RANZCP homepage
Program guide & requirements
The RANZCP Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program provides opportunities for professional learning, a platform to record your progress and guidance to help you meet requirements set out by medical regulators.
The program is flexible, with multiple ways to meet requirements, emphasises self-directed education and focuses on practice improvement.
CPD Program guides
CPD requirements
Participants need to complete a minimum of 50 hours annually, including
| Section 1: Professional Development Plan | 2 hours | |
| Section 2: Formal Peer Review | Minimum 10 hours | 23 hours in total across these two sections |
| Section 3: Practice Improvement | Minimum 5 hours | |
| Section 4: Self-guided learning | 12.5 hours | |
| Section 5: Additional hours | 12.5 hours | |
| Total | 50 hours |
Section 3 - overview and activity guides
Learn more about what makes a CPD activity suitable for Section 3 and explore detailed explanations of selected activities.
Australian standards
- CPD requirements for medical practitioners in Australia. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
- Obligations on medical practitioners [Medical Board of Australia]
- Continuing professional development registration standard [Medical Board of Australia]
- Information for participants of declared quality assurance activities [Australian Government Department of Health and Aging website]
Aotearoa New Zealand standards
- The Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) sets the CPD requirements for medical practitioners in New Zealand.
- Maintain registration [Medical Council of New Zealand]
- Recertification and professional development [Medical Council of New Zealand]
- Protected Quality Assurance Activities under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 [NZ Ministry of Health]
The RANZCP is committed to addressing the longstanding inequities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia, and Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand, in both health outcomes and access to culturally safe mental health care. Central to this commitment is the College’s work to grow and sustain the Indigenous psychiatric workforce, promote cultural safety for both patients and psychiatrists, and embed culturally responsive practices across training, policy, and service delivery. Guided by its vision, the RANZCP acknowledges the enduring disparities in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Māori, which reflect systemic barriers to appropriate health services and the social determinants of health. The College is advancing this agenda through multiple initiatives, including increasing representation of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori peoples among its membership and staff, strengthening education in culturally appropriate care, and implementing its Reconciliation Action Plan and commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
