To be successfully assessed for registration requires evidence of professional competency and a commitment to the profession of engineering.

In Australia, the accepted qualification to be considered as a professional engineer is an accredited four-year Bachelor degree in one of the disciplines of engineering. The Guidelines for the disciplines of engineering registration offered through APEA are published in the By-Laws and are available here.

When assessing the suitability of an applicant’s qualification, assessors are required to ensure it meets the requirements listed in the By-Laws.

The By-Laws state that your qualification must meet one of the following requirements:

  • Have an undergraduate Bachelor of Engineering degree, or a Master of Engineering degree in the designated discipline or related area of engineering that is relevant to the area[s] of engineering in which registration is sought, and is accredited or recognised by a body responsible for accreditation or recognition of tertiary level qualifications that is a signatory to the Washington accord 1989 or*
  • Have an Australian or overseas non-Washington Accord qualification in a relevant area of engineering where the qualification has been assessed as substantially equivalent to an accredited Washington accord Bachelor of Engineering or Master of Engineering degree by Engineers Australia or the signatory to the Washington accord 1989 for the country where the qualification was obtained*
  • Or a previously recognised historical equivalent qualification, previously recognised by the accrediting authority for Australia under the Washington Accord 1989 to assess qualifications as equivalent*
  • Or has satisfactorily completed a competency assessment and that they meet stage 1 Competency standards certified by a signatory to the Washington Accord 1989, or a member of the International Engineering Alliance competency agreements for professional engineers – International Professional Engineers Agreement and APEC Agreement*

All qualifications must be uploaded in English and must be certified by an Authorised Witness. You can view the list of acceptable Authorised witnesses here.

* CEng Accreditation with the UK Engineering Council without the appropriate evidence of equivalency to a tertiary-level engineering degree:

A CEng document ‘in membership’ with an independent organisation in the UK is not automatically recognised in our Australian based assessment scheme as evidence that is substantially equivalent to a tertiary-level engineering degree.

Professionals Australia’s assessment scheme does not recognise diluted pathways to engineer registration in other countries with independent organisations, that is ‘without the relevant qualifications’ - unless that alternate pathway has been appropriately assessed as substantially equivalent to an accredited Washington accord Bachelor of Engineering or Master of Engineering degree by Engineers Australia or the signatory to the Washington accord 1989 for the country where the CEng accreditation was obtained.

You may wish to consider the following options:

  • Upload certified evidence of a successfully completed and recognised tertiary-level engineering degree OR
  • Upload a Stage 1 Competency Assessment undertaken by Engineers Australia stating that any alternate pathway taken to attain CEng in the UK, has been satisfactorily assessed as equivalent to a tertiary-level engineering qualification OR
  • Upload evidence of an equivalency assessment undertaken by another signatory to the Washington Accord stating that any alternate pathway taken to attain CEng in the UK, has been satisfactorily assessed as equivalent to a tertiary-level engineering qualification.
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