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NAATI Certification System

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NAATI Certification System

What is NAATI certification?

NAATI is the national standards and certifying authority for translators and interpreters.

Holding NAATI certification (or recognition) means you meet the standard expected of translators and interpreters in the community.

Different certification types are offered for different purposes to reflect the changing needs of our multicultural community.

How was the certification system designed?

The Certification System was designed following extensive research and consultation into the knowledge, skills and attributes that are necessary for translators and interpreters to be successful in the role.

You can read the Improvements to NAATI Testing Report, and the Knowledge, Skills and Attributes documents on the Improvements to NAATI Testing Project page if you want to learn more.

How to get certified: Three pillars of certification

1. Complete formal training 
and meet the prerequisite requirements.

You must complete formal training in interpreting or translation before applying to NAATI. Other prerequisites include demonstrating your English proficiency, ethical competency and intercultural competency.

These vary depending on the credential you are applying for.

2. Pass a certification test
with NAATI

Or demonstrate your work practice (for Recognised Practising credentials)

For more information about the different credentials, go to the section on choosing a credential below.

3. Recertify every three years.

All NAATI credentials will expire after the initial three years. To keep your credential beyond this, you need to recertify by demonstrating you are maintaining your skills and language through work practice and professional development. This assures the community that only practising professionals hold NAATI credentials.

Choosing a credential

NAATI’s Certification System offers eight different credentials for translators and interpreters which you can see below.

They fall into two broad categories:

  • Certification, which includes sitting a test with NAATI
  • Recognised Practising, where tests are not available we will indirectly assess your competency by looking at your work practice.

You should choose the credential to apply for based on what type of work you want to do and what level of formal training you complete.

Click the flip cards below to learn more about each credential and what NAATI assesses for each. The links will take you to view detailed information about each credential, including the training and prerequisites you would need to meet to become certified.

Translator

Recognised Practising Translator
If there are no tests available in your language pair, you may be able to apply for a Recognised Practising credential.

(Auslan credential available)
Recognised Practising Translator credential acknowledges that the holder has met the prerequisites and has work experience as a translator.

There is no test required to be granted one of these credentials, but applicants must provide evidence of work practice.

Spoken languages | Written English into Auslan

Certified Translator
This is currently the only certification available for translators.
Certified Translators can work with complex but non-specialised content in most situations.

Tasks assessed by NAATI
• Translation of non-specialised texts
• Revision of a non-specialised translation
Learn more

Interpreter

Recognised Practising Interpreter
If there are no tests available in your language pair, you may be able to apply for a Recognised Practising credential.

(Deaf credential available)
Recognised Practising Interpreter credential acknowledges that the holder has met the prerequisites and has work experience as an interpreter.

There is no test required to be granted one of these credentials, but applicants must provide evidence of work practice.
Learn more

Certified Provisional Interpreter
Entry level generalist interpreting test.

(Auslan and Deaf interpreting tests available)
Certified Provisional Interpreters are usually engaged in non-specialised community dialogue interpreting jobs. For some languages, this is the highest certification available.

Tasks assessed by NAATI
• Interpreting face-to-face (or video) and remote (telephone) dialogues between an English and other language speaker, facilitated by live role-players.

Spoken languages | Auslan | Deaf interpreter

Certified Interpreter
This is a higher level generalist interpreting test.

Becoming a Certified Interpreter requires you to pass two tests with NAATI: the Certified Provisional Interpreter (CPI) test and the Certified Interpreter (CI) test.

(Auslan test available)
Certified Interpreters can work with complex but non-specialised content in most situations.

Tasks assessed by NAATI
• Interpreting dialogues between two people
• Sight translation of documents from one language (written) to another (verbal).
• Interpreting monologues (consecutive and simultaneous interpreting)

Spoken languages | Auslan

Certified Specialist Health Interpreter
High level specialist interpreting test in the health domain.

(Auslan test available)
Certified Specialist Health Interpreters have a sophisticated understanding of their role as members of a healthcare team including, for example, supporting a medical handover, research consultations between international partners or in training sessions.

Tasks assessed by NAATI
• Health knowledge test
• Interpreting test

Spoken languages | Auslan

Certified Specialist Legal Interpreter
High level specialist interpreting test in the legal domain.

(Auslan test available)
Certified Specialist Legal Interpreters have sophisticated understanding of their role in legal settings, for example as officers of the court.

Tasks assessed by NAATI
• Legal knowledge test
• Interpreting test

Spoken languages | Auslan

Certified Conference Interpreter
High level complex and specialist interpreting in conference situations.

(Auslan test available)
Conference interpreters work in situations such as speeches and presentations at high-level international exchanges, like international conferences, summits, meetings and negotiations.

Tasks assessed by NAATI
• Interpreting monologues (consecutive and simultaneous,
both seen and unseen speeches), including booth interpreting

Spoken languages | Auslan

Useful resources

Frequent questions

Frequent questions

View our terms and conditions or check out the answers to some of our frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Next steps

Next steps

Learn more about the importance of recertification for all NAATI certified practitioners, and the job and professional development opportunities available to you.

About Us

About Us

NAATI is a public, not-for-profit company that is jointly owned by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments.

Practitioner details

credential result