Technical infrastructure

Every country needs a sound technical infrastructure to achieve its societal and economic goals. Increasingly all nations need to fully engage in the global economy and leverage the benefits of international trade to enable continued income growth and the economic wellbeing of their people.

A country’s standards and conformance – or technical infrastructure – is where measurement science (metrology), standardisation and accreditation of conformity assessment activities come into play. This system works to support sustainable development and a nation’s ability to fully participate in the global economy. The practices of metrology, standardisation and conformity assessment impact on the simplest of activities such as the time your alarm clock rings and the way the seatbelts operate in your car.

The same infrastructure also underpins the complex technologies and industrial processes that drive economic growth. Everyday commercial transactions and international trade could not take place without the support of the technical infrastructure.

It provides the essential framework for industry and government to maintain domestic and foreign confidence in our goods and services. It is also crucial to enhancing our global competitiveness, attracting investment and encouraging and supporting innovation.

Each component of Australia’s technical infrastructure has a key role to play in ensuring that a high level of quality and accuracy is delivered and is consistently accepted with confidence by the community, Australian businesses and our international trading partners.

The 4 standards and conformance organisations in Australia together comprise the Australian Technical Infrastructure Alliance (ATIA). The alliance includes:

  • National Measurement Institute (NMI)
  • Standards Australia
  • National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA)
  • Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JASANZ).

The ATIA fosters collaboration, efficiency and innovation between the 4 member organisations through greater sharing of resources, expertise, knowledge and ideas. This joint cooperation contributes to greater economic prosperity for Australia and to the better health, safety and wellbeing of all Australians.

The standards and conformance system

Scientific and legal metrology

Measurement standards and the traceability of measurement to those standards provide the basis for successful trade and commerce. They help drive the continuous development of science, technology and industrial production. They are the foundation for all testing and measurements, including:

  • disease diagnosis and health care
  • food safety
  • forensic science
  • environmental monitoring
  • work health and safety
  • optimisation of production
  • consumer confidence and protection.

Legal metrology includes measurements and measuring instruments used for trade and legal purposes.

The National Measurement Institute, a division of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, is responsible for scientific and legal metrology in Australia. Additionally, Australia has Designated Institutes (Dis) with responsibilities for peak measurement capabilities for ionizing radiation and ground-based ozone.

Standards

Written or documentary standards, include specifications and procedural requirements. Adherence to standards can be either to voluntary documents or to mandatory regulations and laws.

Documentary standards are written by international organisations, national standards bodies, regulatory authorities, and trade and industry associations. They are characterised by an open and transparent process with active participation of stakeholders including technical experts from industry, government, consumer groups and other affected parties in writing standards.

Standards Australia is recognised by the Australian Government as Australia’s peak, non-government standards development body.

Accreditation and conformity assessment

Accreditation is a procedure by which an independent authoritative body (accreditation body) gives formal recognition that a conformity assessment organisation is competent to carry out specific tasks. Accreditation involves the onsite assessment of conformity assessment bodies for competence to carry out specified calibrations, tests, inspections and/or certifications of products, systems or personnel, to determine if they meet a (minimum) required standard.

Conformity assessment activities are critical to the fitness for purpose and reliability of the many products and services upon which all economies rely for, among other things, the health and safety of their citizens, and for trade. Thus, it is vitally important that they are undertaken competently and efficiently.

The National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) and the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JASANZ) are Australia’s accreditation bodies for testing laboratories, inspection bodies and certification bodies

International roles and obligations

Factors that play a vital role in the economic growth and development of a small, open economy like Australia include:

  • development and international harmonisation of standards
  • mutual recognition of national measurement capabilities
  • mutual acceptance of the national measurement system
  • mutual recognition of conformity assessment activities.

The global nature of trade and manufacturing makes it imperative that measurement standards are comparable across the world. Trading nations recognised this need as long ago as 1875 when the Convention of the Metre or Metre Treaty was established, to provide guidance and focus for developing an internationally consistent measurement system. Under the Metre Treaty peak measurement laboratories compare their standards to ensure there is a consistent global basis for measurement. Australia plays an active role in the key inter-governmental metrology organisations.

The NMI represents Australia in scientific and legal measurement activities under the Metre Treaty and OIML Convention. By authorisation of the Chief Metrologist, designated institutes also take part in Metre Treaty activities for their specific fields. This includes:

  • Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)
  • Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA)
  • New South Wales Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water’s Climate and Atmospheric Science team.  

With the ongoing removal of tariff barriers, emphasis by governments and by the World Trade Organization (WTO) on trade liberalisation has moved to consideration of non-tariff barriers. Among the most significant of these are national and international standards together with testing and certification requirements that are not harmonised internationally.

As a member of the WTO, Australia is committed to ensuring that mandatory standards and conformity assessment procedures are no more trade restrictive than necessary. These commitments are outlined in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement.

The TBT Agreement states that signatories shall not implement mandatory standards (or technical regulations in TBT terminology) that are more trade restrictive than necessary to meet legitimate objectives. This includes:

  • national security
  • human health or safety
  • animal or plant health or safety
  • protection of the environment
  • the prevention of deceptive practices.

It also requires signatories not to apply discriminatory conformity assessment practices to products imported from other WTO member countries.

The TBT Agreement encourages members to participate in international standard setting organisations and adopt the resulting standards, for the harmonisation of voluntary and regulatory standards worldwide. The adoption of international standards benefits exporters by enabling the design and manufacture of products to one standard rather than a range of national standards. This supports Australian industry participation in the global supply chain. It also benefits consumers by increasing availability and reducing the cost of imported products consistent with an accepted International Standard.

The TBT Agreement also encourages members to participate in the development of standards and guides for conformity assessment procedures and to recognise the results of overseas conformity assessment bodies. Eliminating the need for re-calibration, re-testing, re-inspection or re-certification in the importing country reduces transaction costs, breaks down technical barriers and increases the economic efficiency of international trade. Metrology activities offer the technical foundation necessary to fulfil the aims of the TBT Agreement.

Key inter-governmental metrology organisations

Under the Metre Treaty (for scientific measurement), several key organs have been established to ensure the ongoing integrity of the International System of Units (SI).

The International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) consists of 18 individuals selected on the basis of their high-level scientific expertise. The CIPM’s principal task is to promote worldwide uniformity in units of measurement. Australia currently has a member on the committee.

The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) is mandated to provide the basis for a single, coherent system of measurements throughout the world, traceable to the International System of Units (SI). BIPM operates under the supervision of the CIPM.

The International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) is the inter-governmental organisation for legal metrology, created in 1955. The aim of the OIML is to coordinate and harmonise the administrative and technical regulations applying to measurements and measuring instruments passed by the different countries. The purpose is to facilitate trade between countries, not only for measuring instruments, but also for all operations involving measurements. Australia is currently a member of the governance body under the OIML Convention

International standards development bodies

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) are generally acknowledged as the most important international standardisation bodies in terms of size and influence. ISO and IEC produce around 85% of all international standards. 

ISO, established in 1947, is a network of national standards institutes from over 170 countries and is the world’s largest developer of internationally harmonised standards. The standards which it develops are voluntary in nature and tend to cover a broad range of subjects and markets (exceptions are standards in electrical and electronic engineering, the IEC’s domain). ISO has published over 25,000 international standards. 

The IEC was established in 1906 and produces international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. IEC provides a platform to companies, industries and governments for meeting, discussing and developing the international standards they require. The organisation oversees the operation of over 200 technical committees and subcommittees involved in setting standards. The IEC has published over 10,000 international standards. Standards Australia is our representative at the ISO and the IEC.

Regional engagement

Australia plays a significant regional role, including through formal membership in several standards and conformance fora within the Asia-Pacific region. The main regional forum involving Australia is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (APEC SCSC). The APEC SCSC performs several key activities including fostering an effective interface between regional and international fora and linking with the 4 APEC Specialist Regional Bodies (SRBs), which provide important links to the global technical infrastructure.

International accreditation bodies

Australia is a member of the Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated (GACI). This international organisation assumed the roles of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) in 2026, becoming the single international forum on the accreditation of laboratories, certification bodies, inspection bodies, proficiency testing providers, validation/verification bodies, reference material producers and biobanks.

GACI builds international trust through its Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MRA), which enables the acceptance of accredited conformity assessment results across multiple markets, eliminating the need for repeated testing or certification and facilitating global trade. Under this MRA, member organisations recognise the equivalence of accreditations granted by overseas counterparts and promotes this equivalence to government and industry. This reduces cross-border duplication, opening access to trade and building trust in results worldwide.

APEC Specialist Regional Bodies

The APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) recognises 4 key regional bodies, each playing a distinct role in standards and conformance within the Asia-Pacific region. These bodies are pivotal in supporting trade, harmonising standards, and fostering mutual recognition arrangements. Below is a streamlined overview of each organisation:

The Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) is the regional accreditation organisation for the Asia-Pacific. It brings together accreditation bodies and stakeholders to promote international acceptance of member accreditations and related conformity assessment results.

Through its Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), APAC members accept each other’s accredited results in areas like biobanking, laboratory testing, inspection, certification and sustainability assessments. This reduces technical barriers to trade, avoids duplication, cuts costs, and saves time for businesses. APAC is recognised by the Global Accreditation Cooperation and supports trade, sustainability and regional growth within an international framework.

The Asia-Pacific Legal Metrology Forum (APLMF) is the Regional Legal Metrology Organisation (RLMO) in which NMI represents Australia. It is a grouping of Legal Metrology Authorities from APEC economies and other Pacific Rim nations. Its primary goal is to develop legal metrology and promote free and open trade within the region by harmonising and removing technical or administrative barriers to trade in metrology. The forum coordinates and delivers regional training programs, building members’ capabilities and raising awareness of the economic and social benefits of legal metrology. APLMF fosters mutual acceptance arrangements to enhance confidence in measurement and metrological control among legal metrology authorities throughout the Asia-Pacific, supporting coordinated and consistent measurement and testing practices.

The Asia Pacific Metrology Programme (APMP) is the Regional Metrology Organisation (RMO) for scientific measurement in which NMI represents Australia. This is a collaboration of national metrology institutes and other peak measurement bodies from the Asia-Pacific region, focused on developing regional measurement capabilities and achieving international recognition for them. This foundation allows effective participation in the global Mutual Recognition Arrangement of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM MRA), whereby signatories establish equivalence of national measurement standards and recognise each other’s calibration and measurement certificates. APMP’s mission is to promote and support measurement infrastructure that facilitates international trade, improves industrial efficiency and competitiveness, ensures marketplace equity, and enhances quality of life and environmental outcomes across the Asia-Pacific.

The Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC) is an independent organisation composed of Pacific area national standards bodies. Its main objective is to strengthen the international standardisation programs of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and to improve the capacity of Pacific Rim national standards organisations to participate effectively. PASC also facilitates information exchange among national standards bodies and entities interested in standardisation, initiating actions to coordinate international standardisation activities to foster trade and commerce and address global needs.