What is NAATI Accreditation?
NAATI stands for National Accreditation Authority of Translators and Interpreters, the accreditation authority in Australia for translators and interpreters. Under the pre-2007 system, accreditation was obtained either by sitting through an exam, passing through a course run by an educational institution accredited by NAATI, or recognition of prior practicing experience.
Mandarin and Cantonese interpreters, as well as Chinese translators can obtain their accreditation through NAATI accreditation tests. However certain Chinese dialects such as Shanghainese, Teo Chiew, Hakka and Hokkien do not have enough demand to warrant the cost of setting up an accreditation panel, and therefore interpreters speaking such dialects can apply for recognition based on prior experience. Recognition can also given to candidates with equivalent experience from overseas.
Re-validation, Re-certification & Specialization
However, concerns about people ceasing to practice after obtaining their accreditations as well as quality of practitioners have prompted NAATI to revamp its life-time accreditation system to one that requires re-validation every three years. NAATI has also revoked the rights of accredited educational institutions to set accreditation exams.
Under the new re-validation system, practitioners accredited post 2007, need to be re-validated every three years by submitting evidence of continuous practice and professional development. NAATI is also encouraging pre-2007 practitioners to opt into this new system through a transition process to re-certify by offering various incentives. To transition, pre-2007 practitioners are required to provide PD and practice evidence to renew their practicing certificates. Most of our interpreters and translators in Good Story Chinese Translation are covered under the re-validation system, or have opted into the new re-certification system. [More about Us]
NAATI also encourages translators and interpreters to specialize in specialist streams such as Certified Court Interpreter and Certified Medical Interpreter.
