Accreditation of entry-level education programs


In order to gain recognition by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Australia (the Australian Association of Occupational Therapists), entry level occupational therapy education programs must be accredited by Occupational Therapy Australia. Graduates from Australian occupational therapy programs must have graduated from an accredited program to be eligible to practice.

To achieve accreditation status, occupational therapy programs are assessed against the Australian Minimum Competency Standards for New Graduate Occupational Therapists (2010), the Australian Competency Standards for Occupational Therapists in Mental Health (1999), the World Federation of Occupational Therapists Minimum Standards for the Education of Occupational Therapists (2002), and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2008) Entry-level Competencies for Occupational Therapists.

The Program Accreditation process

New programs must gain Interim Accreditation prior to the first student intake. A program is then normally reviewed for accreditation in the first semester of the final year of the program. Programs are subsequently reviewed every 5 years to maintain accreditation status.

Interim Accreditation

New programs must achieve interim accreditation prior to the first intake of students to be eligible for subsequent Accreditation.
The purpose of Interim Accreditation is to ensure that an institution planning to establish a new occupational therapy program has:

  • adequate resources and a curriculum structure in place prior to the first intake of students;
  • consulted with the occupational therapy profession to ensure the fieldwork requirements of a new program can be met; and
  • interim endorsement of the program by Occupational Therapy Australia so that potential students can have some assurance that the program is on track for Accreditation.

For more information on how to apply for Interim Accreditation, please see the Interim Accreditation Guidelines here.

Accreditation

In seeking accredited status, Universities providing entry-level education programs in occupational therapy apply to Occupational Therapy Australia for an accreditation assessment and subsequently complete a Self Study document demonstrating the extent to which their program(s) meet the expected criteria.

A team of Occupational Therapy Australia assessors determines the extent to which the each program meets the criteria.

This decision is based on the material in the self study document provided by the University and feedback from key stakeholders.

The Assessor Team will normally undertake a site visit to verify the claims in the Self Study, and to interview stakeholders.

View biographies of the Assessor Panel here.

Quality Action Plan

The Quality Action Plan (QAP) is prepared three months after the University has been issued its accreditation status and final report.

The purpose of the QAP is to explicitly respond to the Association’s recommendations presented in the Accreditation Report and to indicate how the University will meet these goals in the immediate future.

Universities are expected to provide some comment on how these recommendations would be addressed in the short term (ie next 12 months) as well as in the medium term (12-24 months). Midway reporting occurs 2.5/3 years into the accreditation cycle, at which point, Universities are requested to comment on the progress of their QAP in reference to the recommendations.

The Quality Action Plan Template can guide the formulation of this plan and can be downloaded here.


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Schedule of Fees for Accreditations

The fees for the Accreditation process are determined on a cost-recovery basis.

Type of Accreditation Fee Breakdown Total
Interim Accreditation (for new programs prior to first intake of students) $2,300 + $230 $2,530
Accreditation of a new program (prior to graduation of the first cohort) $19,750 + $1,975 $21,725
Accreditation of a continuing program $15,750 + $1,575 $17,325


Concurrent Accreditations

Where possible, an accreditation site visit will review all programs concurrently, and the following fees will apply:

Fee for accreditation of a second program: $5,000 + $500 (GST) = $5,500

Fee for accreditation of a third program: $2,500 + $250 (GST) = $2,750

  • These fees assume that that information collected for one program will be directly relevant to other programs.
  • Where an honours program is being reviewed at the same time as the ‘pass’ program, no additional fee will be charged for review of the honours program.
  • In some instances an additional program will require minimal scrutiny for accreditation purposes e.g. some double degree programs. In such instances, the Program Accreditation Committee may recommend that the additional fee be reduced or absorbed into the original accreditation fee.

Additional Site Visits

The accreditation, except for interim accreditation, includes one site visit. Should an additional site visit be required, for example to follow up on the progress of conditions set, an additional fee will usually be charged for this site visit. This will be on a cost recovery basis.

Travel to different sites

Where a program is offered in more than one location it is usual for the Assessor team to review the program in each site of delivery. The University will be required to provide travel and accommodation associated with visits to different campuses by the Assessor Team during a site visit.

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Which courses are accredited?

Click here to see which courses around Australia are currently accredited.

Relevant Documents

Click to download the following documents: