Approved Pathology Authorities

An Approved Pathology Authority (APA) must meet certain criteria.

An Approved Pathology Authority (APA) must:

  • meet the requirements in the APA undertaking
  • have an authorised representative submit an APA undertaking which is accepted by Services Australia
  • pay the acceptance fee within 14 days from when the undertaking is accepted.

How to apply

To apply, an authorised representative must:

New APA approvals begin from the day they’re approved by a delegate and can’t be backdated.

Read more about using HPOS.

Backdated approvals

We can consider backdating an approval on a case by case basis, except when:

  • the approval is for a new APA
  • the undertaking is accepted more than one month after the previous undertaking expired
  • we don’t have enough information to make a decision.

To request a backdated approval, you need to provide all of the following:

  • a correctly completed application
  • a letter of request telling us why your application is late and the reason the approval should be backdated. This letter must be signed if it’s not submitted by an authorised person using form upload.

We’ll consider backdating requests after:

  • we accept your undertaking
  • you’ve paid the acceptance fee as requested.

We’ll consider the circumstances and let you know the outcome.

What happens next

If accepted, we’ll send you a letter and email (if provided) with the unique APA number asking you to pay the acceptance fee.

We must receive your payment within 14 days of the acceptance date, or the acceptance of your undertaking will be revoked and you’ll need to apply again.

Once we receive your payment, we’ll send you confirmation along with your approval dates. This is valid for 12 months.

We’ll ask you to renew your APA around 11 weeks before it expires.

You’ll need to renew your APA before it expires, allowing enough time for processing. To do this:

When your circumstances change

You must tell us in writing if circumstances change by using the Application for approval, amendment or renewal of an approved pathology authority form (HW011).

If the APA has acquired or merged with another APA, or part of another APA, you'll need to complete and send us an Approved Pathology Authority acquisition or merger advice form (HW036).

Manage your APA details in HPOS

You can manage some of your APA’s details through the My organisations function in HPOS. It’s fast and secure. You first need to set up a Provider Digital Access (PRODA) and HPOS and link to your APA.

Set up HPOS

If you don’t have access to HPOS you need to:

You need to link your PRODA account to your APA to access it in HPOS. You can link by:

If calling, you need to:

  • pass a security check
  • give us the APA number and name and the registration authority (RA) number
  • confirm the access type - administrator (full access) or staff (view only access).

Read more about PRODA and HPOS.

Once your PRODA account is linked to your APA you’ll be able to:

  • update the APA’s contact details
  • add, remove or update authorised contacts
  • manage who can access the APA in HPOS.

Other tasks you can do in HPOS

You can also:

APA mergers and acquisitions

If you acquire or merge with another APA you must tell us at least 30 days before the change. You need to give us as much notice as possible before an acquisition or merger to make sure there’s minimal impact to operations.

You need to provide details about:

  • the APAs involved
  • all ACCs and Accredited Pathology Laboratories (APLs) which will change ownership.

You can do this by completing an APA acquisition or merger advice form (HW036).

If ACCs are part of this change we require applications requesting:

  • closure of the existing ACCs operated by the outgoing APA
  • approval of the ACCs with the acquiring APA.

Any APL obtained as part of an acquisition or merger will have its accreditation transferred.

Page last updated: 15 June 2024.
QC 74235