The ADC works to protect the health and safety of the public by ensuring dental practitioners meet the high standards required of dental professionals in Australia.
Information for internationally qualified dental practitioners on assessment pathways and requirements for practice in Australia.
Guidance and resources for education providers delivering ADC-accredited dental practitioner programs in Australia.
Learn more about our submissions, consultations and research activities that support the oral health sector
ADC International (ADCI) is a leading independent authority in accreditation and assessment of health programs worldwide, with a particular focus on oral health.
No.
While there is some overlap, there are differences between the accreditation standards and the requirements for peer review. The accreditation standards are threshold standards setting out the expectations of an accredited program for graduates to achieve the necessary outcomes to practice competently.
Peer review processes focus on world’s best practice. Thus, assessors may look at a program through a different lens.
Education providers are free to engage with academies and societies to complete a peer review.
Peer review outcomes do not affect accreditation decisions. However, education providers can benchmark their program against world’s best practice for kudos and reputation of the program. Peer reviews can be used to show that external input from the profession is used in the design and management of a program in accordance with Accreditation Standard 2 – Academic governance and quality assurance processes are effective.
A second specialist assessor will be invited to join an Accreditation Team if a greater breadth of experience is needed to review the program. Our second specialist accreditation assessor guidelines outline how specialist academies or societies may nominate a second assessor to support the primary ADC specialist assessor during the accreditation process if they wish to do so.
The ADC/Dental Council (New Zealand) guidelines for the review of specialist dental practitioner programs outlines how we carry out the re-accreditation process.
We re-accredit specialist dental programs at least every five years. Where a provider offers more than one specialist dental program, we will aim to review all programs at the same time to reduce the burden of accreditation on the provider.
No. The ADC only accredits programs enabling graduates to apply for registration or endorsement of their registration with the Dental Board of Australia.
As CPD courses do not change the registration status of a dental practitioner, the ADC is not required to accredit these courses under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009.
For further information about the requirements for CPD courses please see the Dental Board of Australia’s registration standards and associated guidelines.
We ensure consistency in a number of ways.
Training is available to assessors before each accreditation visit. In some cases, we will also hold a one-day workshop. This ensures that all members of the Accreditation Team have a shared understanding of the accreditation standards and process.
All Accreditation Teams are chaired by an experienced assessor. The chair must have completed a minimum of three previous accreditation visits and is familiar with our accreditation standards and processes.
Every Accreditation Team includes an ADC staff member. This ensures the process runs appropriately and consistently. It also allows the sharing of experience from multiple accreditation visits.
All Accreditation Team reports are presented to the Accreditation Committee, which oversees all our program accreditation activities. This ensures a consistent approach and outcome of all accreditation teams.
A material (major) change is one which affects, or potentially affects, compliance with any of the accreditation standards that all programs are assessed against.
Some examples of material changes include:
The Policy on assessor criteria and appointment of Site Evaluation Teams (the Policy) outlines the criteria assessors must meet to be appointed to our Register of Assessors.
Interested individuals can apply to become an assessor by submitting an application outlining how they meet the criteria, including a statement addressing the selection criteria, and a CV.
Various associations, academies, and societies may be asked to nominate experienced individuals for addition to the Register.
When an Accreditation Team is assembled, suitable individuals from the Register are invited to become a member of the Accreditation Team. Considerations are followed during this process to ensure conflicts of interest are identified and managed during the accreditation process.
Education providers, or schools, should aim to submit a notice of intention at least 12 months before the planned commencement of the program.
We strongly recommend educators contact us at the earliest point in time for consultation on accreditation requirements. This also allows for the timely and efficient completion of the accreditation process.
We will initiate the process to reaccredit existing dental practitioner programs at least 12 months before accreditation is due to expire.
We only accredit programs enabling graduates to apply for registration with the Dental Board of Australia or lead to endorsement of registration for a dental practitioner.
We do not accredit continuing professional development programs or courses.