Written by Magdalena Rowan – NAATI Chair
27 July 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of Mark Painting as the CEO of NAATI. Over these last 10 years, Mark has been instrumental to NAATI’s transformation and success.
Since 2015 Mark has brought a level of commercial and engagement acumen that has resulted in financial sustainability for NAATI, high level stakeholder engagement as well as the full and successful implementation of the Certification System. He achieved this by implementing performance metrics for monitoring of all business functions and new financial, payroll and HR management systems.
When Mark started at NAATI, the Certification System was in the planning stages. During his first 3 years, Mark consulted widely, listened, took advice, and decisively and courageously moved forward and oversaw the implementation of the national Certification System. This included three major developments: prerequisite training, professional development and live testing in interpreting.
One of the things that impressed me about Mark from the start was that, even though he did not have a T&I background or a second language, he quickly grasped sensitivities and issues in the multicultural sector, which allowed him to make important and sometimes difficult decisions.
One of his first achievements was to develop and implement NAATI’s digital transformation strategy and a high level of privacy and cyber security. This enabled NAATI to maintain business continuity through the COVID crisis and implement secure and efficient online testing and training (including examiner training).
At the same time, Mark strengthened governance and reporting and documented a suite of internal policies and redesigned business processes by introducing automation.
Through the increased level of engagement with key stakeholders NAATI has improved its reputation and is highly respected by Member governments. Mark has also initiated international engagement and has positioned NAATI as a leading organisation among international stakeholders.
In recent years, Mark negotiated and implemented a NAATI certification requirement for interpreters working with the New Zealand Government, supported key initiatives including Recommended National Standards for Working with Interpreters in Courts and Tribunals and Guide for Clinicians Working with Interpreters, as well as several Australian Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council linkage grants and other projects to support the profession.
Today, Mark leads a highly professional organisation. By recognising gaps and employing staff with specific expertise, NAATI now has a highly talented and engaging teams. This has created a responsive, accountable and professional NAATI.
On behalf of the Board and the T&I profession, I thank and congratulate Mark for his valued leadership and dedication to NAATI’s purpose, and for his commitment to the translating and interpreting sector over the last 10 years. I look forward to continuing to work with Mark and advancing NAATI’s vision.