Professional Accreditation

National and State Accreditation | Regulated and Non-regulated Professions | Accreditation and Registration | Benefits of Accreditation | Value of National Accreditation

The primary purpose of professional accreditation is to ensure that graduates from specific undergraduate programs are professionally qualified and competent. The University also recognises that external accreditation of its programs by professional bodies is an important component of a quality assurance framework. During the process of professional accreditation a program is assessed against predetermined criteria within certain specified categories (for example, objectives, curriculum content, resourcing, staff profile), with the aim of reaching a conclusion about whether the program meets minimum standards set by the relevant accrediting body.

National and State Accreditation

In recent years there has been a strong tendency for state registration authorities and professional bodies to delegate their accreditation functions to national authorities. Most programs at the University requiring accreditation are accredited at the national level. Nursing, however, is accredited at the state level.

Regulated and Non-regulated Professions

Professional accreditation can either be regulated or non-regulated. Regulation is enforced by government on behalf of the public in occupations where public safety needs to be ensured. Professions such as architecture, nursing, medicine, and psychology are regulated whereas engineering, accountancy and journalism are unregulated. In regulated professions, accreditation authorities are established by state or federal government but responsibility for operational procedures is delegated in large part to members of the profession. In unregulated professions, national professional associations themselves may establish an accreditation function as part of their wider professional services and operations. In a profession such as engineering, accreditation involves an evaluation of undergraduate programs offered by universities. However, such accreditation, unlike accreditation in regulated professions, is at the request of the individual university and is not obligatory.

Accreditation and Registration

Accreditation and Registration are two separate and different processes. The purpose of Accreditation is to ensure that a program of study meets essential criteria in the training and education of its graduates in particular fields. Registration, however, is the licensing of the individual graduate to work as a professional. Most professional areas require both accreditation and registration but some such as teaching have registration but do not require accreditation of teaching education programs.

Benefits of Accreditation

Professional accreditation provides programs conducted by the University with the following benefits:

recognition by employers of graduates;
adherence to a code of ethics;
independent quality assurance:
currency of curriculum content and standards;
a standard for national and international comparison;
employment mobility for graduates.

Value of National Accreditation

Ensures compliance with national guidelines and standards;
Ensures nationally compatible and comparable registration standards and qualifications;
Promotes transparency, visibility and ongoing quality enhancement;
Promotes collaboration with universities to ensure on-going improvements to programs and response to new developments;
Promotes collaboration with accreditation systems in other countries (mutual recognition). Promotion of greater transnational consistency;
Audits workforce supply and demand with the aim of advising on requirements for places in universities.