What is recertification?
Any translator or interpreter wishing to maintain a NAATI credential must apply to NAATI to recertify every three years. We call this process “recertification”.
Recertification allows practitioners to demonstrate that they are actively maintaining their skills and knowledge. This supports the ongoing professionalism of the industry. It also assures the community that only practising professionals hold current NAATI credentials.
If you want to recertify your credentials, you must do the following:
- Demonstrate you have completed work practice and professional development meeting NAATI’s requirements (explained further below).
- Lodge a recertification application via your myNAATI account.
- Pay the assessment fee.
NAATI’s professional development catalogue explains the types of PD activities and points you can claim to meet the recertification requirements. The catalogue was developed in partnership with AUSIT, ASLIA and Professionals Australia.
How to recertify
The recertification process is described in this flowchart:
NAATI sets out the minimum work practice and professional development criteria practitioners must meet to recertify their credential/s every three years to ensure that the standard of practitioners working in the translating and interpreting industry remains high. This enables NAATI-certified practitioners to demonstrate that they complete ongoing work practice and professional development, as is expected of any profession.
All practitioners wishing to recertify must meet both the work practice and professional development criteria explained below.
Work practice criteria
- Translators: 30,000 words translated over three years (an average of 10,000 per year)
- Interpreters: 120 hours or assignments over three years (an average of 40 per year)
- If you hold more than one NAATI credential (for example, if you are a translator and interpreter, or you hold translator credentials in two languages), you must provide work practice evidence for each credential separately.
Professional development (PD) criteria
In addition to being a requirement for NAATI recertification, professional development is one of the principles of the AUSIT Code of Ethics (principle 8) and ASLIA Code of Ethics (principle 2.4) to which all NAATI-credentialed practitioners are bound.
Professional development criteria
- Total of 120 professional development points (no matter how many certifications you hold). This is an average of 40 points per year.
- Minimum of 30 points in each of the three categories below, including at least one activity (10pts) from the Ethics sub-category.
- Skills development and knowledge
- Industry engagement, including Ethics sub-category
- Maintenance of language.
Use NAATI’s professional development catalogue to figure out which categories your PD can be applied against. You can view it here. The catalogue was developed in partnership with AUSIT, ASLIA and Professionals Australia.
A note on finding professional development to complete
Remember, the recertification process aims to be flexible to meet your needs. The catalogue is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every possible PD event. It provides an indication of the types of activities that are appropriate, and helps practitioners to record their PD activity in the relevant section.
Most PD events will fit under a relevant section, but each category also provides a section for additional activities that don’t fit neatly (valued at up to 10 points). Any PD activity listed in this section should be supported with a brief explanation of the activity. We will consider any PD relevant to your work as a translator or interpreter or the profession.
Professional development isn’t just about completing formal paid courses or attending conferences. Did you know you can claim points for things like maintaining a membership with a professional association (such as AUSIT or ASLIA), mentoring new practitioners, attending networking events or even spending time in a country where your LOTE is the primary language spoken? We also allow practitioners to nominate additional activities which aren’t already listed in the catalogue.
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Recertification fee $220
Every three years
NAATI provides an online logbook for you to record your work practice and professional development through your myNAATI account.
Once you have recorded all of your work practice and professional development, you can submit your recertification application from the myNAATI homepage. More details on how to apply are under the ‘Apply & get support‘ tab.
Recording your work practice and professional development
NAATI provides an online logbook for you to record your work practice and professional development through your myNAATI account. Once you have recorded all of your work practice and professional development, you can submit your recertification application from the myNAATI homepage. More details on how to apply are below under Submitting your application.
Professional development is recorded in the “Professional Development” section of your logbook. Work practice is recorded against each of your credentials separately, if you hold more than one. To record work practice, select the credential from your logbook that the work practice relates to.
Screen shot of the myNAATI logbook
It is up to you how you fill out your logbook, as long as there is enough information to support NAATI in assessing your application. Some practitioners with heavy workloads choose to record a monthly or weekly total rather than logging individual jobs.
All work practice and professional development included in your recertification application must be dated within the certification period. We can’t accept jobs or activities completed outside of your credential’s validity period.
You can add to your online logbook at any time after your credential is granted until you submit your recertification application. Each logbook entry will ask you to include:
- a date – such as the date the job or activity took place or was completed, the date ending the week or month you are recording activities for, the date of the reference letter or an approximate date of when you logged the activity
- some details about the job or activity – such as the number of hours or assignments, the approximate number of words translated, or the professional development category
- a short description of the activity or the work completed.
If you are keeping a manual logbook, you should record similar details.
Providing supporting evidence
We recommend that you attach supporting evidence to each professional development and work practice logbook entry (such as an attendance certificate, receipt of payment, booking receipt or a reference letter from your employer); however, this is optional. Uploading supporting evidence will assist NAATI in assessing your application.
Please take care to remove any identifying client information from your documentation before you upload it. Translators should not provide copies of translations you have completed as evidence, as this would go against the principle of confidentiality.
You may choose to include an employment contract or reference letter from your employer/s instead of making separate entries for every job. You can then create a single entry in your work practice logbook to cover the period of the contract or letter (such as the entire recertification period) and attach it as evidence.
Reference letters needs to be on an official letterhead and include:
- your name and practitioner ID
- the language/s the work was undertaken in
- the period covered by the letter
- the approximate or average number of interpreting jobs/number of translated, edited or checked words.
Random audits
Every year, NAATI randomly audits a sample of practitioners who need to recertify. People who are audited are chosen at random and will have their recertification application and supporting evidence reviewed.
If your application is being audited and you have already completed your logbook correctly and uploaded supporting evidence, then no further action will need to be taken. If supporting evidence is not available as part of your recertification application for the auditor to look at, it will be requested from you.
NAATI will send you an automated email three months before the expiry of your credential/s to remind you to recertify. You can lodge a recertification application at any time from receiving this reminder until three months after the expiry of your credential/s.
Please note: Three months after your credential/s expire, the recertification application will no longer be available via myNAATI and you would need to apply again for NAATI certification, which may include sitting another test.
We recommend you apply before your credential expires to allow time for your new ID products (interpreter ID card or translator stamp) to be ordered and posted to you. Once you have been awarded a certification or have been recertified, you will receive your new products within 2-4 weeks if you are in Australia. Postage timeframes to overseas addresses will vary.
How to apply
To submit your recertification application, you need to follow the steps outlined here:
Once you have completed the work practice and professional development sections of your logbook, you can submit your recertification application from the myNAATI homepage by selecting “Submit an Application”.
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myNAATI homepage
The application form will ask you to select which credentials you wish to recertify.
If your logbook is incomplete or you have kept a manual record and not entered any records in your myNAATI logbook, you will receive a warning message before submitting the application.
- You will have the option to modify your logbook before submission or to select “OK” to proceed with your application.
- If you select “OK” and your logbook is incomplete, you will be asked if you want to attach evidence about why you should be exempt from the requirements.
- If you would like to attach evidence, you will be prompted to attach your evidence at the end of the application form. This is where you can upload your manual logbook records or, for example, upload a medical certificate indicating an extended period during which you were unable to work.
Once you have submitted your application, you will receive an automated email confirming that we have received your submission.
You will then receive a notification when your invoice is in your myNAATI portal (accessible through “My Invoices”).
Your application will be processed once the invoice has been paid, and you will generally receive an outcome within the next 10 business days.
Don’t think you meet the requirements?
Recertification is not designed as a barrier to staying in the profession. It is intended as an opportunity for you to demonstrate you are maintaining your skills and experience.We are very willing to discuss your circumstances with you, and understand that there will be times throughout your career where you aren’t able to meet the recertification requirements.
If you don’t think you can meet the requirements, please contact us by email at recertification@naati.com.au as early as possible. This will allow us to help you by:
- Discussing your current work practice and professional development status, and helping you to identify opportunities to fill in the gaps.
- Allow you to explain any extenuating circumstances (including illness, work breaks or lack of work opportunities) that you have experienced.
- Potentially extend your credential expiry date to allow you more time, or waive requirements in exceptional circumstances.
Support
You may find the answer to your question in the frequently asked questions here. There is also a webinar on recertification to watch which may help.If you still have questions after reading this webpage, please contact us at recertification@naati.com.au and we will try to assist you.
