Competency assessment

Learn what's involved in a competency assessment to apply for membership.

If you don’t meet all the requirements listed for membership with Engineers Australia, you’ll need to complete a competency assessment before you apply for membership. This assessment is also called an entry to practice assessment. You’ll need an assessment if you have:

  • Australian engineering qualifications that aren’t accredited or recognised by Engineers Australia
  • engineering qualifications from overseas which aren’t recognised by Engineers Australia or
  • qualifications in fields related to engineering which aren’t recognised by Engineers Australia but you have post-graduate engineering qualifications and substantial engineering experience.

What does assessment involve?

You’ll need to pass a comprehensive competency assessment of your skills and qualifications. Your competence will be assessed across three key areas:

  1. Knowledge base – that you have the appropriate engineering foundation knowledge.
  2. Engineering ability – you have the ability to apply your knowledge to problems and situations within your occupational category.
  3. Professional attributes.

How to apply

To apply, you’ll need to create an account in the member portal. You’ll also need the following documentation in a format you can upload with your assessment application:

  • colour scanned copy of a primary piece of identification. A passport photo page, current driver licence or copy of your birth certificate is fine.
  • passport-sized photograph
  • evidence of your English language competence if you don’t meet the exempt criteria
  • copies of all your qualifications including degree certificate (testamur)
  • academic transcripts including the original plus an English language translation (if applicable)
  • assessment requirements as laid out below.

Assessment requirements

CV or resume

Provide a current CV or resume that covers your engineering employment from undergraduate studies to date. Your CV should be no more than three pages and cover at least the last three years.

If you’re a graduate, include any industry placement you completed as part of your studies.

For all engineering roles on your CV include the:

  • name, location and contact details of your employer
  • dates of your employment in the role
  • title of the position you held and details of your role and responsibilities.

Career episodes

For the assessment you’ll also need to provide written accounts of three career episodes and a summary statement.

Read the instructions on how to write career episodes and a summary statement.

Assessment outcome

Your assessment will be reviewed by qualified Engineers Australia assessors. An assessment takes about four weeks but may be longer. Please wait to be contacted by us.

You’ll receive notification that your assessment has been completed through your portal account. If you’ve passed your assessment, you can apply for membership straight away through your portal account.

If you don’t pass the competency assessment, you can apply for a review within three months or an appeal within six months. Fees apply for review and appeal.

Fees

The fee for an entry to practice competency assessment is $810.

You’ll need to pay an additional fee for membership when you apply.

Use the calculator to estimate your membership fee or view our annual membership fees.

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If you have any questions about competency assessment or membership, please contact us.