Trans-Tasman mutual recognition

The Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 (TTMR) provides mutual recognition of occupational registration between New Zealand and Australia. It allows a person who is registered to practise a profession in one country to apply for registration in the equivalent profession in the other country.

If you hold full registration to practise an oral health profession in Australia, you may be eligible to register and practise in the same profession in New Zealand under the TTMR.

You cannot apply for TTMR if you hold temporary or limited registration.

To give notice of your intent to register via TTMR, you need to submit an application via the practitioner portal. If you complete the self assessment tool, you will be prompted to set up an account and can then proceed with your application.

Your application will be complete and ready for review once you submit and pay for your application, and post or courier your verification of identity form to the Dental Council office.

From this point, the Dental Council has one month to review your application. Following review, we may:

grant registration
postpone registration
refuse registration.

If your registration with Ahpra includes any conditions, you must upload details of those conditions with your application, including the correspondence from Ahpra that details why the conditions have been imposed. The conditions will need to be replicated on your Dental Council registration, with any adjustments needed for the New Zealand practice environment.

If you are the subject of a current investigation in Australia, you may be ineligible for registration. As part of our registration processes, we confirm directly with Ahpra that you:

are registered as an oral health practitioner
hold current, full/unlimited registration
are currently entitled to practise in Australia
are not the subject of disciplinary proceedings (including any preliminary investigations or action which may lead to disciplinary proceedings)
have not had your registration cancelled, nor are you currently suspended as a result of disciplinary action
are not prohibited from carrying out your profession
are not subject to any special conditions in carrying out your profession.

Once we have received your complete application and confirmed that you meet the requirements for TTMR, you will be issued with an invoice to pay for your practising certificate.

Post-registration requirements from 1 November 2026

Once you start practising in New Zealand, you will need to complete an overseas registrants recertification programme. This includes the Oral health practice in New Zealand course, a series of e-learning modules designed to help you understand New Zealand’s regulatory, professional, and practice requirements.

Apply for registration

If you have collated the required documents and are ready to apply for your registration and annual practising certificate, you can apply by creating an account in the practitioner portal.

All registration and annual practising certificate applications are managed through the portal.

Apply here for registration