Fact sheet: Registration as a midwife and paramedic (dual registration)

This fact sheet is for midwives and paramedics who hold dual registration that is; registration on both the register of midwives and the register of paramedics. This fact sheet sets out the regulatory requirements for midwives and paramedics who hold dual registration.

The NMBA and Paramedicine Board recognise that midwifery and paramedicine are two separate professions and as regulated health practitioners, midwifery and paramedics who hold dual registration are expected to meet the respective professional standards for practice and/or professional capabilities together with the NMBA and Paramedicine Board registration standards, codes and guidelines for both the profession of midwifery and the profession of paramedicine. This means midwives and paramedics with dual registration are required to have recent practice in, and connection to, both the midwifery profession and the paramedic profession and must ensure they are safe, competent, confident and current, in each profession’s specific skills and knowledge, relevant to their context of practice. Where a midwife also has an endorsement any additional requirements set by the NMBA related to that endorsement will also need to be met.

If you are registered as both a midwife and paramedic, you must meet the requirements of the NMBA’s and Paramedicine Board’s mandatory registration standards in both professions. This means you must complete, and be able to demonstrate, that you have met the recency of practice, continuing professional development requirements and have professional indemnity insurance relevant to both your practice as a midwife and paramedic.

To work/be employed in a paramedic and/or midwife position you must hold the relevant registration with the NMBA and/or the Paramedicine Board. For further information refer to the NMBA Fact sheet: The use of health practitioner protected titles and the Paramedicine Board's Fact Sheet: Using the title 'paramedic' after 1 December 2018.

Using the Midwife standards for practice and Professional capabilities for registered paramedics

The NMBA Midwife standards for practice (2018) provide midwives with a framework for assessing practice and the Paramedicine Board Professional capabilities for registered paramedics (2021) (Paramedic professional capabilities) identify the knowledge, skills and professional attributes needed for safe and competent practice of paramedicine in Australia. To assist you to determine if you have recent practice as both a midwife and a paramedic you can use the Midwife standards for practice and the Paramedic professional capabilities documents to evaluate your own practice.

The evidence that you keep or present to demonstrate you meet the registration standards, Midwife standards for practice and Paramedic professional capabilities as a midwife and as a paramedic are assessed on an individual basis. The NMBA and the Paramedicine Board recognise that there may be certain elements of practice common to both midwife and paramedic practice.

Recency of practice

To demonstrate recency of practice you need to have evidence to support recent practice within your context/scope, knowledge and skills in each profession.

Any common elements of practice should be determined within your own context of practice using the respective Midwife standards for practice and Paramedic professional capabilities. These documents clearly indicate the expected practice standard and provide the framework for assessing your practice. You should use these documents to consider if you meet the requirements for the respective board’s recency of practice registration standard as both a midwife and a paramedic when renewing your registration each year.

Continuing professional development

The CPD activities you undertake should be relevant to your context of practice, maintain your competence and build on your knowledge and expertise as both a midwife and paramedic. To demonstrate compliance with the respective board’s continuing professional development registration standard (CPD) you will need to complete a minimum of 20 hours of CPD related to your midwifery practice and a minimum of 30 hours of CDP related to your paramedic practice. There may be some CPD hours that can count towards both contexts of practice, but the NMBA and the Paramedicine Board would also expect to see separate activities specific to midwifery and specific to paramedicine.

Professional indemnity insurance

Under the National Law, midwives and paramedics must not practise the profession in which they are registered unless they hold appropriate professional indemnity insurance (PII) arrangements in relation to their practice. If you are registered as both a midwife and paramedic, you must have professional indemnity insurance relevant to all aspects of your practice in both midwifery and paramedicine to demonstrate compliance with the respective board’s professional indemnity insurance arrangements registration standard.

If you are registered as a registered nurse, midwife and paramedic you are expected to meet the above requirements for each profession and demonstrate compliance with the registration standards for each profession.

• Registration standards for midwives 
• Professional standards for paramedics 
• Midwife standards for practice 
• Visit www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au under Contact us to lodge an online enquiry form
• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (in Australia) +61 3 9275 9009 (overseas callers)