Case studies: documents for skills assessing authorities

Do skills assessing authorities require NAATI translations?

Most Australian assessing authorities — including VETASSESS, ACS, Engineers Australia, AITSL and ANMAC — require documents that are not in English to be accompanied by a translation from an accredited translator, and publish their own formatting rules. Read the specific authority's document checklist before ordering, as some require certified copies of the originals as well.

Do I need to translate the whole transcript or just the final page?

Translate the complete document, including the reverse side, grading key, and any stamps or annotations. Partial translations are a common reason for a request for further information.

Can the university send documents directly instead?

Some authorities accept documents sent directly by the issuing institution, and some require it. That does not remove the translation requirement when the document itself is not in English — it changes who transmits it.

My name is spelled differently on my degree and my passport. What now?

Send us both. We translate exactly what the source document says and, where the receiving body allows it, add a translator's note recording the passport spelling. Do not ask any translator to silently 'correct' a name — an unexplained mismatch is treated as a discrepancy.

Is a digital certification accepted by assessing authorities?

Online lodgement portals generally accept a digitally certified PDF from a NAATI certified translator. A minority of processes still ask for a printed copy with a physical stamp. Tell us the authority and lodgement channel and we issue the right format.

Source: NAATI

What does a skills assessing authority typically want translated?

Qualification certificates, full academic transcripts, employment references, payslips or tax records where experience is being claimed, and registration certificates for regulated professions. Each authority publishes its own list, and the list governs.

Should transcripts be translated page by page?

Yes, completely, including grading keys and any reverse-side explanatory notes. Assessors compare subject-by-subject, and an omitted grading key is a common cause of a request for further information.

Can the university send documents directly to the assessor?

Some assessing bodies prefer or require documents sent directly by the issuing institution. Where that applies, the translation still has to be supplied in the accepted certified form — check the authority's published channel before arranging anything.