Three different frameworks apply inside one general practice. GPs answer to the Medical Board through a CPD home. Nurses answer to the Nursing and Midwifery Board. Certified practice managers accrue points with AAPM. The practice manager usually ends up coordinating all three without holding a clinical registration. This page is written for that person.
Every GP must complete 50 hours of CPD each calendar year. The structure is set by the Medical Board's registration standard, so it is the same across all three CPD homes. What differs is administration.
| Requirement | RACGP | ACRRM | AMA CPD Home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total annual hours | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Educational activities (EA) minimum | 12.5 hrs | 12.5 hrs | 12.5 hrs (max 25) |
| Reviewing performance (RP) minimum | 5 hrs | 5 hrs | 5 hrs (incl. CPD plan) |
| Measuring outcomes (MO) minimum | 5 hrs | 5 hrs | 5 hrs |
| RP + MO combined minimum | 25 hrs | 25 hrs | 25 hrs |
| CPD year | Calendar year | Calendar year | Calendar year |
| Evidence retention | 3 years | 5 years | 3 years |
| CPR/BLS | Every 3 years | Every 3 years (Fellows: ALS) | Every 3 years |
Each GP must also complete at least one activity a year addressing each of four program areas: culturally safe practice, health inequities, professionalism and ethical practice. These sit inside the 50 hours, not on top of them. A PDSA on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments, for example, is direct evidence for the culturally safe practice area.
All three homes class quality improvement cycles as measuring outcomes, with the practice meetings counting as reviewing performance. No home caps QI hours below the category ceilings, so a practice running four cycles a year covers 24 of the 25 combined RP and MO hours for every participating GP. The completed workbook plus the meeting record is the audit evidence.
Registered and enrolled nurses complete a minimum of 20 hours of CPD a year under the NMBA registration standard (nurse practitioners 30). There are no categories and no accredited activities: one hour of active learning is one hour of CPD, provided it is relevant to the nurse's context of practice. A nurse who takes part in a practice PDSA claims the time directly.
Two differences trip practices up. The nurse CPD year runs 1 June to 31 May, not the calendar year the GPs work to. And routine mandatory training only counts where it involves new learning, so the annual CPR refresher that counts for a GP's three-year requirement does not count for the nurse's 20 hours.
Evidence is a learning plan, a record of participation and a short reflection. The NMBA recommends keeping it for five years. The workbook print-out covers the participation record; each guide includes a one-page reflection template for nurses.
Certified practice managers maintain their CPM status with 200 AAPM CPD points per three-year cycle. Coordinating and documenting the practice's quality improvement program is claimable professional development, with conditions attached: AAPM sets what counts and how points are recognised, so check the current AAPM CPD guidance when you claim. If you are the person running four cycles a year, keep your own record of the coordination work alongside the clinical team's claims.
Retention requirements differ: 3 years for RACGP and AMA, 5 years for ACRRM and NMBA, and 6 years for PIP documentation in case of a payment audit. Keep every completed workbook, meeting record and reflection for six years and every framework, and the PIP QI audit, is covered.
Figures verified against the RACGP CPD handbook, ACRRM CPD Home program handbook, AMA CPD Home program guide 2026 and the NMBA registration standard and fact sheet, 15 July 2026. PIP retention and audit provisions verified against the PIP QI Incentive guidelines (Department of Health, August 2019), 17 July 2026. The national boards are reviewing the CPD registration standards during 2026; this page will be updated if the requirements change.