Recertification

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 the following criteria.

Work practice criteria 

• Translators: an average of 10,000 words per year (30,000 words over three years) 
• Interpreters: an average of 40 assignments or hours per year (120 assignments over three years) 
• 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 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. 

• Practitioners are required to demonstrate they have reached at least 120 professional development points in total (no matter how many certifications they hold). This is an average of 40 points per year. 
• Of the 120 minimum points, practitioners should reach a minimum of 30 points in each of the three categories, including at least one activity from the Ethics sub-category. 

NAATI has a professional development catalogue that explains the types of professional development activities and points you can claim to meet the recertification requirements. The catalogue was developed in partnership with AUSIT, ASLIA and Professionals Australia and is divided into three categories: 

1. Skills development and knowledge 

2. Industry engagement, including Ethics sub-category 

3. Maintenance of language. 

Click the below image to view the professional development catalogue.

NAATI provides an online logbook for you to record your work practice and professional development through your myNAATI account, or you can keep a manual logbook which you can attach directly to the application form. 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.

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.

The webinar below provides a practical demonstration on how to fill out your online logbook.

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. 

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.

The application form

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”. 

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”). You can find the assessment fee here.

Your application will be processed once the invoice has been paid, and you will generally receive an outcome within the next 10 business days. 

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. 

Aurélie Sheehan, NAATI Manager Certification Policy and Development, discussed recertification in a Conversations podcast with All Graduates. It covers the most frequently asked questions, and you may find it useful in addition to reading the information on this page. 

Key topics discussed:

• Overview of recertification (4:05 minutes) 
• Recertification requirements (11:22 minutes) 
• Logbook (14:55 minutes) 
• Reference letters (20:36 minutes) 
• Professional development (26:05 minutes) 
• Keeping evidence (31:06 minutes) 
• Practical demonstration, including how to submit professional development and work practice evidence (32:00 minutes) 

Did you know that after watching this webinar, you can claim 10 professional development points under category 1.4? 

* Please note: the recertification price mentioned in this video was correct at the time of filming. From 1 July 2021 the recertification fee returns to $198.