CPD for Podiatrists Australia: AHPRA Requirements, What Counts, and Audit Tips (2026)

Whether you're working in wound care, sports podiatry, diabetes management, or surgical practice, every registered podiatrist in Australia has the same obligation: maintain Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to keep your AHPRA registration current.

The Podiatry Board of Australia sets these requirements to ensure practitioners stay current with best practice. Understanding what you need — and how to document it properly — can be the difference between smooth renewal and audit stress.

How Many CPD Hours Do Podiatrists Need?

The Podiatry Board of Australia requires all registered podiatrists to complete a minimum of 20 hours of CPD per registration year.

Key requirements

• Minimum hours: 20 hours per year
• Cycle: Annual (aligned with your registration renewal period)
• Applies to: All registered podiatrists, including those with scheduled medicine endorsement
• Must be: Relevant to your scope and area of podiatric practice
• Documentation: Required for all activities

The Board expects CPD to genuinely contribute to professional development — it's not a box-ticking exercise. Activities should maintain and extend your knowledge, skills, and professional judgement.

Note: Board requirements may be updated. Always verify current obligations with the Podiatry Board of Australia directly at ahpra.gov.au.

What Counts as CPD for Podiatrists?

The Podiatry Board recognises a broad range of activities. The key criterion is relevance to your podiatric practice.

Formal learning

• Courses and workshops — Clinical skills workshops, wound care training, biomechanical assessment courses, or diabetes podiatry programs
• Conferences and seminars — Australasian Podiatry Council (APodC) events, state association conferences, or relevant inter-professional events
• Online learning and webinars — Accredited e-learning from recognised health education providers
• Postgraduate study — Units within Masters, Doctoral, or graduate certificate programs relevant to podiatric practice
• Scheduled medicines training — For podiatrists with prescribing endorsement, training in pharmacology and clinical prescribing

Self-directed and informal learning

• Journal reading — Reading and critically appraising literature from the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, Australasian Journal of Podiatric Medicine, or related publications
• Clinical guideline review — Reviewing and applying updated clinical guidelines (e.g., diabetes foot care pathways, wound management guidelines)
• Case-based reflection — Reflecting on complex or unusual clinical encounters and documenting what you learned
• Study groups — Peer discussion groups focused on clinical challenges or evidence review

Peer review and quality improvement

• Peer review — Structured review of your practice with colleagues
• Clinical audit — Reviewing your outcomes in areas such as wound healing rates, diabetic foot outcomes, or orthotics management
• Quality improvement projects — Contributing to practice or clinic-level improvement initiatives
• Multi-source feedback — Structured feedback from colleagues, patients, or supervisors

Teaching, supervision, and research

• Student supervision — Supervising podiatry students on clinical placements
• Mentoring — Supporting new graduates or early-career podiatrists
• Presenting — Presenting at professional events, case study presentations, or team education sessions
• Research and publications — Contributing to research projects, systematic reviews, or clinical resources

What doesn't count

• Routine patient care and clinical practice
• Administrative, management, or operational work
• General health and wellness activities (unless directly relevant to podiatric practice)
• Activities completed outside your current registration year

CPD Across Different Podiatry Practice Areas

Podiatry is a clinically diverse profession, and your CPD should reflect the area you work in.

Diabetes and high-risk foot care

This is one of the highest-acuity areas in podiatry. CPD should include wound management, vascular assessment, offloading techniques, and inter-professional collaboration within the diabetes care team. The Australian Diabetes Foot Network (ADFN) guidelines are a useful CPD framework.

Musculoskeletal and sports podiatry

CPD in biomechanical assessment, gait analysis, running injury rehabilitation, and orthotic fabrication is highly relevant. Sports podiatry conferences and lower limb biomechanics workshops are popular options.

Paediatric podiatry

Training in developmental milestones, childhood gait conditions, and paediatric orthotics is appropriate. Structured observation and clinical supervision in paediatric settings also counts.

Podiatric surgery

For surgical podiatrists, CPD should include surgical skills training, anaesthesia updates (where applicable), and surgical outcome audit. Theatre-based peer review is particularly valuable.

Aged care podiatry

CPD relevant to nail conditions, falls risk assessment, pressure injury prevention, and working with frail older adults supports both compliance and patient safety.

How AHPRA Podiatry Audits Work

The Podiatry Board conducts random CPD audits at registration renewal. Being selected doesn't suggest any problem with your practice — it's a routine compliance check.

What auditors look for

1. Total hours — Did you complete at least 20 hours in the registration year?
2. Relevance — Are activities relevant to your scope of podiatric practice?
3. Documentation — Do you have evidence for each activity?
4. Variety — Have you engaged across different types of CPD?

What documentation you need

For each activity, keep:

• Activity name and description
• Date of completion
• Duration in hours
• Provider or facilitator (where applicable)
• Certificate of attendance or completion
• Reflection or notes for self-directed learning

Keep these records organised throughout the year. Don't leave them scattered across inboxes, filing systems, and memory.

Common CPD Mistakes Podiatrists Make

1. Forgetting to count supervision and mentoring

Podiatrists who supervise students or mentor colleagues often forget to count this as CPD. If it contributes to your professional development as an educator and clinician, it counts.

Fix: Log your teaching and supervision hours throughout the year. Keep brief notes on what the experience contributed to your own professional growth.

2. Underestimating self-directed learning

Reading a journal article is CPD. Reviewing updated clinical guidelines is CPD. Reflecting on a complex wound case is CPD. Many podiatrists do far more informal professional development than they realise — they just don't log it.

Fix: Keep a simple log running throughout the year. Even a note on your phone works until you can transfer it properly.

3. Leaving evidence collection to the end of the year

A conference registration email from eight months ago, a webinar completion certificate in an inbox you've since cleared — these are lost evidence.

Fix: Save and attach certificates immediately after completing each activity.

4. All formal, no informal

A CPD log consisting entirely of formal conferences or courses may look less rounded than one that also includes self-directed learning, peer review, and teaching. The Board values a balanced portfolio.

Fix: Consciously include different types of CPD throughout the year.

How to Prepare for a Podiatry Board CPD Audit

Step 1: Gather your documentation

Collect all CPD evidence from the registration year — certificates, attendance records, reflections, and peer review notes.

Step 2: Calculate your hours

Total up your hours across all activities. Educational session time counts; travel, meals, and breaks don't.

Step 3: Review for relevance

Check that each activity has a clear connection to your podiatric practice. If you need to explain the relevance, note it now.

Step 4: Prepare reflections

For self-directed learning activities, draft brief reflections: what you read, what you learned, and how you've applied or plan to apply it in practice.

Step 5: Respond promptly

If you receive an audit notice, respond within the timeframe given. The process is straightforward if your records are in order.

Making Podiatry CPD Tracking Easier

Twenty hours per year is achievable — most podiatrists do more than that without realising. The challenge is documentation, not the learning itself.

A dedicated CPD tracking tool removes the friction:

• Log activities in seconds from your phone between consultations
• Attach certificates and evidence to each activity immediately
• See exactly how many hours you've accumulated against your 20-hour target
• Generate a printable, audit-ready report at any time
• Set reminders so CPD stays on your radar throughout the year

CPDKeep is designed specifically for Australian health professionals and supports the Podiatry Board's annual registration cycle. The free plan gives you unlimited activity logging and progress tracking. The Pro plan ($5/month or $50/year) adds audit-ready PDF reports and email reminders — everything you need to stay compliant with minimal effort.

Summary: Podiatry CPD Requirements at a Glance

Requirement	Detail
Total hours	20 hours
Cycle length	1 year (annual)
Governed by	Podiatry Board of Australia (AHPRA)
What counts	Relevant professional development activities
Documentation	Required for all activities
Audit	Random selection at registration renewal

Your patients rely on your continued expertise. Meeting your CPD obligations is how you demonstrate — to the Board, and to yourself — that your skills are current and your practice is evidence-based.

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