Accreditation FAQ

Accreditation is the process of assessing education providers and their educational programs of study to ensure that the provider and program produce graduates who have the knowledge, skills and professional attributes to competently practise in the profession.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Accreditation Committee (Accreditation Committee) is the accreditation authority for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice.

The Accreditation Committee was established by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia.

The Accreditation Committee:

• develops accreditation standards for approval by the National Board
• assesses programs of study and education providers against the accreditation standards approved by the National Board
• makes decisions about accreditation of programs of study, and
• monitors approved programs of study and education providers to ensure the Accreditation Committee continues to be satisfied those programs and providers meet the accreditation standards. 

For more information, see the accreditation authorities and the National Scheme page and the Accreditation Committee page.

Accreditation standards are used to assess whether an education provider and its program of study provides graduates of the program with the knowledge, skills and professional attributes to practise the profession. See the accreditation standards page for more information.

The accreditation standards used to assess Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice programs of study and education providers can be viewed on Accreditation Publications and Resources page.

An approved program of study qualifies a graduate to apply for registration as a health practitioner. Programs of study are approved by the National Board. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice programs of study are listed on the approved programs of study page.

The Accreditation Committee assesses education providers and programs against the accreditation standards and decides whether or not to accredit the provider and program. The National Board considers the Accreditation Committee’s decision and their report and decides whether or not to approve an accredited program as a qualification for registration as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health practitioner.

A list of accredited programs is available on the Accredited programs page.

Please note that accredited programs need to be approved by the National Board before graduates can be registered.

A list of Board approved programs is published on Ahpra's Approved Programs of Study page.

An education provider must apply to the Accreditation Committee for assessment of their program of study. The Accreditation Committee appoints a team of trained assessors to assess the education provider and program against the accreditation standards. This includes evaluating the application and visiting sites where the education provider delivers the program, including some clinical sites. The assessment team reports its assessment findings to the Accreditation Committee.

The Accreditation Committee considers the assessment team report and decides whether (or not) to accredit the program (with or without conditions).

If the Accreditation Committee decides to accredit a program of study (with or without conditions), it gives the National Board a report about its accreditation decision. The National Board then decides whether it will approve, or refuse to approve, the accredited program of study as leading to a qualification for registration.

The National Board publishes a list of approved programs of study.

When a program of study is accredited with conditions, it means the Accreditation Committee has decided that, on the basis of the assessment team’s findings:

• the program and education provider have substantially (but not fully) met the accreditation standards, and 
• imposing conditions will ensure all accreditation standards are met within a reasonable time.

The Accreditation Committee will advise the education provider about what types of reports are required to demonstrate compliance with the conditions and when any reports are due.

An education provider that has changed, or plans to change, a program that is on the National Board’s list of approved programs must notify the Accreditation Committee about the change. Contact the Program Accreditation Team for more information.

An education provider must complete the application for accreditation assessment and submit the form plus all required documents to the Program Accreditation Team. For further information, see the application information page.

Education providers pay two types of accreditation fees – accreditation assessment fees and annual accreditation fees.  

For more information, see the accreditation fee information page

Education providers should notify the Committee as soon as possible after the Certificate IV Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care Practice qualification is approved by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) or the Training Accreditation Council (TAC) as in scope for the education provider.

The Committee will negotiate arrangements and timeframes for assessment of the program with the education provider.

The Accreditation Committee does not accredit programs for a set period. Instead, a program only continues to be accredited if the Accreditation Committee continues to be satisfied that the program and provider continue to meet the accreditation standards.

This will depend on the team’s assessment of the education provider’s application and supporting evidence. The Assessment Team will assess the written application and advise the Program Accreditation Team of any information it requires the provider to submit before, or at, the site visit. 

As a result of COVID-19, a physical site visit may not necessarily take place as part of an accreditation assessment – the Assessment Team established to evaluate an accreditation assessment would at the very least meet with relevant parties via videoconference as part of the assessment process. Whether a physical site visit is required would be determined on a case-by-case basis, based on the evidence provided and evaluations of the Assessment Team.

If a physical visit does not occur as part of the assessment phase, the Accreditation Committee may determine to undertake a physical visit as part of its monitoring processes under section 50 of the National Law.

Whether the visit is a physical visit to a campus, or via videoconference, the Program Accreditation Team will then advise the provider of details and negotiate a detailed schedule for the site visit, including people to meet with.

One of the pathways to qualify for registration is to hold a qualification from an approved program of study.

See the programs of study approved by the Board.

The Accreditation Committee does not deal with registration issues. For registration matters, contact Ahpra’s Customer Service Team. 

No. There is a separate process with specific registration standards that must be met when you apply for registration as a health practitioner.

For more information about the graduate registration process, visit the Graduate Applications page on the Ahpra website.

It could mean that your program is not currently approved by the National Board. Contact Ahpra’s Customer Service Team for more information.

The Accreditation Committee establishes assessment teams to assess education providers and programs of study against accreditation standards. Visit the Assessors page for information about assessment teams and the Accreditation Committee’s call for applications.