What Counts as CPD? A Guide for Australian Healthcare Workers

One of the most common questions Australian health professionals ask about CPD is: "Does this count?"

The short answer is: if it's a learning activity relevant to your professional practice and contributes to maintaining or developing your competence, it probably counts.

The longer answer depends on your profession, your scope of practice, and your National Board's specific guidelines. But there are common categories that almost all AHPRA-registered health professions share.

Here's a comprehensive guide to what counts as CPD in Australia.

The Basic Test

Before logging any activity as CPD, ask yourself three questions:

1. Is it a learning activity? Did you gain new knowledge, skills, or understanding?
2. Is it relevant to your practice? Does it relate to your current or intended scope of practice?
3. Can you prove you did it? Do you have evidence — a certificate, receipt, reflective note, or attendance record?

If the answer is yes to all three, it almost certainly counts.

CPD Categories Explained

Formal Learning

Formal learning includes structured educational activities provided by recognised organisations. These are typically the easiest to document because they come with certificates.

Examples:

• Attending conferences, workshops, and seminars
• Completing accredited courses and training programs
• Participating in webinars and online learning modules
• Undertaking postgraduate study
• Completing provider-led professional development programs

Evidence: Certificate of completion, registration receipt, attendance confirmation

Informal Learning

Informal learning covers self-directed activities where you actively engage with professional content. This isn't passive consumption — you should be able to describe what you learned and how it applies to your practice.

Examples:

• Reading professional journals and critically appraising research articles
• Listening to educational podcasts with reflection
• Watching clinical training videos and educational content
• Reviewing clinical guidelines and updates
• Self-directed research on clinical topics

Evidence: Reflective notes, bibliography of articles read, written summaries

Peer Review and Clinical Audit

Activities where you review your own practice or participate in structured review with colleagues. This category is particularly important for medical practitioners under the RMP framework.

Examples:

• Clinical audit participation and review
• Peer discussion groups and case conferences
• Multi-source feedback and 360-degree reviews
• Structured peer review sessions
• Morbidity and mortality meetings

Evidence: Meeting notes, audit reports, feedback summaries, attendance records

Research

Contributing to the evidence base in your field counts as CPD. This includes both conducting research and consuming it critically.

Examples:

• Designing and conducting research studies
• Writing and publishing articles, case reports, or reviews
• Presenting at conferences (poster or oral presentations)
• Reviewing journal articles as a peer reviewer
• Participating in research committees

Evidence: Published articles, presentation slides, peer review acknowledgments, research proposals

Teaching and Mentoring

Passing on knowledge to others is a form of professional development for you, too. Teaching and mentoring activities count as CPD for the teacher or mentor.

Examples:

• Supervising and mentoring students, interns, or registrars
• Delivering training sessions or workshops to colleagues
• Providing clinical education in formal settings
• Preceptoring new graduates
• Developing educational materials and curricula

Evidence: Teaching evaluations, supervision logs, course materials, session plans

Quality Improvement

Activities that improve the quality of care or service delivery in your workplace.

Examples:

• Participating in quality improvement projects
• Developing or updating clinical guidelines and protocols
• Implementing evidence-based practice changes
• Contributing to accreditation processes
• Leading or participating in practice reviews

Evidence: Project reports, guideline documents, meeting minutes, implementation plans

Activities That Usually Don't Count

While the range of valid CPD activities is broad, some activities generally don't qualify:

• Routine work duties — Activities that are part of your normal job description
• Mandatory workplace training — Basic induction, workplace health and safety (unless specifically educational)
• Administrative meetings — Staff meetings without an educational component
• Social networking — Informal conversations without structured learning outcomes
• Activities not relevant to your practice — Learning unrelated to your profession or scope

Always check your National Board's guidelines if you're unsure about a specific activity.

How Many Hours to Log

The number of hours you log for each activity should reflect the actual time you spent on the learning component, not the total event time.

For example:

• A full-day conference (8 hours) where you attended educational sessions might count as 6-7 hours of CPD (excluding breaks and non-educational components)
• Reading a journal article for 45 minutes and writing reflective notes for 15 minutes = 1 hour of CPD
• A 2-hour workshop = 2 hours of CPD

Be honest and realistic. Don't round up excessively, but don't undercount either.

Documenting Your CPD Properly

For each activity, record:

1. What you did — the activity name and a brief description
2. When you did it — the date
3. How long it took — the number of hours
4. What category it falls into
5. What you learned — a brief reflection on the learning outcome
6. Evidence — any supporting documents

This documentation is what you'll rely on if audited. The more thorough your records, the easier an audit will be.

Make CPD Tracking Simple

Rather than trying to remember what you did and when, use a dedicated CPD tracker that lets you log activities as they happen. CPDKeep supports all CPD categories, lets you attach evidence to each activity, and generates audit-ready reports.

Start tracking your CPD for free — it takes less than a minute to set up.