ASAR’s accreditation philosophy is based on principles of co-operation, continuous quality improvement and outcome evaluation.
In 2010 ASAR undertook a review of its governance and operations with the intent of ensuring that the most effective outcomes were achieved for sonographers and more broadly the Australian public. The review was timely in that it coincided with a number of significant changes in the landscape of education and training in Australia including the introduction of the Strengthened Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and national regulatory bodies for both the higher education (TEQSA) and Vocational Education and Training (VET) sectors (ASQA). Furthermore, the Australian Sonographers Association (ASA) were also progressing a complementary project to develop an entry-level competency framework. As a result ASAR determined that a project to develop an accreditation framework should be undertaken.
The development of the accreditation framework included a review of the ASAR Program Accreditation Guidelines (PAG).
The accreditation framework establishes the policies, processes and standards within which courses are granted accreditation for a specified time, having met transparent and defined requirements.
The SASC provide specific criteria for measuring whether a course fulfills the defined requirements.
Effective immediately, the SASC will be used to assess every application for accreditation or reaccreditation. To be successful an application is required to satisfactorily address all criteria for all eight standards.
Organisations seeking accreditation or re-accreditation are advised that these standards must be read in conjunction with:
