Following this week's WAMSS/PMCWA Internship Application Session, a number of enquiries were received regarding the English competency requirements. Marece Bentley, of the Department of Health, has kindly clarified the situation for students.
The requirements are clearly outlined in the Medical Board of Australia's (MBA) English Language Skills Registration Standard. Unfortunately, there is no flexibility in these requirements, and the MBA adheres to them strictly.
Even if you are an Australian citizen, born in Australia, who completed your schooling in English and who speaks only English, unless you completed school in one of the seven named countries, you will need to sit a competency assessment.
There are a number of sites offering testing that can be done before the closing date for applications (06/06/2014) which can be found here and here; please organise these early.
Satisfactory performance in the Occupational English Test (OET) is acceptable; the MBA standard above describes the specific requirements.