What is NAATI and what does it say about our interpreters & translators?

Australia was the first country in the world to have a government-instituted accreditation authority in this field since 1977. NAATI, the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters is a national standards body owned by the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments of Australia. It is a company limited by guarantee under the Commonwealth Corporations Law 2001.

NAATI is also an advisory body for the Translation and Interpreting (T & I) industry in Australia providing advice and consultancy services on T & I standards, accreditation, role and conduct of Translators and Interpreters and T & I skills in various settings.

What does NAATI do?

• NAATI sets and maintains the standards of translation and interpreting at four accreditation levels.
• NAATI accredits translators and interpreters who meet the specified standards.
• NAATI conducts translator and interpreter accreditation tests in various cities in Australia and New Zealand. It also provides similar tests for overseas candidates who are unable to sit for the tests in any Australian city.
• NAATI approves T & I courses at tertiary institutions in Australia.
• NAATI assesses T & I qualifications obtained from overseas tertiary institutions.
• NAATI provides advisory services relating to T & I service delivery.

NAATI accreditation is the only credential officially accepted for the profession of translation and interpreting in Australia. All government Translation and Interpreting (T & I) services require translators and interpreters to be NAATI accredited whenever possible.

While accreditation is not in itself a guarantee of performance, it is intended to be an indication that the holder is capable of working as a translator or interpreter in the languages and direction of accreditation shown on their accreditation certificate. All of our translators are native speakers of the target language and completely bilingual with respect to the source language.

To gain accreditation, a candidate must have:

• Graduated from a NAATI-approved translation/interpreting course at a university or other tertiary institution OR
• passed a NAATI exam at the desired level OR
• presented documentary evidence of having gained qualifications in translation and/or interpreting at the appropriate level in another country.

There are three main levels of accreditation
(see "Accreditation levels" below ).
For translators, each accreditation is in one direction only.
(e.g. English -> Italian).
For interpreters, the generalist Interpreter accreditation is in both directions
(e.g. English <-- --> Arabic).
Accreditation at the Conference Interpreter level is in one direction only, but conference interpreters are encouraged to obtain accreditations for both language directions.
(or from two languages into one, e.g. English --> French and Spanish --> French)

Accreditation levels for translation

• Advanced Translator. Specialist accreditation in various fields obtained in addition to the Translator accreditation.
• Translator. Generalist accreditation at the professional level.
• Paraprofessional Translator. A preparatory level (now awarded only in a small number of languages where the professional level is not tested).

• Conference Interpreter. Simultaneous and consecutive interpreting at an advanced level, obtained in addition to the Interpreter accreditation.
• Interpreter. Generalist accreditation at the professional level.
• Paraprofessional Interpreter. Preparatory level. People gaining this level of accreditation (tested in dialogue mode only) are expected to progress as soon as possible to accreditation at the Interpreter level.

Recognition

In a few languages where no testing is available at present, NAATI awards the title "Recognised" to practitioners who produce satisfactory evidence of recent practice in interpreting or translation.
There is an additional level (Senior) which is not based on examination or course graduation but is available to interpreters or translators who have worked for some years at the Advanced level and fulfil a number of other criteria.