board's code of conduct in effect since 1 October 2020, is what a notification about consent, confidentiality, boundaries, prescribing or a record is measured against, and CPD that covers it is relevant by definition.

Ethics and Professionalism as CPD: How They Count

An online ethics course with an assessment you must pass to receive the certificate is an educational activity: knowledge gained through a structured program, logged in hours. A two-hour course is 2 hours toward the 12.5-hour educational minimum, or toward the 12.5 hours you allocate freely. The certificate records the course title, the provider, the date of completion and the hours, which is what your CPD home and an audit need to see. Reflecting on the course in writing and then changing something in your practice can also be logged as reviewing performance or measuring outcomes, if your home's program recognises the activity that way.

For a doctor responding to an Ahpra notification, under conditions, or preparing for a Performance and Professional Standards Panel, ethics CPD does a second job. A completed, assessed course on the standard you are said to have breached — consent, confidentiality, record-keeping, professional boundaries, open disclosure, prescribing — is evidence of insight and remediation that the Medical Board weighs alongside the written response. It shows engagement with the standard rather than a statement that you have read it. A dated certificate attached to the response, with a paragraph on what you took from the course and what you have changed, is the form that evidence takes.

For a doctor renewing with no concern raised, the same course is a planned activity that answers the audit question before it is asked.

Recording and Keeping Your CPD Evidence

Your CPD home holds the log, but the evidence behind each entry is yours to keep, and it is what an audit asks for. For each activity, record:

The date, title and provider, the hours, and the activity type (educational, reviewing performance, measuring outcomes).
The evidence: the certificate, the attendance record, the assessment result, or for an audit or review the data and what changed.
A line of reflection on what the activity changed in your practice, tied to the plan written at the start of the year.

Keep the plan, the log and the certificates for at least five years. Ahpra can audit a past period, and a notification can reopen a question about CPD completed years earlier.

Ahpra CPD Audits and What Happens If You Fall Short

After each renewal Ahpra audits a sample of practitioners against the registration standards, CPD among them. Selection is largely random; being audited is not a sign of concern. You are asked to supply evidence for the declaration you made: the CPD home you declared, your plan, and the certificates or records behind the hours you logged. There is a set period to respond, and a response that is late or thin is itself a finding.

Where the evidence falls short of the standard, the Medical Board can require the shortfall to be made up and may impose conditions on registration until it is. Where the declaration was not true — hours claimed for activities not completed — the matter is no longer a CPD question but a conduct one: a false declaration to the regulator is a probity matter, and the Board treats it as such. The practical protection is a contemporaneous record kept through the year, not a reconstruction after the audit letter arrives.

Choosing Ethics Courses That Count Toward Your Renewal

An assessment you must pass. The assessment is what shows the learning happened; a course that only has to be opened is weaker evidence under any program.
A certificate with the detail an audit needs: your name, the course title, the provider, the date of completion and the hours.
Content written for doctors under the Board's standards. Relevance to your practice is a requirement of the standard, and a course built on Good medical practice, the Medical Board's code of conduct, and the Board's guidelines meets it directly.
A provider you can name. An audit assesses the evidence, and evidence from an identifiable provider with a dated certificate is evidence that stands on its own.

Key Regulatory Resources for Australian Doctors on CPD

Medical Board of Australia — the CPD registration standard (1 January 2023), the list of accredited CPD homes, Good medical practice and the Board's guidelines.
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) — renewal by 30 September, the renewal declarations and the audit process.
Avant Mutual and MDA National — medical defence organisations; the first call when a notification arrives, and both run CPD programs.

Frequently asked questions

How many CPD hours do Australian doctors need each year?

The Medical Board of Australia's CPD registration standard asks for 50 hours of CPD each calendar year, logged with your CPD home: at least 12.5 hours of educational activities, at least 25 hours of reviewing performance and measuring outcomes (at least 5 hours of each), and 12.5 hours of any type.

What is a CPD home?

A CPD home is a specialist college or another program accredited by the Australian Medical Council that holds your plan and your CPD log and verifies at renewal that you met the standard. Every doctor with general or specialist registration must belong to one; a college program may ask for specialty-specific activity within the 50 hours.

Is ethics CPD mandatory for Australian doctors?

The standard sets hours and activity types, not topics, and a CPD home may add requirements of its own. Ethics and professionalism are relevant to every scope of practice because Good medical practice, the Board's code of conduct, is what a notification is measured against. A doctor under conditions, or preparing a response to a notification, is often required or advised to complete structured ethics CPD as part of remediation.

How does an online ethics course count under the Medical Board's standard?

A course with an assessment that you must pass is an educational activity, logged by the hour: a two-hour course is 2 hours toward the 12.5-hour educational minimum. Log it with your CPD home with the title, provider, date and hours, and keep the certificate.

When do Australian doctors renew their registration?

Medical practitioners renew by 30 September each year, with a one-month late period. At renewal you declare the CPD home you used for the previous calendar year; the CPD year itself runs 1 January to 31 December.

Do I need a professional development plan?

Yes. The standard asks for a plan written before the year's CPD starts, naming your scope of practice, your learning needs and the activities you intend to complete by type. Your CPD home holds it, and an audit asks for it.

What happens if Ahpra audits my CPD?

Ahpra audits a sample of practitioners after renewal. You will be asked for the CPD home you declared, your plan and the evidence behind the hours you logged. If the evidence does not support the declaration, the Board can require further CPD, impose conditions, and treat a false declaration as a conduct matter in its own right.

Can ethics CPD completed during an Ahpra notification help the outcome?

It can. A completed, assessed ethics course with a dated certificate is evidence of insight and remediation that the Board can weigh alongside your written response. It shows engagement with the standard you are said to have breached. Attach the certificate to the response and say what you took from the course and what you have changed.

This article is published by Healthcare Ethics Australia for general information. It is not legal advice and does not replace advice from your indemnity insurer, professional association or a lawyer about your own matter.